Colored Lights Can Hypnotize

How a broken guitar string helped create a rock classic

(by Craig)

They’re not calling themselves the Guess Who, although after decades of acrimony, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are back touring together this summer. I would imagine that one of the songs on their setlist is “American Woman,” which became their only #1 hit in May of 1970.

The song was one of those that came about by accident. During a performance at a curling rink in Ontario, Randy Bachman broke a guitar string leading to a pause in the show. After replacing the string, Bachman was playing notes while tuning his guitar and realized he was playing a new riff that he wanted to remember. He continued playing it and the other band members returned to the stage and joined in, creating a jam session in which Cummings improvised the lyrics. They noticed a kid with a cassette recorder making a bootleg recording and asked him for the tape. They listened to the tape and noted down the words that Cummings had extemporized, and which he later revised.

The song's lyrics have been the matter of debate, often interpreted as an attack on U.S. politics (especially the draft). Cummings, who composed the lyrics, said in 2013 that they had nothing to do with politics. "What was on my mind was that girls in the States seemed to get older quicker than our girls and that made them, well, dangerous. When I said 'American woman, stay away from me,' I really meant 'Canadian woman, I prefer you.' It was all a happy accident."

When “American Woman” was released as a single, its B-side was “No Sugar Tonight,” which also charted. All told the Guess Who had six Top 10 hits, starting with “These Eyes” in April 1969, followed by “Laughing,” “No Time,” and “Undun.”

The band was invited to play at the White House for a dinner honoring Prince Charles and Princess Anne. First lady Pat Nixon, undoubtedly briefed about “American Woman’s” anti-US sentiment, requested that the band delete the song from their set-list, which they did.

Shortly after that, Randy Bachman left the band which came as no surprise. He and Cummings had been feuding bitterly. Bachman had recently converted to the Mormon faith and found the band’s hedonistic lifestyle offensive. (Editor’s note: This seems ironic.) The band continued on with two new guitarists notching a few more hit singles “Share the Land,” and “Hand Me Down World” and their final Top 10 hit, 1974’s “Clap for the Wolfman” (which featured bits of dialogue by the famous DJ Wolfman Jack) before disbanding.

Meanwhile, Bachman joined his brother Robbie to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, named in part after the truckers’ magazine Overdrive. Twenty-five record companies rejected them before Mercury signed them and it paid off as the band scored four consecutive Top 20 hits including “Takin’ Care of Business” and their #1 song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.”

The Guess Who reformed a few times since then for short tours but the pairing of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman on this summer’s concert circuit should be somewhat special. If you go, you won’t have to worry about knowing any songs.

Coda: In 1999, Lenny Kravitz covered "American Woman" for the soundtrack of Austin Powers; The Spy Who Shagged Me. Kravitz's version, which he produced himself, is slower and softer than the original, without the signature guitar solo; he later said to Randy Bachman that the reason why he skipped the lead guitar part was "I couldn't get the sound. I couldn't get the tone."

Random byte: Speaking of the Guess Who, their name came about in an amusing way. In 1965, before legislation was passed in Canada requiring a certain percentage of airtime be given to native artists, Canadian musicians found it difficult to crack radio playlists in their own country. To avoid that prejudice, an early incarnation of the band elected to leave their name off their first single, “Shakin’ All Over.” As far as anybody in Canada knew, the song was by a new, anonymous band called The Guess Who. The name stuck.

[Sources: The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, Grunge, The Toronto Star, Wikipedia, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Spinner Canada]