VA - Happy Lovin' Time, Sunshine Pop from the Garpax Vaults [2015]

SUNSHINE POP

VA - Happy Lovin' Time, Sunshine Pop from the Garpax Vaults [2015]

One of the great eccentric pop producers of the '60s, Gary S. Paxton first scored with the early-'60s novelty singles "Alley Oop" and "Monster Mash," and a decade later he decamped for Nashville, where he got straight and found religion. In between those two extremes, he scored smash hits with the Association and Tommy Roe, and those singles are the touchstones for Happy Lovin' Time: Sunshine Pop from the Garpax Vaults, a spectacular collection of 24 Paxton-produced rarities from the late '70s. Most of these recordings -- a good chunk of which are unreleased; 13 of the 24, to be exact -- were made in 1966 and 1967, which is when Paxton headquartered his Garpax Studios in Hollywood, instructing the Four Freshmen on how to sing harmonies as he foraged a fruitful partnership with Curt Boettcher. "Nowhere to Go," that Four Freshmen 45, is here, as are the unreleased Boettcher numbers "Stay" and "Christina, In My Dreams," along with other collaborations with Curt. Boettcher was a good match for Paxton, ratcheting up his majestic instincts, but what's striking about Happy Lovin' Time is the extent of the producer's quirks, how he'd throw everything into the mix, balancing freaked-out fuzz guitars with blaring horns, undercutting a soul groove with harpsichords, and sliding harmonies into a bath of liquid echoes. All this studio flair is very trippy and very Southern Californian; the sides Paxton recorded in Bakersfield prior to leaving for Nashville aren't of a piece with this lush studio craft, there's not a bit of prescient country-rock. That ingenious use of the studio -- colorful and willful without being self-consciously strange -- is what makes Happy Lovin' Time such a delight. Sure, some of the songs are tightly written or boast hooks that carve their way into the cranium, but it's those sounds, softly swirling yet slyly insistent, that make this collection such a blast and such a valuable document of the swinging '60s L.A. underbelly. (AMG review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

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Track list

01 Augie Moreno - Make Up Your Mind 2:08

02 Whatt Four - Dandelion Wine 3:27

03 New Wing - The Thinking Animal 3:25

04 Curt Boettcher - Christina, In My Dreams 2:25

05 Black Box - Happy Lovin' Time 2:38

06 Chocolate Tunnel - Ostrich People 2:12

07 Dave Antrell - She Loves Me 3:01

08 Jim Gordon - How Many Times 2:37

09 Bogart Cult - Games 3:35

10 Jaybees - Bad Sign 2:29

11 Johnny Apollo - Am I Wastin' My Time 2:33

12 Bakersfield Poppy Pickers - Clean Up Your Own Backyard 2:20

13 Four Freshmen - Nowhere To Go 2:34

14 Willie & The Walkers - Is It Love 2:21

15 Lords, The; Lords - Savin' (Everything For You Girl) 2:25

16 Curt Boettcher - Stay 2:18

17 Dave Antrell - You Take Things Lightly Babe 3:34

18 Privilege - The Highly Successful Young Rupert White 2:23

19 Mary Saxton - Is It Better To Live Or To Die 3:06

20 Lords - Don't Put Me Down 2:53

21 Bakersfield Poppy Pickers - It's Written All Over My Face 2:37

22 Jaybees - Who Do You Think You Are 2:18

23 Homogenized Dirt - Dirt Beneath My Feet 1:30

24 Dave Antrell - I Never Wanna Hurt You 3:02

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