49th Parallel - Laborer b/w You Do Things (promo)

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Laborer	02:27

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	You Do Things	02:24

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

When Calgary’s Shades of Blond reshaped themselves into 49th Parallel in early 1967, the newly renamed group wasted little time making their presence felt. By this point they were already a seasoned young band, having travelled to New York in 1965 for early recordings and issued their 1966 single “All Your Love” before returning to Calgary to regroup. With Dennis Abbott out front, Dan Lowe and Bob Carlson on guitars, Dave Petch on organ, Mick Woodhouse on bass and Terry Bare on drums, the band entered the studio with a lean, aggressive sound that set them apart from most Prairie groups of the period. Their first release, the hard-charging “Laborer” backed with “You Do Things,” introduced that energy to the rest of Canada.

Issued through Gaiety Records and distributed by RCA, the single captured the group in its earliest, rawest phase: sharp guitars, a driving rhythm section, and Abbott’s urgent vocals. For a debut, it made a solid impression. Regional play was strong, and the record helped position 49th Parallel as one of the most promising garage-rock exports from Western Canada at a time when the national industry remained heavily centred in Ontario and Québec.

Within a year the group would push even further, releasing “She Says” / “Citizen Freak” and continuing to refine a sound that blended garage grit with emerging psychedelic touches. But “Laborer” marks the true beginning of their recorded legacy — the moment the Calgary outfit first stepped onto the larger Canadian stage and showed what a determined Prairie rock band could do.

This promo pressing is one of the earliest surviving artifacts of the group’s career, preserving the original six-member lineup before the personnel shifts and stylistic expansions that would define their later work.
-Robert Williston

Dennis Abbott: vocals
Bob Carlson: guitar
Terry Bare: drums
Dave Petch: organ
Dan Lowe: guitar
Mick Woodhouse: bass

Produced by Chuck Williams and Don Grashey

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