The Guess Who Canada's Premier Rock & Roll Legends!
by Jeff Caldwell
The best thing about growing up with older siblings is,you get exposed to some great things at a younger age. I was exposed to The Guess Who by my older brother Bruce,when their hit was Clock on the Wall,three years before These Eyes. They have been my favorite band ever since. The Guess Who would play the Lakehead numerous times before they broke through with These Eyes in 1969,my brother Bruce became friends with them during this time and would help them set up while here. I recall Bruce receiving Christmas cards from Gary Peterson the drummer. Because of this,I've met the band through the years as well.
The Guess Who started out in the early 1960's in Winnipeg as Chad Allen & the Expression's, hitting the USA Top 40 in 1965 With "Shakin All Over". Burton Cummings joined the band in 1966 leaving his band "The Deverons",initially as the keyboard player and sharing vocals with Chad Allen,Cummings doing the more edgier tunes. Chad Allen left The Guess Who shortly after, and Burton Cumming took over as lead singer,and the lineup of Burton Cummings,Randy Bachman,Gary Peterson and Jim Kale was set. An ill fated tour to England in 1967,brought the band home to Winnipeg not only broke,but deeply in debt. Perseverance would become the bands mantra, as the band played on extensively determined to make it and get out of debt. A big break came their way as they became the Winnipeg house band of CBC's "Lets Go" hosted oddly enough by Chad Allen. Jack Richardson of Toronto saw The Guess Who on "Lets Go" and bought their record contract from Quality Records,mortgaged his home to finance the recording of the album "Wheatfield Soul" in New York. Off the album came "These Eyes",and as Burton Cummings has said several times,"their lives were never the same". The Guess Who followed up "These Eyes" with "Laughing",another big hit for the band. A DJ in the southern USA started playing the flip side of "Laughing","Undun" and The Guess Who had the rare achievement of a two sided hit record. In 1970,during a performance Randy Bachman broke a guitar string,after changing it Burton Cummings was late coming back on stage and the band began to jam, Cummings started singing whatever came into his head and the band unknowingly had created the biggest hit of their career,"American Woman". "American Woman" hit #1 in the USA charts,the first time any Canadian band achieved that feat. In 1970 The Guess Who outsold all other music acts,including "The Beatles"! The joy would be short lived as Randy Bachman left the band shortly after. Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw were brought in replacing Bachman though Leskiw would stay a short time before Don McDougall replaced him. Jim Kale left in 1972 with Bill Wallace taking over on bass. The final change in The Guess Who's lineup came with Dominec Troiano of Toronto replacing Kurt Winter and Don McDougall on guitar in 174. Troiano was the only member of The Guess Who that was not from Winnipeg.The hits continued through the changes in personnel,and in 1975,Burton Cummings had reached the end with The Guess Who,and the run of The Guess Who had come to an end with their final album "Power in the Music". Jim Kale would later trademark the name "The Guess Who",and tour with other singers and players with minimal success. Meanwhile Burton Cummings had an incredible solo career,Randy Bachman had enormous success with BTO,and both toured with Beatle Ringo Starr's "All Star Band". Through the years,there were periods of acrimonious relationships with band members and in 1983 they reunited for a short lived reunion tour. In 1998 the four original members were asked by Manitoba Premier Gary Filman to reunite to play at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. The reunion was a positive one culminating in a 2000 "Running Back Through Canada" tour with Don McDougall added and Bill Wallace replacing Jim Kale. Prior to the tour The Guess Who returned to their roots with a "Community Club" concert played by the original four. The tour line up opened in St John's, crossed Canada,with CBC and Much Music special's, played the Halftime at the Grey Cup in Calgary,both a CD & DVD of the tour followed. A tour of the USA followed and the swan song of The Guess Who would be the SARS concert in 2003,closing the book on Canada's greatest band. Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have collaborated on a CD of their favorites,a CBC special and DVD. Jim Kale's version of the band tours with Gary Peterson and somtimes Kale, with a replacement singer trying to sound like Burton. John Einarson of Winnipeg has written a great book on The Guess Who,"American Woman" available from Amazon.
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