Lost Innocence

Top-rated West Coast garage sounds from the vaults of maverick genius Gary S Paxton. Acknowledged classics, tantalising obscurities, and several previously unheard gems, all from the original master tapes, including tracks by Limey & The Yanks, The Avengers, The Whatt Four, The Buddhas, among many others.

Compiled by genre expert Alec Palao and originally released by Big Beat/ACE on CD only a few years back, it is now available on vinyl for the first time. Vintage garage rock is only one of the many tributaries of popular music that the maverick Gary S Paxton recorded and produced in his 1960s heyday.

Compared to other genres, the off-kilter genius behind ‘Alley Oop’ and ‘Monster Mash’ was hardly prolific with it. But for a producer-engineer of his repute, it was inevitable that Paxton would cross paths with the sudden surge of teenaged rock groups that emerged in the wake of the British Invasion.

We’ve gathered the best of them on Lost Innocence, and for any aficionado of the genre, a treat is in store. As well as a brace of acknowledged Californian punk classics present and correct for the first time direct from the master tape, this rockin’ little disc also shares further booty from the Garpax vaults, including some obscurities well worthy of re-appraisal, along with completely unreleased nuggets of note.

Counting among the well-known are The Avengers, Bakersfield’s top dogs in the punk bracket thanks to snot-nosed missives such as ‘I Told You So’ and the controversial ‘Be A Cave Man’. Ken & the Forth Dimension and Limey & the Yanks serve up the highly regarded items ‘See If I Care’ and ‘Guaranteed Love’ respectively, with a trio of ear-opening unissued tracks from the latter as a bonus.

Riverside’s Whatt Four weigh in with the popular ear-burners ‘Our Love Should Last Forever’ and ‘You're Wishin’ I Was Someone Else’. And The Buddhas’ title cut is still the most eloquent ode to carnal knowledge in the entire 60s punk pantheon.

Most of the material on Lost Innocence was recorded at Paxton’s two Hollywood studios between 1965 and 1967, but some of the freakier cuts derive from facilities he ran from a converted bank in the Bakersfield suburb of Oildale in the last three years of the decade.

Compiled by genre expert Alec Palao and originally released by Big Beat/ACE on CD only a few years back, it is now available on vinyl for the first time.