Trombonist and arranger Laurie Bower was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario in 1933. After studying music at the University of Toronto, he played in the dance bands of Benny Louis, Ozzie Williams, and Mart Kenney, then began a career as a session musician and choral arranger. He formed The Laurie Bower Singers in 1969, and the group went on to record five LPs over the next twenty-one years, as well as a number of jingles and advertisements. In 1981, Bower became a founding member of The Spitfire Band, and throughout the decade also played in bands and orchestras led by Peter Appleyard, Guido Basso and Jim Galloway, and with Al Lawrie's Jazz Corporation.

Got A Feelin' For Love, which was Canadian Talent Library release #S 5199, was recorded in 1976 at RCA Studios in Toronto, by producer Mal Thompson and engineer/mixers Hayward Parrott and David Balan. The Laurie Bower Singers were Bower, Billy Misener, Phil Sykes, Judy Tate, Colina Philips and Stephanie Taylor, and the backing band was Ben McPeek on keyboards, Jim Morgan on bass, Brian Russell and Bobby Edwards on guitar, Dave Brown on drums and Dick Smith on percussion. The string section was John Dembreck, Peter Schenkman (who also performed on records by Funkadelic and John Cage), Albert Pratz, Andrew Benac, Beauna Neilson and Barbara McDougall, and the brass and reeds section consisted of Laurie Bower and Bob Livingston on trombones, Guido Basso and Arnie Chycoski (another Funkadelic alum) on trumpets, and Jack Zaza on english horn, recorder, accordion, tin whistle and baritone sax. "Glitter Queen," which was written by Ben McPeek and Tom Gallant, is a mid-tempo disco romp, with a bit of very mid-'70s synth bubbling up throughout.

Glitter Queen

This Canadian Talent Library LP, actually entitled Take Me Home, Country Roads, was released in 1982, although it definitely sounds like it was recorded during the '70s. There are no liner notes, so there's no information about where it was recorded or who played on it. The entire album is made up of covers of songs by a mix of Canadian and American artists; "Lay It On Me" is a slick Bee Gees number, while the bittersweet "Love And Maple Syrup" was originally by Gordon Lightfoot.

Lay It On Me
Love And Maple Syrup