ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 258 THE GUESS WHO - AMERICAN WOMAN (1970 - 45TH ANNIVERSARY)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Artist: The Guess Who

Genre: Rock

Nationality: Canadian

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: American Woman

Producer: Jack Richardson

Release Date: January 1970

Running Time: 38:55

RIAA Certification: Unknown

Peak Billboard Chart Position: 9 (Billboard)

Singles: No Time (Billboard #5)/American Woman (Billboard #1)/No Sugar Tonight (Billboard #1) (all three singles hit number 1 in Canada)

 

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it). 

Hope you folks aren't tired of the 70's yet, because we have a long, long way to go.  But I will quietly slip out of 1971 for a week in order to bring you an anniversary album, being that tomorrow is First Friday.  This week we travel North to Canada for The Guess Who. Their 1970 album American Woman is this week's Album of the Week.  

American woman registered a very respectable number 9 showing on the Billboard 200 and boasted two U.S. number one singles and three Canadian number one singles (all listed in the outline above).  The album stayed on the charts for over a year and became the band's most successful release.  This is the last Guess Who album to feature Randy Bachman until the early 80s.  No Time is a song that was originally released on the previous album Canned Wheat and re-recorded for this album.

I bought this a couple of years ago and I like it.  To me there isn't a dud.  The hits are fabulous and still get major air play on classic rock radio stations.  And Bachman's lead guitar tone on No Time is so cool.  The biggest sleeper or hidden gem for me is 8.15.  That is one killer rock song.  I think Burton Cummings is an awesome vocalist.  I do have the reissued album that contains one bonus track, so I included it here.  If you don't already own it, you can pick this bad boy up with bonus track and all for just under six U.S. dollars.  In the words of The Who, I call that a bargain.

Side note: I tried to search for the album's certification on the RIAA site but I couldn't find anything.

1. American Woman

2. No Time

3. Talisman

4. No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature

5. 969 (The Oldest Man)

6. When Friends Fall Out

7. 8.15

8. Proper Stranger

9. Humpty's Blues/American Woman (Epilogue)

10. Got To Find Another Way (Bonus Track)

[Jon]

It was certified Gold, in case anyone is wondering.

I like this album. Never owned it, but I like The Guess Who and I like them more than BTO. That's what it is.

You're finally right with your statement of there being no duds on this album. Solid album from beginning to end (and bonus end). Maybe one day I'll pick this up, maybe not. "8.15" is a good song as you mentioned. Wonder who the woman on the cover is.

Nice post.

[Scott]

something tells me you know who that woman is...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Where did you find the Gold certification info at?  I searched the RIAA database and got zilch on The Guess Who.

[Jon]

You need to type it in as "guess who", with the quotation marks.

https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Damn.  Thanks man.

[Niels (Mod)]

A pleasant surprise, listening to this album.

I knew of The Guess Who (and off course the song "American Woman"), but I never heard a full album.

The singer has a GREAT voice. He sounds like a cross between Robert PLant and Brian Connelly from The Sweet.

The album has a good production, even though it does sound a bit dated.

I guess it wasn't just Ian Anderson playing the flute in those days. The instrumental track is probably the weakest.

My favorite is Proper Stranger.

Humpty's Blues sounds very much like something from Zeppelin's first album.

Very nice post, RJ.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Glad you enjoyed it.  Are you enjoying the overall trip through the seventies?  

I'm not sure where I'm going after the first half of the seventies.  Maybe the first half of the nineties or maybe the last half of the sixties.  I'm enjoying it because it's making me pick up albums I've never owned or heard.  I'll be in the seventies until way later this year.

[Niels (Mod)]

I love the 70's, more than any other decade.

Music-wise, I'm fed up with the 80's, so the last part of the 60's, or first part of 90's sounds good to me.

[Scott]

Heres another one of the bands my older brothers played tons of.  I don't recall a specific album they played but all the hits tunes here are obviously extremely familiar and Classic Radio staples...

I, unlike Jon, love Bachman and BTO IMO surpassed The Guess Who but that's most likely because the hit-maker left the band!  American Woman, No Time, and No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature are simply killer, but its these never heard before tracks that are intriguing...

Talisman, certainly a period piece.  The poetic and hippie lyrical contents is a great way to transport yourself to that time period.  Not that great of a tune, but still a fun listen.  I loved the blues scale Bachman plays on his acoustic at the end though, so BTO of him to do that!

969 - an instrumental.  Though I didn't expect a Guess Who instrumental its not that surprising since Bachman did several in the years t follow. 

8:15 is awesome!  Nice funk-rock mix.  Proper Stranger sounds familiar, but only vaguely.  I like this tune!  Humptys Blues - wow, blues indeed!  Got To Find Another Way - nice closer (hey! oh wait I've already been the only one who's done that)

Its a ton of fun to hear the influences in the band that you never would have heard had you listened to this in 1970.  The BTO moments were plentiful and this was a great and fun listening experience!