The Guess Who
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The Guess Who is a Canadian rock music band from Winnipeg, Manitoba that was one of the first to establish a major successful following in their own country as well as abroad in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were the first Canadian rock group to have a No.1 hit on the American Music Charts.
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History
The band was originally known as "Chad Allan & The Expressions" before their record label tried a stunt of hiding the name of the band with the words "Guess Who?" The reception proved so positive that the name stuck. As the group lineup changed, so did their sound. 1969's "These Eyes" was the group's first Top Ten hit under new group leader Burton Cummings. By the beginning of the 1970s, the group moved towards an edgier hard-rock sound with the album "American Woman", which featured among its tracks the title song (the only Number One hit the group had in the U.S.), "When Friends Fall Out" (a short ditty that was sort of a cross between Strawberry Alarm Clock, Jefferson Airplane and the Lennon Sisters), and the Top Ten hit "No Time".
Group differences led Randy Bachman to leave the group, return to Winnipeg, and form Brave Belt, which eventually evolved into the hit group Bachman Turner Overdrive. The Guess Who continued with more hit singles such as "Share The Land" and "Clap For The Wolfman" (an homage to disc jockey Wolfman Jack, who incidentally, lent his own voice to the recording).
The Guess Who broke up in 1975, but a new incarnation has since been formed and continues to tour in the tradition of the group and sound Cummings made famous.
In 2001, a year after the Guess Who went on a cross-Canada national tour, the band received honourary doctorates at Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba. For lead vocalist Cummings, it was a privilege to receive the doctorate, since he did not graduate from high school.
In 2004, Jim Kale started touring with his version of the Guess Who (known as the "Klones" by Cummings), Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings are planning on touring as the Bachman-Cummings Band in the summer of 2005 with Toronto's The Carpet Frogs.
Major Hits
- "Shakin' All Over" - 1960--original by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates; 1965--covered by The Guess Who; 1970--covered by The Who
- "Laughing"
- "These Eyes"
- "American Woman" - The first Canadian rock song to hit #1 in the American Music Charts
- "Clap For the Wolfman"
- "No Sugar Tonight"
- "Hand Me Down World"
- "Share The Land"
- "Undun", which fans sometimes call "She's Come Undone"
- "No Time"
Lineups
- 1960 The Silvertones: Chad Allen (Allen Cobell), Bob Ashley, Brian Donald, Johnny Glowa, Jim Kale, Larry Wah
- 1961 Chad Allen & The Silvertones: Chad Allen, Bob Ashley, Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Carol West
- 1962 Chad Allen & The Reflections: Chad Allen, Bob Ashley, Randy bachman, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
- 1964 Chad Allen (Allen Cobell), Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Bob Ashley, Garry Peterson
- 1965 The Guess Who: Chad Allen, Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Burton Cummings
- 1966 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Bruce Decker, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
- 1966 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
- 1970 Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Greg Leskiw, Garry Peterson, Kurt Winter
- 1972 Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Donnie McDougall, Garry Peterson, Kurt Winter
- 1972 Burton Cummings, Donnie McDougall, Garry Peterson, Bill Wallace, Kurt Winter
- 1974 Burton Cummings, Garry Peterson, Domenic Troiano, Bill Wallace
- 1979 David Inglis, Jim Kale, Vance Masters, Donnie McDougall, Kurt Winter
- 1979 David Inglis, Jim Kale, Vance Masters, Donnie McDougall
- 1980 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Garry Peterson, Bill Wallace
- 1982 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
- 1990 Terry Hatty, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Dale Russell, Leonard Shaw (Klones)
- 1997 Carl Dixon, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Dale Russell, Leonard Shaw (Klones)
- 1998 Carl Dixon, Garry Peterson, Dale Russell, Ken Sinnaeve, Leonard Shaw (Klones)
- 1999 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
- 2000 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Donnie McDougall, Garry Peterson
- 2000 Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Donnie McDougall, Garry Peterson, Bill Wallace
- 2004 Bobby Bilan, Carl Dixon, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Leonard Shaw (Klones)
Discography
- 1965 Shakin' All Over
- 1965 Hey Ho (What You Do To Me)
- 1966 It's Time
- 1968 The Guess Who
- 1968 A Wild Pair (half Guess Who/half Staccatos (Five Man Electrical Band))
- 1968 Canned Wheat
- 1968 Wheatfield Soul
- 1969 Born In Canada
- 1970 American Woman
- 1970 Share the Land
- 1971 Guess Who Play The Guess Who
- 1971 The Best Of The Guess Who
- 1971 So Long, Bannatyne
- 1972 Shakin' All Over (re-issue)
- 1972 The Guess Who Live At The Paramount
- 1972 The History Of The Guess Who
- 1972 Rockin'
- 1972 Wild One
- 1973 The Best Of The Guess Who (re-issue)
- 1973 The Best Of The Guess Who Volume 2
- 1973 Artificial Paradise
- 1973 #10
- 1974 Road Food
- 1974 Flavours
- 1975 Power In The Music
- 1976 The Way They Were
- 1977 The Greatest Hits Of The Guess Who
- 1978 Guess Who's Back?
- 1979 All This For a Song
- 1984 Together Again
- 1986 The Best Of The Guess Who Live
- 1988 Track Record: The Guess Who Collection
- 1995 Liberty
- 1995 Lonely One
- 1997 The Guess Who: The Ultimate Collection
- 1997 Razor's Edge
- 1998 The Spirit Lives On (Live)
- 1999 Down The Road (Live)
- 1999 The Guess Who: Greatest Hits
- 2000 American Woman (Remastered)
- 2000 Live At The Paramount (Remastered)
- 2000 Share the Land (Remastered)
- 2000 Running Back Thru Canada (Live)
- 2001 This Time Long Ago
- 2003 Platinum & Gold Collection: The Guess Who
- 2003 The Guess Who: Anthology
- 2004 Wheatfield Soul/Artificial Paradise (Remastered, The Guess Who x2)
- 2004 So Long Bannatyne/#10 (Remastered, The Guess Who x2)
- 2004 Rockin'/Flavours (Remastered, The Guess Who x2)
- 2004 Road Food/Power in the Music (Remastered, The Guess Who x2)
- 2004 The Best of Running Back Thru Canada
- 2005 Let's Go
External Links
- Randy Bachman's official website (http://www.randybachman.com)
- Bill Wallace's website (http://www.beancakes.com)
- Donnie McDougall's website (http://www.duckrecords.com)
- Greg Leskiw's website (http://www.swingsoniq.com/)
- Vance Masters' website (http://www.members.shaw.ca/vancemasters)
- Mark Chadbourne's All Hashed Out Guess Who web site (http://community-2.webtv.net/mmchadbourne/AHO)
- Steiss's Guess Who Site (includes lyrics of most Guess Who songs) (http://www.ghg.net/bnsteiss)
- Excellent Guesswhooligan web site (http://guesswhofans.com)
- The Guess Who's iTunes Music Store album list (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?artistId=216203) (requires iTunes to be installed)