MYSTERY MEN

Around the turn of the 70s, as many of their compatriots who are now household names were still building a mainstream profile, The Guess Who were Canada's biggest rock band. They never made many ripples over here, but hits such as American Woman remain instantly recognisable half a century on. They even bequeathed another major outfit in Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Meanwhile, two competing versions of The Guess Who are still touring. Rob Hughes hears their versions of events...

- Rob Hughes

Rattle off a list of successful Canadian exports and chances are you'll arrive at Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Rush, Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams and maybe even Nickelback. But there's one name that routinely tends to get left out: The Guess Who.

From the late 60s to the early 70s, they were Canada's most bankable rock band, scoring a succession of major hits, among them the first song by a Canadian group to top the modern US charts. Their albums regularly went platinum, both at home and in the States, where they shared bills with Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Santana, Grateful Dead and more. They were even invited to play at the White House.

For all their success, though, The Guess Who were largely anonymous superstars. By default or design, they rarely toured outside of the US and Canada, shunned the usual rock star hangouts and instead stayed put at home.

"I think we stayed safe in Winnipeg,' reflects drummer Garry Peterson, the current band's last original member. "We never moved out to live in New York or LA And we never played live in Europe. In England, the only thing we ever did was Top Of The Pops. This is a very strange band. Even today, beyond Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, I'm sure no one knows who was in it. We just didn't have a high profile for the amount of hits we had. We were truly The Guess Who."

The notion of invisibility also happens to be a key element of the band's story. Their 1965 breakthrough hit, a cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' Shakin' All Over, was recorded when the group was still known as Chad Allan And The Expressions. But the record company decided to credit them as 'Guess Who?' on the label, in a fairly cynical attempt to portray them as a mystery quintet from the British Invasion, then at its populist height. It seemed to work. The single made the Billboard Top 30 and went to No 1 in Canada.