Nobody Talks Enough About The Guess Who

When The Guess Who broke through in the U.S with the hit single “These Eyes,” their label politely asked, “Can you record another song like that one?” “These Eyes” was exactly what Canadian rock bands were looking for back in 1969, a bona fide hit across the border. The track went gold in America (#6 on the Hot 100).

As nicely as their record company had requested a follow-up hit, doing so was no small endeavor. Somehow, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings pulled it off. One morning, after playing a few gigs on Vancouver Island, the pair was waiting for an early ferry to take them back to the mainland. With time to kill, Bachman grabbed an acoustic guitar and started strumming chords. Cummings threw around some melodies and lyrics, and before the ferry had even docked, the songwriting duo had crafted “Laughing,” another smash single and top ten hit.

Ask and you shall receive.

Wheatfield Soul and Canned Wheat, both released in 1969, showed anyone paying attention that Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman could write songs with the best of them. While the duo might have been channeling the sound of The Byrds or even The Zombies, Cummings’ driving vocals on tracks like “Undun” and “No Time” sent listeners down smooth, freshly paved highways with detours down gritty gravel side streets.

By the end of 1970, The Guess Who had released two more albums. Yes, that’s four albums in two years for those keeping score. The singles “American Woman” and “No Sugar Tonight” blasted over the U.S. airwaves like rolling thunder, both reaching #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Rock fans certainly noticed a change in the band’s sound: less production in the studio, perhaps an extra guitar solo or two, and a shift toward what would become the classic rock sound of the ’70s. Rock music was evolving, and no one saw what was coming better than The Guess Who.

But 1970 was a turning point for the group, and as often happens with bands, things changed abruptly. Randy Bachman left The Guess Who and eventually teamed up with Fred Turner to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973. While The Guess Who had some success after Bachman left, BTO steamrolled American Radio. The band’s first five albums went gold, with Not Fragile reaching #1. “Takin’ Care of Business” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” rattled speakers in high school parking lots. The band’s toothy gear logo appeared on t-shirts and posters. Bachman-Turner Overdrive had become…a thing.

By the mid-1970s, both bands’ best years were mostly behind them. Rock fans can be fickle or get distracted by shiny things quickly. Although The Guess Who and BTO have distinctly different sounds, their Venn diagram is obviously full of connective tissue. That’s great news for rock fans: you don’t have to choose.

Burton Cummings is seventy-seven years old now. Bachman is eighty-one. Do you know what that means? It means if you played their 8-tracks in your Camaro back in the day, you’re probably collecting Social Security.

For whatever reason, The Guess Who and BTO seem to be underappreciated. There’s a word for that: NEPTA. “Not enough people talk about” The Guess Who and BTO. Perhaps both bands crammed their ’70s catalogue into a tight window. Considering the explosion and evolution of rock during the decade, it’s possible. But make no mistake, no 70’s playlist is complete without their songs.

-Bill Flanigin

Photo: The Guess Who, 1970 (public domain)