49th Parallel | Missouri | (Venture) 1969

“Missouri” taken from the LP ‘49th Parallel’ | (Venture MAS 7001) 1969

49th Parallel | Missouri | (Venture) 1969 | You never know where superior talent will turn up. You may find it on the streets of New York, or on the beach at Waikiki. It could be in a bar in Peoria, or in a cornfield in Keokuk. It could even turn up in Calgary, Alberta.

The one thing that struck me when I moved to Calgary in January of 1966, was the fact that this city had more to offer than just oil and the Calgary Stampede. It had some of the finest musicians I’d met in 12 years of American and Canadian broadcasting.

There was that ethnic group called the Irish Rovers that was starting to make a little noise . . . and then there were the rock bands . . . over a hundred of them. Many of them seemed to have the talent to make it big. All they needed was a break.

Tired and broke

A record was released . . . then a second, and a third, and a fourth. The fame of the 49th Parallel began to spread. Bit by bit, the appearances ranged farther afield from Calgary ’til they had covered virtually every corner of Canada and the United States.

Between trips, I saw the 49th Parallel come back to Calgary, dead-tired and often broke. I saw them laughing and happy as they sat in my rumpus room ’til 6:00a.m. I saw them sad and discouraged as they wondered whether the handful of change in their pockets was worth all this work.

And then came the big day when things really started happening . . . the day when the popularity of the 49th Parallel justified a move from Calgary, Alberta, to Hollywood.

Today, continent-wide tours are commonplace and TV appearances happen all the time, but the folks in Calgary still think of the 49th Parallel as the home-town guys.

49th Parallel | Missouri | (Venture) 1969

In Southern Alberta, they’re still known as the CKXL 49th Parallel. Elsewhere in North America, they’re known as just plain great. Listen carefully to this album.

Several friends of mine have put their hearts and souls into it . . . and a little of my own heart and soul has gone along with them. I’m sure this is the album that will make the 49th Parallel a household word, and when it happens, Calgary will be the home of 370,000 very proud people.

This album has surpassed my expectations. Having been a follower of the 49th Parallel for some time I expected to hear a great new sound. I was surprised and pleased to hear something that was more than great.

While they were struggling in Canada’s western provinces, the Parallel were a tribute to Canada and Canadian popular music scene. With this album they will spread the word that Canada has a great deal to offer in talent. They will no doubt become a part of the long list of Canadians who have made a name for themselves on the international music scene.

New concept

This album will set a trend in the new concept of the culture of today. If music is the message of this media, then this record tells it as it is The story of the talent of the 49th Parallel is engraved within the grooves of this record. It is a genuine sound that has a universal origin.

If music that is popular today will be classical in the years to come, this album will qualify. When you listen carefully to, the combination of words and music, you realize that, really, tolerance is the only thing that fails to bridge the communication gap.

What is only popular today will possibly be a tradition and a folk culture of our time, someday, because of creative work the likes of which is contained in this album. The 49th Parallel know their craft. There can be no greater compliment. (Walt Grealis, Editor/Publisher)

The mix of ’60s pop sounds and garagy rock works well here, and there are surprising production fillips (i.e. the acoustic guitar licks on the opening “Now That I’m A Man”).

A few songs flirt with soul with reasonable success, while others have some noisy fuzz guitar.

I think this is much better and more ambitious than a lot of US Monkees-style pop albums (i.e. Lewis & Clark Expedition), but it’s probably not unusual enough to explain the hefty price tag.

The Canadian an US pressings seem to be about equally rare.

The band appears on the vintage sampler The Best Of The Greatest (Birchmount, 1969), with their excellent, garage flavoured early RCA tracks (also included on most of the reissues). (The Acid Archives)