FOUNDING MEMBER OF LOVERBOY PAUL DEAN UNEARTHS, RESURRECTS, RESTORES AND RELEASES EPONYMOUS ALBUM OF 60s’ VANCOUVER BAND CANADA-FOX
FOUNDING MEMBER OF LOVERBOY PAUL DEAN
UNEARTHS, RESURRECTS, RESTORES AND RELEASES
EPONYMOUS ALBUM OF 60s’ VANCOUVER BAND
CANADA-FOX
Canada-Fox Band Pictured Above:
Paul Dean, Brian Newcombe, Clyde Harvey, Billy McBeth
ALBUM IS OUT TODAY!
LISTEN HERE
“It’s a labour of love, a way to say thanks to the fans,
for decades of support”
– Paul Dean
TORONTO, ON – April 26, 2024 – Today Paul Dean, founding guitarist of six-time JUNO Award winning, Billboard Top 10 charting band, Loverboy, releases the self-titled debut album of Canada-Fox (originally The Fox). Canada-Fox was Dean’s artistic endeavor before Loverboy. Formed in 1969, the Vancouver based band was comprised of Paul Dean (Guitar), Clyde Harvey (Lead Vocals, Organist), Brian Newcombe (Bassist) and Billy McBeth (Drummer, Vocalist). The release of the album (distributed by Sony Music Canada) is available today on all streaming platforms (listen here).
The 10 song collection, a blend of originals and covers, were originally recorded during a trip to Toronto after the band had penned a deal with RCA Canada. The band met its demise when RCA dropped them after two singles, leaving the Toronto recordings unfinished and untouched. In recent years, the band drummer, McBeth, who was in possession of the original laquer acetates of the album, copied the contents onto a CD and sent it to Dean. “I was blown away by these songs that I hadn’t heard in over 50 years,” recalls Dean. “I isolated the vocals and instruments from the original two-track stereo mix. It took months to restore the recordings, first transferring them to files that could be read by modern mixing software programs, much in the same way that The Beatles reconstructed Now and Then. It was a great journey!”
Remixed and remastered, Canada-Fox’s eponymous album offers a compendium of blues, soul, R&B, funk and psychedelia that recalls those halcyon times, yet remains timeless with a modern sound. Highlights on the album include a spirited mash-up of The Beatles Day Tripper and James Brown’s Licking Stick. Band original, Coochy Coo, is a blues-rocker with a cheeky, sensuous backbeat, while Livin’ My Life has a country feel, complete with a classic Paul Dean guitar solo he’s become known for. This along with a gloriously funky take on Sly Stone’s Sing a Simple Song were recorded in 1971 in Vancouver and Edmonton, respectively. Dean takes the vocal helm on Mr. Tall, a track he penned. The album includes a heavy guitar laden instrumental titled The Fox.
Canada-Fox toured the country extensively, making a name for themselves opening for Steppenwolf across the prairies including gigs in Calgary and Orange County Rock Festival in Edmonton. The band also appeared at the local Calgary date for the famed Festival Express, the train-touring music event which crossed Canada featuring Janis Joplin, The Band and Grateful Dead. To mark the occasion, the band’s manager Lou Blair, who later went on to the same position for Loverboy, suggested the boys cut their long hair as a publicity stunt, which was duly noted in the local paper to mark their three-night stand at Calgary’s Apollo club. “They gave us these pointy sideburns, which was even more ridiculous,” laughs Dean. “Lou turned it into big news, the only downside being our fans fearing we’d turned into undercover narcs.”
CANADA-FOX TRACKLISTING:
Sad All The Time
Coochy Coo
Can’t Let It Get Me Down
Day Tripper / Licking Stick
Mr. Tall
Feeling In My Bones
Livin’ My Life
I Don’t Believe
I’ll Never Change
The Fox
Technical Man
Sing A Simple Song
DOWNLOAD – album artwork
For more information, please visit the band’s website,
or contact Felix Gonzalez at [email protected]