by Richard Skelly » Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:31 am
I’m probably missing a band or two. But 49th Parallel begat Painter (Billboard charting West Coast Woman) which more or less begat Hammersmith.
Funny how Mercury Records, long before Bachman Turner Overdrive, had a thing for Western Canadian talent. A backstage meeting with Brenda Lee’s manager led Terry Jacks to snare a Mercury deal in 1965 for his band The Chessmen. A year later Vancouver psych rockers Painted Ship got picked up in the US by Mercury. Yet another Vancouver based band, Brahman, also signed on the dotted line in 1971. Then, following BTO’s success, both Hammersmith and Susan Jacks got Mercury releases.