Lt. Garcia's Magic Music Box - Cross the Border (1968/2018)

The album as a whole is, in fact, significantly better than much of the Kasenatz-Katz catalog. There may not be a killer single like “Simon Says” or “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’,” but there are also no filler tracks. The album is a great listen from beginning to end, combining bubblegum, pop, folk and Latin influences. this was not a Mexican psychedelic pastiche, but rather a fine example of late ’60s bubblegum.

Unlike many of the bands in the Kasenatz-Katz roster, Lt. Garcia’s Magic Music Box was not a purely studio creation. Indeed, the band had been together since 1960 known at that time as the Echoes. In 1961, the Echoes recorded a teen ballad for Top Rank International called “Baby Blue,” a song that curiously misspells out the title, “B-B-A-B-Y B-B-L-U-E.” Nonetheless, the song was a top ten hit. By 1965, the Echoes were playing more straight ahead rock material and changed their name to the Scoundrels. A few singles were recorded, but none charted. A couple years later, negotiations began with Kasenatz-Katz, who already had the name Lt. Garcia’s Magic Music Box along with plans for a Latin-flavored bubblegum act and what they believed to be a potential hit single, “Latin Shake,” written by Artie Resnik and Joey Levine. The Scoundrels took the deal, the name, the song and headed into the studio to record ’Cross the Border.