Emerging from mid-’60s Canada, 49th Parallel belonged to a rare strain of garage-punk ensembles. Formed in Calgary, Alberta, under the name Shades of Blond, the lineup comprised Dennis Abbott on vocals, guitarists Dan Lowe and Bob Carlson, organist Dave Petch, bassist Mick Woodhouse, and drummer Terry Bare.
Gaiety Records took them aboard, and their first release, the fuzz-laden, sneering “Labourer,” appeared in mid-1967 and enjoyed modest Canadian sales. Follow-up “Blue Bonnie Blue,” written in part by an as-yet-unknown Delaney Bramlett and inspired by an equally unknown Bonnie Bramlett, shifted toward folk-rock lyricism while retaining a biting vocal edge. Woodhouse soon departed, yielding the bass chair first to Dave Downey and later to Alf Cook; on organ, Dennis Mundy and subsequently Jack Velker replaced Petch.
Spring 1969 brought their sole national Canadian breakthrough, “Twilight Woman,” which also registered on regional U.S. charts and evoked a brighter, folk-tinged counterpart to the sound then emerging from England’s Tomorrow. Momentum proved fleeting. Abbott left after the single and its successor, “Now That I’m a Man,” and the personnel flux—Doran Beattie stepping in as vocalist—altered the group’s direction. By 1970 they had adopted the name Painter.
Painter achieved modest success with “West Coast Woman” and its follow-up, “Crazy Feeling,” before the band became Hammersmith in the early-to-mid-’70s and issued the singles “Feelin’ Better” and “Late Night Lovin’ Man.”
At peak strength, 49th Parallel delivered a slashing, organ-swirled attack whose force could have placed them among garage-punk leaders; Abbott’s vocals rode waves of guitar and keyboard that translated readily into psychedelic territory. Their slower numbers floated in a dreamy pop-rock haze, yet the tougher material has aged most convincingly. Like many acts of the decade, they outlasted their moment and evolved into successive identities. Guitarist Dan Lowe later amassed considerable wealth as the creator of Q-Sound and a pioneer in multimedia sound design.
