American Woman

by The Guess Who

Overview

The Guess Who's most successful LP, reaching number nine in America (and charting for more than a year), has held up well and was as close to a defining album-length statement as the original group ever made. It's easy to forget that until "American Woman," the Guess Who's hits had been confined to softer, ballad-style numbers -- that song (which originated as a spontaneous on-stage jam) highlighted by Randy Bachman's highly articulated fuzz-tone guitar, a relentless beat, and Burton Cummings moving into Robert Plant territory on the lead vocal, transformed their image. As an album opener, it was a natural, but the slow acoustic blues intro by Bachman heralded a brace of surprises in store for the listener. The presence of the melodic but highly electric hit version of "No Time" (which the band had cut earlier in a more ragged rendition) made the first ten minutes a hard rock one-two punch, but the group then veers into progressive rock territory with "Talisman." Side two was where the original album was weakest, though it started well enough with "969 (The Oldest Man)." "When Friends Fall Out," a remake of an early Canadian release by the group, attempted a heavy sound that just isn't sustainable, and "8:15" was a similar space filler, but "Proper Stranger" falls into good hard rock groove. In August of 2000, Buddha Records issued a remastered version of this album with a bonus track from a subsequent session, "Got to Find Another Way." Ironically, American Woman was the final testament of the original Guess Who -- guitarist/singer Randy Bachman quit soon after the tour behind this album; the group did endure and even thrive (as did Bachman), but American Woman represented something of an ending as well as a triumph. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	09/21/2018
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8719262006782
Rank:	96734

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Guess Who   Primary Artist
Jim Kale   Bass,Vocals
Burton Cummings   Flute,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards
Garry Peterson   Drums,Vocals,Percussion
Randy Bachman   Guitar,Vocals,Tambourine

Technical Credits

Jack Richardson   Producer
Jeremy Holiday   Production Coordination
Randy Kling   Mastering
Red Simpson   Composer
Brian Christian   Engineer
Elliott Federman   Mastering
Bruce Pollock   Project Coordinator
Jim Kale   Composer
Burton Cummings   Composer,Liner Notes,Photo Courtesy
Frank Mulvey   Design
Arlessa Barnes   Project Coordinator
Nick Sangiamo   Photography
Felicia Gearhart   Project Coordinator
Tom Tierney   Production Assistant
Laura Gregory   Project Coordinator
Robin Diamond   Project Coordinator
Steve Strauss   Production Assistant
Glenn Delgado   Project Coordinator
Ed Schnabi   Recording Technician
Dave Hecht   Photography
Bill Stafford   Project Coordinator
Glenn Korman   Production Assistant
Brooke Nochomson   Project Coordinator
Dana Renert   Project Coordinator
Mathieu Bitton   Design,Art Direction,Production Assistant
Stephanie Kika   Project Coordinator
Frank Ursoleo   Liner Notes,Reissue Producer
Traci Werbel   Project Coordinator
Mandana Eidgah   Product Manager
Karyn Friedland   Project Coordinator
Russ Vestuto   Recording Technician
Larry Parra   Project Coordinator
Mike Hartry   Digital Transfers
The Guess Who   Arranger
Garry Peterson   Composer
Rob Santos   Reissue Producer
Ed Osborne   Project Coordinator
Randy Bachman   Composer
Robin Manning   Project Coordinator