since Oct. 5, 2004.Long before "American Woman" hit the airwaves, The Guess Who's Canned Wheat continued the unique 'honest prairie sound' from the Canadian West that began with debut Wheatfield Soul.
Acoustic in style and sound - especially in relation ot future works - the group's second effort featured a laid-back version of "No Time," the whimsical "Minstrel Boy" and dual 45 bookends "Laughing" and "Undun," clearly the sharpest and most direct of the album cuts.
Also included in this 'outpouring of song, rhythm and sweat' are the Carpenter-esque "6 A.M. or Nearer," "Old Joe," the upbeat "Of a Dropping Pin," the 11-minute opus "Key," and "Fair Warning." Unfortunately, this reporter cannot commentate on the sequential feel of the album, as the vinyl copy boasted too many broken-record skips. (Wouldn't you just know?)
At the time of the album's release in 1969, the Guess Who consisted of founder/lead guitarist Randy Bachman (later of Bachman-Turner Overdive fame), lead singer/keyboardist/instrumentalist Burton Cummings, drummer Garry Peterson, and bassist Jim Kale.
Sure, their biggest albums and hits were still ahead of them, but this album (what I managed to hear, anyway) was not only a testament to the greatness of 1960s rock-n-roll but reflective of a great rock group.
Yeah, it's a sweaty job working the West.
Copyright © 2004, Talia M. Wilson
posted: Oct. 5, 2004
since Oct. 5, 2004.