Let me state this up front: The Guess Who is the best Canadian Band EVER. Period. From their humble beginnings before their major label debut, to their commercial apex and subsequent slow descent into breakup, to their reunion tours in the early 2000's and inevitable second dissolution, they've proven that they're the only band in the country that can lay claim to both the pop and rock and roll championship titles.
Now I know there are those that would make the claim for Rush, or the Tragically Hip, or April Wine and other talented, successful Canadian bands. But The Guess Who is the only one of them that has a storyline that extends backwards into the antiquity of the 60s maelstrom and continues to this day, with the endless drama and bickering about who got kicked out or left of their own choosing, who owns the franchise name, who deserves the franchise name, which player has the most talent, whose career could survive a solo outing, religion, alcohol, recordings that sold mega amounts or micro amounts - in short a reflection of the Beatles' career - complete with the fans' fading hopes that they'll all make nice someday and put out one more classic album. There's not really enough Beatles left for that - but there's plenty of the right players left to make a proper Guess Who album, and I don't mean the band of bassist Jim Kale's which tours under the name simply because he owns the rights.
Of course, I'm referring to the two big guns: Burton Cummings, the voice of classic radio hits such as "These Eyes" and "American Woman;" and Randy Bachman, guitar virtuoso extraordinaire, capable of covering all the bases from the jazz stylings of "Looking Out for Number One," to the three chord plod of "Takin' Care of Business." In fact, last year they toured under the name Cummings/Bachman using seasoned road band The Carpet Frogs as their Guess Who surrogates. I caught one of those shows: they ran through about 22 songs, all of them hits (on Canadian radio anyways), some from their Guess Who days, some from Cummings' solo career, and some from Bachmans' other great Canadian hit making machine, Bachman Turner Overdrive.
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Article comments
1 - al
Your article is 100% correct! I saw the GW in 1970 and have been a fan for life. You could tell that from the talent they had. It was the best (from Canada) and this has been born out through the years because their catalog still plays on the radio and they sound great to this day. I am eagerly awaiting the up-coming Jukebox CD and seeing them this fall in the states.
2 - Connie Phillips
Congrats a link to this article now appears on our Myspace Profile page.
3 - Triniman
I have always considered the Guess Who the best group from Canada, but then a few people have argued that the honour should to to The Band.
Are you familiar with The Band?
I saw The Guess Who (with McDougall replacing Kale) in the year 2000 at the baseball park in Winnipeg. That show ended up as a DVD, and I blogged it about in Blogcritics as well as last year's Bachman & Cummings show at the MTS Centre. Check out the DVD if you haven't. It's magical.
4 - JC Mosquito
Ah, yes.. the Band. Absolutely wonderful. Rock of Ages, Big Pink & the self titled album are all must haves.
But I wouldn't put the Band in the running for the greatest Canadian band, for two reasons. The first, if that in the greater public's perception, they're linked to the looming presence of that great American based icon Bob Dylan. The second is that their music itself is rooted in a very general all encompassing rural American tradition, whereas I would suggest in Canada the rural traditional music tends to be very ethnic and regional, two terms I don't think apply to the Band.
Thanx for the comment!
Skeeter.
5 - alessandro Nicolo
There should have been a Neil Young Band ;<)
Can't disagree with the GW.
6 - Glen Boyd
When I was a younger, thinner, and better looking guy with long hair and a 'stache, I used to get told I look like Burton Cummings a lot. Well him, and that Buck Dharma guy from Blue Oyster Cult.
Ahhh, the good old days...
Anyway, I always liked that song "No Time" by the GW. Killer guitar solo on that one -- just enough flash to get your attention, yet economical enough to leave you wanting more. Cummings was a decent writer too -- I'd rate "American Woman," "No Sugar Tonite" and "Star Baby" all pretty high on the sophistipop meter (if there is such a thing of course).
So Skeeter, your contributions here continue to be very impressive (I dug the garage band thing a whole lot too). Keep up the good work there kid --there may just be something to this whole writing thing after all.
(Seriously though, it's nice to new voices here who have actual credibility -- or at least actually know enough about music to appreciate it's artistic merits over it's commercial sales).
Nice work Skeet!
-Glen
7 - GL Hauptfleisch
Nice write-up--thanks for the reminder. I've always been a big fan of Guess Who's seemingly effortless pop/rock-smarts. On target about the Band, too--as great as they were, songs like "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" showed they weren't necessarily concerned with embracing Canadian themes.
8 - JC Mosquito
Thanx, GL - but you know, I was listening to the Band last night - man, the Band is great, but those Toussaint horn charts on Rock of Ages are heavenly.
And double thanx to you Glen - hope I live up to your standards. I'm finding it hard to get my writing rhythm back, but it seems to get easier with each article, or at least two steps forward & one back in any case.