Listening to the Guess Who

I might quibble, a bit, with Triumph. They had a darn solid run from 1977 -87. 3 Gold and 1 Platinum album in the states. You are certainly correct they had a better run in Canada with 8 Gold or Platinum albums. I saw Foghat open for them on the Never Surrender Tour. One of the best shows I have ever seen. I really like Triumph.

 

Which featured Wolfman Jack,to whom it was dedicated and written for!

 

BTW,both The Guess Who and Triumph were on the same label RCA!

 

I always thought Burton Cummings had one of the best rock singing voices.

Many good songs.

 

The same could be said for a band like The Moody Blues. The problem is, no one can agree on what constitutes 'filler'.
I prefer to think of those GW records as eclectic, something the post-Bachman version of the band, in the throes of The Beatles and Zappa, consciously went for. I love them more for it.

 

I stand corrected. I did not know both GW & Triumph had that much success in the US!

 

The story as I always understood it was this: The band was at a loss for a new name, so they held a contest by which listeners would try and guess the name of this band (hence the ?).
Once they found a name they liked, they would then announce that contestant as the winner (ingenious actually).
What they didn't count on was "Shakin' All Over" taking off the way it did. By this point, DJ's where announcing the song title by "Guess Who". It stuck, and the rest is history.

To answer the OP's original question, respectfully I would say you're off base. From the perspective of being a drummer, a life-long fan, and having seen them many times throughout the 70's, 80's, 90's etc, I can tell you that Gary Peterson (drummer) always sounded exactly like his studio recordings. Plus, never had I ever felt that he sounded the least bit like Hal Blaine.

 

There aren't many songs I like better than "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" and "Share The Land".

 

This just came out,5 of the Guess Who's RCA Lps,now grouped together!

 

Almost none of the Original Group is in the current Line-Up,either because of Passing Away or being not invited or Interested.

 

Yet,when it came time to Reform the band,Guess Who (Pun Intended) wasn't invited to join? That's right,it was Burton. He still is upset by this snub!

 

Current Line-Up,according to their Official Facebook page: Jim Kale,Gary Peterson,Leonard Shaw,Derek "Dexter" Sharp and Will Evankovitch...Notice,only Kale and Peterson of the Original '60's Lineup was asked back,not Cummings.

 

The latest version of the Guess Who played at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair in my neck of the woods this past summer. I liked them quite a bit. I was confused after the first song because the singer sounded like a heavy metal singer or something like that. They settled into a comfortable groove playing all the familiar songs. They did a great job on my two favorite songs No Sugar Tonight/

New Mother Nature and Share The Land. I agree that I can take or leave the singer. I also think that drummer Garry Peterson was the only original member that night. The bass player had long blond hair and did not look like Jim Kale. Garry Peterson was the only one who talked about their history so I assume it was just him.

 

Not sure that this was a reunion per se. Jim Kale bought the rights to name back in the late 70's and has been touring with it ever since.
Gary Peterson has been on some of these tours but mostly not.

The closest thing to a reunion that I've ever attended was about 10 years ago. Bachman & Cummings were touring on the bill with Joe Cocker.
The band included Bachman, Cummings, Bill Wallace, Don McDougall, and Gary Peterson. All alumni, fantastic show.
Very hard to top that line up.

 

Jim Kale didn't buy the rights to the Guess Who name from the other members. He discovered that it had never been registered by the band in 1978 and then trademarked it in his own name.

 

Not a chance. I just saw Burton and his band in Calgary in June and it was killer! 3 Hours of non stop hits and solid Rock and Roll. His voice was in excellent shape and the musicianship in his band is serious stuff. My opinion, but I believe they could run circles around Kale, Peterson, and anyone else currently calling themselves The Guess Who. I also believe it's the reason Burton has no interest in any kind of reunion.

 

Being a former follower of his on Favebook, he's a talented artist, but a real prima donna. He just can't get over things in his past, can he?

 

Quite true.

 

I've seen many people here say his voice is shot, nice to hear at least one positive comment.

 

I saw them in concert in 1974 (#10) and they opened with "Bye Bye Babe" and sounded amazing.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I knew that it was his to use freely since the late 70's. Throughout the 80's he would be in town yearly in Detroit with some iteration or other named The Guess Who. Personally I always thought what Burton Cummings put together was far superior to his product. This includes Burton's current project.

 

Their singles, the hits are about equal to CCR, song for song. Even b-sides that were a-side quality.

Equally at home on AM as on FM IMO.

Was it not cool when you had The Guess Who, CCR, and Three Dog Night all dropping these wonderful singles to radio like it would never ever end. I loved it and still love the songs.

 

I saw this tour last winter. Simply amazing show. Non stop hits, in their original arrangements with killer vocals & musicianship. I saw the Kale-Peterson show the summer before. Didn't even come close.

 

His voice has changed, and still sounds good for being in his late 60's.

 

Oh wow, the Artifical Patadise -Road Food era is my fave