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The Guess Who

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The Guess Who are a Canadian rock 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 in the United States (see 1970 in music).

Contents

History

Early years

The Guess Who started out as a local Winnipeg band in 1962 called Chad Allan and the Reflections (later changed to Chad Allan and the Expressions). Each of the members of the band was born in Winnipeg. Burton Cummings replaced Allan as singer and on keyboard, and as leader of the band in 1965.

The band signed with Quality Records and had their first hit with "Shakin' All Over", which reached No. 1 in Canada and 22 in the U.S. Strangely, the name The Guess Who was born following the album “Shakin’ All Over”, when radio stations refused to play their music because they were Canadian. The record company then pulled a stunt, wrapping the album in a plain white cover with the words “Guess Who?” on it, trying to capitalize on curiosity. The plan worked, and the album sold more than 2 million copies. After that the group was known as The Guess Who.

Success

As the group's lineup changed, so did their sound. 1969's "These Eyes" was the group's first Top 10 hit under new group leader Burton Cummings and their new label RCA Records. By the beginning of the 1970s, the group moved toward an edgier hard-rock sound with the album American Woman, the title track for which, "American Woman" was their only No. 1 hit in the U.S., and the Top 10 hit "No Time".

Group differences led Randy Bachman to leave the group during their unfinished album The Way They Were, return to Winnipeg, and form Brave Belt, which eventually evolved into the supergroup Bachman Turner Overdrive. Bachman was replaced by two guitarists, fellow Winnipeggers, Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw. Winter became the main songwriting collaborator with Cummings. 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). In 1972, they recorded their highly acclaimed album "Live at the Paramount," which was recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. This preceded an overseas tour in November-December 1972 to Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

The Guess Who broke up in 1975. Cummings then went on to forge a successful solo career.

Reformations

In 1983, Bachman, Cummings, Jim Kale and Garry Peterson reunited to play a series of gigs and record the Together Again album.

A new incarnation has since been formed and continues to tour in the tradition of the group and sound that Cummings made famous.

Kale, while on tour in Kenora, Ontario, found out from Cummings and Bachman that the name of the band had never been registered and drove back to Winnipeg to register it. This is the reason Cummings and Bachman can't use the name unless they hire Kale, which they refuse to do because of his unreliable nature on tour.

In 2001, a year after the Guess Who went on a cross-Canada national tour, the band received honorary 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, Kale started touring with his version of the Guess Who (known as the "Klones" by Cummings). Bachman and Cummings were planning on touring as Bachman & Cummings in the summer of 2005 with Toronto's The Carpet Frogs.

Bachman toured in 2005 with a group called Randy Bachman's Rock Thing.

On April 25, 2006, Bachman and Cummings reunited and performed hits from The Guess Who, and solo careers at Club 279 in the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto in front of a small crowd of about 150 to 200 people. This concert was not open to the public - one had to be invited or win tickets.

An entire "Bachman Cummings" tour was planned for the summer of 2006 for Canadian audiences. The Guess Who visited Ashland, Kentucky, on july 5, 2006, for a one-night-only free show with The Bellamy Brothers.[link] The band played three brief concerts at the Flower Power Concert Series at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Forida.

Lineups

The Silvertones

Chad Allan & The Silvertones

Chad Allan & The Reflections

The Guess Who

Discography

Albums

Major hit singles

All of the above included Randy Bachman before his departure.

DVDs

Books

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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