A little shout out to the homeland!
Released in January 1970, this was The Guess Who’s sixth studio album. The album was harder & edgier than their previous releases that provided the hits “Laughing”, “These Eyes” and “Undun”. This was the culmination of the collaboration between Burton Cummings & Randy Bachman, as after this album, Bachman left the band, going on to form Brave Belt and Bachman Turner Overdrive.
The album opens with their most successful song, “American Woman”. With the release of the single “American Woman” (“No Sugar Tonight” on the B side), The Guess Who became the first rock band from Canada to reach #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. It hit #1 on May 9, 1970 and stayed there for three weeks.
“American Woman”, “No Time” and “No Sugar Tonight” are the songs with which most folks are familiar, having received significant airplay. With the exception of the folky “Talisman”, the remaining songs are rockers. “969” adds in a jazzy guitar/flute interlude. Highly fuzzed dirge-like guitars dominate “When Friends Fall Out”. The original album release ends with “Humpty’s Blues” which is a standard take on the blues rock of the late ’60’s.
Overall, this is a fine album, showcasing the talents of the Cummings/Bachman writing duo. Each would go their separate ways successfully, but they left us this gem to remember them by. Link to a review of this album & partial interview with Randy Bachman.