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Author Topic: Gary S. Paxton  (Read 3076 times)
yonderhillside
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« on: March 04, 2016, 08:19:58 PM »

I picked up this new compilation Happy Lovin' Time - Sunshine Pop From The Garpax Vaults and I'm really digging it. Anybody a fan of Gary Paxton? I'm naturally making comparisons with Brian Wilson.


AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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.
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yonderhillside
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« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2016, 08:24:33 PM »


• 01 Make Up Your Mind - Augie Moreno
• 02 Dandelion Wine - The Whatt Four
• 03 The Thinking Animal - The New Wing
• 04 Christina, In My Dreams - Curt Boettcher
• 05 Happy Lovin' Time - The Black Box
• 06 Ostrich People - The Chocolate Tunnel
• 07 She Loves Me - Dave Antrell
• 08 How Many Times - Jim Gordon
• 09 Games - The Bogart Cult
• 10 Bad Sign - The Jaybees
• 11 Am I Wastin' My Time - Johnny Apollo
• 12 Clean Up Your Own Backyard - The Bakersfield Poppy Pickers
• 13 Nowhere To Go - The Four Freshmen
• 14 Is It Love - Willie & The Walkers
• 15 Savin' (Everything For You Girl) - The Lords
• 16 Stay - Curt Boettcher
• 17 You Take Things Lightly Babe - Dave Antrell
• 18 The Highly Successful Young Rupert White - The Privilege
• 19 Is It Better To Live Or To Die - Mary Saxton
• 20 Don't Put Me Down - The Lords
• 21 It's Written All Over My Face - The Bakersfield Poppy Pickers
• 22 Who Do You Think You Are? - The Jaybees
• 23 Dirt Beneath My Feet - Homogenized Dirt
• 24 If I Can Help It - Dave Antrell
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dogear
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« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2016, 10:25:40 AM »

I put this list together a couple of months ago, have a look http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=3719
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Watson, did you hear this?
yonderhillside
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« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2016, 06:59:05 PM »

Wow, very cool. Didn't realize he'd produced The Gosdin Brothers and Tommy Roe's A Winter's Day.
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dogear
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« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2016, 06:40:09 AM »

Wow, very cool. Didn't realize he'd produced The Gosdin Brothers and Tommy Roe's A Winter's Day.
Winter's Day was credited to Steve Clark (but Paxton actually was the man in charge), voc.arr. were done by Curt Boettcher
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Watson, did you hear this?
yonderhillside
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« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2016, 04:18:26 PM »

Was it just those singles that were produced by him or the entire album?
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yonderhillside
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« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2016, 12:54:48 PM »

Thanks to your help, I've been digging through a rabbit hole, a la Gary Paxton as well as Curt Boettcher. I stumbled upon an obscure gem and thought I'd share it as a token, that is if you haven't heard of it. Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest by Chris Lucey (aka Bobby Jameson). Regarded as a proto-Forever Changes by many collectors and critics. I'm digging it.
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dogear
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« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2016, 01:44:08 PM »

Was it just those singles that were produced by him or the entire album?
The entire album - he engineered it too
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Watson, did you hear this?
rn57
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« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2016, 11:35:02 PM »

Dusting off this thread to link to Alec Palao's tribute to Gary S. Paxton who died several days ago:
http://acerecords.co.uk/news/2016/gary-paxton
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JK
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« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2016, 03:49:05 AM »

R.I.P., sir. Was this Gary's finest hour as a producer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7SvXmjf3U

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