CoronaVinyl Day 40 (Greatest Hits): The Best of The Guess Who by The Guess Who

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So I used to tape songs off the radio, as I'm sure many of you did.  You would just record whatever was playing, and then you'd listen to it over and over.  I did that with a station called WRXR in Chicago when I was a kid.  It was a really good rock station that played both classic rock and new stuff too, so you might have Pink Floyd followed by Howard Jones (which they did!)  Sadly, it turned into a smooth jazz station -- inarguably the worst genre ever created -- and it changed its called letters to WNUA.  But before then, one of my tapes included "Hand Me Down World" by The Guess Who.  It's a good song, but then at the end, it turns into a great song because lead singer Burton Cummings starts wailing.  That's when I fell in love with The Guess Who.

I listened to a lot of classic rock radio in junior high and high school, so of course, I heard various Guess Who songs.  In high school, for reasons that are still unclear to me, "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" played often during football weightlifting sessions, and it's another fantastic song, and to this day, when I hear that twangy guitar at the beginning of the song, I feel like I need to start benching more than my body weight.  But I digress.  Let's not kid ourselves, Burton Cummings is one of the best lead vocalists in rock history.  His gravely, soulful voice is what we all need, every day.  Every.  Fucking.  Day.  Seriously, if you could have a rock singer's voice, that would be it.

So today's CoronaVinyl category is greatest hits, and while I have many greatest hits albums, The Best of The Guess Who is one of my earliest CD purchases, and I'm happy to also have it on vinyl, even if it is a very floppy vinyl record.  The cover features the band standing in presumably a Windsor whore bath run-off, and they don't seem to mind.  Nary a bad song on the album, it makes you question why they aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet.  Arguably Canada's greatest rock export (apologies to Triumph), The Guess Who was a stalwart in the late '60s and early '70s, both before and after guitarist Randy Bachman left to form Bachman Turner Overdrive.  Between 1969 and 1975, the band had 13 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including 7 songs in the Top 10 and 2 #1 songs.  In Canada, they were more successful than Robin Sparkles could have ever hoped to be, with 33 Top 40 hits on the Canadian pop charts, including 16 Top 10 songs and 5 #1 songs.

The Best of album was released in 1971, and Cummings wrote or co-wrote all but two songs on the album.  It's really a great compilation.  Every song is good, and it's funny and interesting to see the band's progression from songs like "Undun" and "Laughing" in such a short time to "American Woman," "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature," and "Share the Land."  But don't take my word for it.  Listen to the songs and enjoy.  My only beef is that the spoken word introduction to "American Woman" is excluded.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature"
It was a tough call between this, "These Eyes," and "American Woman."  I've only mentioned this song twice above, and it's an excellent early '70s rock song.  The rhythm section makes the song, other than Cummings's vocals, of course.  But seriously, the drumming on this track is great.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Do You Miss Me Darling"
This is my favorite Guess Who song.  It kills me every time.  This is your bottle of Jack, sitting alone in a dark room, talking to yourself while you're lamenting everything you did wrong song.  "What good is it, if I can't can't sing it to you? What good is it if I can't even come out and sing it to you right now?"  But there's also the fantastic harmonies and bridge, and then it goes back to the beginning, and Cummings is you and me, and everyone who's ever been dumped.