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49th Parallel
The 49th Parallel
Maverick - 1969
Michael Panontin
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Calgary's torch bearers in the great sixties rock sweepstakes were 49th Parallel, a group who managed to garner a few rays of the limelight with their 1969 chart success, ‘Twilight Woman’.
They started off as the Shades of Blond, but eventually re-christened themselves 49th Parallel and landed a record deal with Ontario-based Gaiety Records, where they released a couple of mildly successful forty-fives in 1967: the spry 'Laborer' (RCA 3428) and the Monkee-esque 'She Says' (RCA 3447). It was around this time that their fluid line-up had begun to solidify around singer Dennis Abbott, guitarists Dan Lowe and Bob Carlson, and organist Dave Petch, along with Mick Woodhouse on bass and Terry Bare on the drum kit.
A switch to the Venture label in 1968 brought them more success with the curious 'Blue Bonnie Blue' (which was penned by a then-unknown Delaney Bramlett about his equally obscure muse, Bonnie). And then the door started to revolve again, with keyboardist Petch replaced by Jack Velker and bassist Woodhouse yielding to Dave Downy.
By the time their second Venture seven-inch, the radio-friendly 'Twilight Woman', was issued in December 1968, the 49th Parallel's career seemed to be finally gaining some traction. When MGM affiliate Maverick agreed to handle their US distribution, the single managed to tweak a few charts south of the border. Which of course gave Maverick the leeway to issue an entire LP, The 49th Parallel, an oddly schizophrenic mix of sunshine pop, anglo lysergia and the gruffer acid-rock sounds of the era.
The gentlest and ultimately most successful tracks on The 49th Parallel were written by a mysterious Don Hockett, like the blithe and sugary opener 'Now That I'm a Man', with its shades of Curt Boetcher at work in the summery orchestration, or the Tomorrow-esque psych of 'Lazerabder Filchy'. 'Missouri', originally the flip side of 'Blue Bonnie Blue', is more acidic, with a breezy organ sallying along amidst a more caustic - and at times intrusive - guitar solo. Even better is 'The People', with its heftier organ licks and more abrasive guitar. Add to all that the soulful AM fare of 'Twilight Woman' and The 49th Parallel packs quite a punch.
But alas, the constant personnel changes ultimately took their toll, and by 1970, unable to capitalize on the success of 'Twilight Woman', 49th Parallel had decided to pack it in.
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