THE GUESS WHO
''ROAD FOOD''
APRIL 1974
35:59
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1 Star Baby 02:40 (Cummings)
2 Attila's Blues 04:52 (The Guess Who)
3 Straighten Out 02:22 (Cummings, Wallace)
4 Don't You Want Me 02:19 (Cummings)
5 One Way Road To Hell 05:25 (Cummings, Wallace)
6 Clap For The Wolfman 04:15 (Cummings, Wallace, Winter)
7 Pleasin' For Reason 03:18 (McDougall, Cummings)
8 Road Food 03:38 (Wallace, Cummings)
9 Ballad Of The Last Five Years 07:06 (Cummings)
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Burton Cummings – vocals, keyboards
Kurt Winter – guitars
Don McDougall – guitars, vocals
Bill Wallace – bass, vocals
Garry Peterson – percussion
Horns On 8:
Jack Zaza - tenor
Gary Morgan - Baritone
Eugene Amaro - Tenor
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REVIEW/AMG
Jim Newsom
Road Food found the Guess Who taking a jazzy turn in a different direction from the guitar-soaked sound the group had mined to popularity for several years. Burton Cummings' piano was moved more to the front of the mix for this recording. "Star Baby" was the first single released from the album, and though it's catchy and sounds like a hit, it wasn't. However, the novelty tune "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring Wolfman Jack himself, did hit the Top Ten, providing the band with its last visit there. The rest of the album is uneven, with some snazzy, jazzy tunes and a couple of overblown ballads.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Huey
While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s. The band grew out of vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan (born Allan Kobel) and guitarist Randy Bachman's Winnipeg-based group Chad Allan and the Expressions, originally known as first the Silvertones and then the Reflections. The remainder of the lineup featured bassist Jim Kale, pianist Bob Ashley, and drummer Garry Peterson. The Expressions recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1965, which became a surprise hit in Canada and reached the U.S. Top 40. When the Expressions recorded an entire album of the same name, its record company, Quality, listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise. Ashley had been replaced by keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings, who became lead vocalist when Allan departed in 1966. the Guess Who embarked on an unsuccessful tour of England and returned home to record commercials and appear on the television program Let's Go, hosted by Chad Allan. However, further American success eluded the Guess Who until the 1969 Top Ten hit "These Eyes"; the recording session for the accompanying album, Wheatfield Soul, was paid for by producer Jack Richardson, who mortgaged his house to do so. Canned Wheat Packed by the Guess Who produced three Top 40 singles later that year. In 1970, the Guess Who released the cuttingly sarcastic riff-rocker "American Woman," which, given its anti-American putdowns, ironically became their only U.S. chart-topper. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten and first gold album, and the group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that "American Woman" be dropped from the set list.)
Trouble was brewing on the horizon, though. Guitarist Bachman, having recently converted to Mormonism, took issue with the band's typical rock & roll lifestyle, leading to clashes with Cummings. Finding the atmosphere unbearable, Bachman left the group in July 1970 and formed Brave Belt with Chad Allan, which later evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. His place in the Guess Who was taken by Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw, and the title track from their next album, "Share the Land," climbed into the Top Ten later that year, and several more singles charted afterwards. The group returned to the Top Ten one last time in 1974 with the novelty single "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring dialogue by deejay Wolfman Jack. Burdened by shifting personnel and loss of direction, Cummings broke up the band in 1975 and tried a solo career. The lineup from the Guess Who's glory years reunited in 1983, and a version of the group with constantly shifting musicians (occasionally original members) continues to tour.
********************
BIO/WIKIPEDIA
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TO THE TOP
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''ROAD FOOD''
APRIL 1974
35:59
********************
1 Star Baby 02:40 (Cummings)
2 Attila's Blues 04:52 (The Guess Who)
3 Straighten Out 02:22 (Cummings, Wallace)
4 Don't You Want Me 02:19 (Cummings)
5 One Way Road To Hell 05:25 (Cummings, Wallace)
6 Clap For The Wolfman 04:15 (Cummings, Wallace, Winter)
7 Pleasin' For Reason 03:18 (McDougall, Cummings)
8 Road Food 03:38 (Wallace, Cummings)
9 Ballad Of The Last Five Years 07:06 (Cummings)
********************
Burton Cummings – vocals, keyboards
Kurt Winter – guitars
Don McDougall – guitars, vocals
Bill Wallace – bass, vocals
Garry Peterson – percussion
Horns On 8:
Jack Zaza - tenor
Gary Morgan - Baritone
Eugene Amaro - Tenor
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Jim Newsom
Road Food found the Guess Who taking a jazzy turn in a different direction from the guitar-soaked sound the group had mined to popularity for several years. Burton Cummings' piano was moved more to the front of the mix for this recording. "Star Baby" was the first single released from the album, and though it's catchy and sounds like a hit, it wasn't. However, the novelty tune "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring Wolfman Jack himself, did hit the Top Ten, providing the band with its last visit there. The rest of the album is uneven, with some snazzy, jazzy tunes and a couple of overblown ballads.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Huey
While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s. The band grew out of vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan (born Allan Kobel) and guitarist Randy Bachman's Winnipeg-based group Chad Allan and the Expressions, originally known as first the Silvertones and then the Reflections. The remainder of the lineup featured bassist Jim Kale, pianist Bob Ashley, and drummer Garry Peterson. The Expressions recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1965, which became a surprise hit in Canada and reached the U.S. Top 40. When the Expressions recorded an entire album of the same name, its record company, Quality, listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise. Ashley had been replaced by keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings, who became lead vocalist when Allan departed in 1966. the Guess Who embarked on an unsuccessful tour of England and returned home to record commercials and appear on the television program Let's Go, hosted by Chad Allan. However, further American success eluded the Guess Who until the 1969 Top Ten hit "These Eyes"; the recording session for the accompanying album, Wheatfield Soul, was paid for by producer Jack Richardson, who mortgaged his house to do so. Canned Wheat Packed by the Guess Who produced three Top 40 singles later that year. In 1970, the Guess Who released the cuttingly sarcastic riff-rocker "American Woman," which, given its anti-American putdowns, ironically became their only U.S. chart-topper. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten and first gold album, and the group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that "American Woman" be dropped from the set list.)
Trouble was brewing on the horizon, though. Guitarist Bachman, having recently converted to Mormonism, took issue with the band's typical rock & roll lifestyle, leading to clashes with Cummings. Finding the atmosphere unbearable, Bachman left the group in July 1970 and formed Brave Belt with Chad Allan, which later evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. His place in the Guess Who was taken by Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw, and the title track from their next album, "Share the Land," climbed into the Top Ten later that year, and several more singles charted afterwards. The group returned to the Top Ten one last time in 1974 with the novelty single "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring dialogue by deejay Wolfman Jack. Burdened by shifting personnel and loss of direction, Cummings broke up the band in 1975 and tried a solo career. The lineup from the Guess Who's glory years reunited in 1983, and a version of the group with constantly shifting musicians (occasionally original members) continues to tour.
********************
BIO/WIKIPEDIA
********************
TO THE TOP
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