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Guess Who - The Way They Were (Unreleased Recordings) (1976)

vom: 25.12.2015

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THE GUESS WHO
''THE WAY THEY WERE: UNRELEASED RECORDINGS BY THE ORIGINAL GROUP''
1976
31:11
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1 Silver Bird 02:41 (Bachman, Cummings)
2 Spacies Hawk 03:28 (Bachman, Cummings)
3 Runnin Down The Street 04:16 (Kale, Peterson)
4 Miss Frizzy 05:16 (Bachman, Cummings)
5 Palmyra 05:50 (Bachman, Cummings)
6 The Answer 03:54 (Bachman, Cummings)
7 Take The Long Way Home 05:42 (Bachman)
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Randy Bachman/Guitar, Vocals
Burton Cummings/Keyboards, Vocals
Jim Kale/Bass, Vocals
Garry Peterson/Drums, Vocals 
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REVIEW/AMG
Joe Viglione
Seven titles recorded at RCA Studios in Chicago during the spring of 1970, produced by Jack Richardson, were abandoned when Randy Bachman and the Guess Who with Burton Cummings went their separate ways. What resulted was a solo instrumental album by Bachman entitled Axe and the Share the Land album by the group. This title, The Way They Were, is now being dismantled by BMG and disseminated as bonus tracks on the Buddah re-releases of Guess Who catalog product. Canned Wheat has the songs "Silver Bird" and "Species Hawk," although in a bizarre twist, the original pressings of the re-release lists "Miss Frizzy" instead of "Species Hawk." The rare disc is worth keeping, for obvious reasons, but Buddah in 2001 will replace it for those who want the official release with the proper track listing. The Share the Land album contains "Palmyra" and "The Answer" as its bonus tracks. It's a shame. This is a decent album and deserves its place in Guess Who history. Although there is no "hit" here on the level of the Guess Whos' "Share the Land" or BTO's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" or Burton Cummings' first solo hit "Stand Tall," the addition of these tunes to albums other than Share the Land is a bit misleading. You can hear the Beatles and Humble Pie in the song "Palmyra," which, had it been released at the time it was recorded, could have launched the Guess Who" on FM radio. This set of recordings is definitely hip. Whatever tension between Bachman and the band, he, after all, was the original creative spark before Cummings joined. "Running Down the Street," "Silver Bird," and "Species Hawk" are all highly listenable. The three-paragraph-long liner notes by Jack Richardson make it clear that he loved the music made by these four particular musicians, Cummings, Bachman, Jim Kale and Garry Peterson. Their five hits together -- "These Eyes," "Laughing," "Undun," "American Woman," and "No Time" -- all had a special something that was lost on future Guess Who and BTO hits. Just listen to "The Answer" to hear the tasty backing vocals, Bachman's restrained and beautiful guitarwork, and Burton Cummings having to stay within a framework which made him more appealing. There's no doubt the Guess Who became a fantastic live band performing the hits and new material on Live at the Paramount, which is truly an extraordinary disc now that additional tracks have been released, but "Take the Long Way Home," the final track on this album, could have been a Guess Who staple. In retrospect, The Way They Were should have been released on its own with live tracks from the period filling it out, or better still, put Bachman's Axe and The Way They Were on the same disc. After all, they were both recorded in March of 1970 at the same Chicago studio. As a Guess Who album, The Way They Were is superior to Wild One, All This for a Song, and other long players which bear the band's name.
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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.
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