The Lost - Lost Tapes (1964-67 us, amazing garage psych folk)

Here at last is the Lost album, only 33 years overdue. Along with The Remains, The Ramrods, and The Barbarians, The Lost are the most highly exalted of all Boston-area bands from the mid-1960s. Amazingly, The Lost achieved this status having released only three 45s, none of which made it to the Billboard charts. Now, finally, die-hard fans and newcomers alike can hear the album that might have been, including those rare singles in all their glory.

Although they ended up as legends. The Lost began prosaically enough. Ted Myers, having finished his freshman year at Goddard College, in Plainfield, Vermont, decided to spend the summer of 1964 on Martha's Vineyard island, in Massachusetts. There, with some friends from Goddard, he brashly started a folk coffee house, even though he had no knowledge of how to do such a thing. Furthermore, he had no money, but managed to talk his way into an "on-spec" arrangement with a local landlord. 

Ted remained a coffee house proprietor long enough to give a teenaged James Taylor his first professional gig, then returned to Goddard College for the fall term. Back at Goddard, emboldened by his coffee house success, Ted formed a band in October 1964 with four fellow Goddard students: Willie Alexander, Hugh Magbie, Tony Pfeiffer, and Walter Powers. They called themselves The Lost. The name came from a dream Willie had had about a year earlier.

The Lost began performing almost immediately at on-campus events. Their first paying gig was at a club called The Cave, in nearby Burlington, Vermont. Another early performance (as Walter recalls) was in a multimedia, rock 'n' roll production of Peter Pan at Goddard. This sort of experimentation was a hallmark of the band from the very beginning. Another mark of distinction was Willie's passion for unusual percussion instruments. He concocted some "maracas" made out of pint wine bottles filled with spent .22-caliber casings. 

The bottles inevitably brake as Willie played them, scattering casings everywhere. As Tony recalls, this "happened to Willie regularly, and every time he looked surprised." Thanks to their high-energy performances, The Lost gained a loyal following during their brief time at Goddard. However, they did not endear themselves to College administrators. Goddard was an experimental college and gave credit for work experience. 

Following the Fall 1964 term, the band decided to get this experience by moving to Boston and continuing to work as professional musicians (not exactly what the College had in mind). The move occurred in December 1964. Hugh lived at home with his parents in nearby Cambridge. The rest of the band lived together in a large apartment (later, two apartments) in the Beacon Hill section of Boston and survived on the money they made playing gigs. Only Tony and Hugh had day jobs (Tony as a busboy and Hugh as a researcher for a social-services agency).

Despite the fact that the band had landed several gigs around Boston and had an early affiliation with Don Law (later to become Boston's most successful rock entrepreneur), Hugh and Tony decided to return to Goddard for the spring term in March 1965. Willie, Ted, and Walter remained in Boston (as Willie remembers it, Goddard didn't want them back anyway). 

The band now needed two new members and took a trip to New York City to recruit them. Ted found Kyle Garrahan playing folk music in a Greenwich Village coffee house called The Bizarre. Kyle replaced the departed Hugh Magbie. To replace Tony Pfeiffer, Ted called upon an old friend, Lee Mason. Kyle and Lee moved to the group's headquarters in Beacon Hill. With these changes, a new lineup was in place, and this is the group we hear on this release.

by Gary Burns

Tracks
1. Maybe More Than You Know (Ted Myers, Willie Alexander) - 1:54
2. Back Door Blues (Ted Myers, Willie Alexander) - 2:31
3. I Wanna Know - 2:18
4. Certain Chick (Naomi Neville) - 2:30
5. Here She Comes - 2:52
6. Always I Know - 3:07
7. No Reason Why (Vocal) - 2:32
8. Everybody Knows (Willie Alexander) - 2:18
9. When I Call - 2:00
10.Violet Gown (Version I) - 2:54
11.Mean Motorcycle - 1:55
12.(No) Money In The Pocket (Joe Zawinul) - 2:22
13.Kaleidoscope - 1:54
14.Violet Gown (Version II) - 2:39
15.No Reason Why - 2:01
16.Changes - 2:02
17.Do I Love You (Peter Andreoli, Phil Spector, Vincent Poncia) - 2:34
18.Rocket Ship - 1:53
All songs by Ted Myers except where stated

The Lost
*Walter Powers - Bass, Organ, Vocals
*Ted Myers - Guitar, Vocals
*Lee Mason - Drums
*Willie Alexander - Keyboards, Vocals, Percussion
*Kyle Garrahan - Lead Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Related Acts
1967-68 Flat Earth Society - Waleeco And The Lost / Space Kids
1968  Listening - Listening

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