🎵 THE GUESS WHO "AMERICAN WOMAN" REACTION
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- This is our first time listening to The Guess Who. American Woman is an interesting song lol.
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"I don't need your war machines. I don't need your ghetto scenes."
I've always taken this song as a political protest against U.S. Government policies. He's using the term, American Woman, as a metaphor for U.S. culture and policies. This was during Viet Nam. This is how I've always understood the song. Killer guitar riff, too.
You are correct, this was a anti American foreign policy song during that time. Nothing actually against Americain women.
@@edwardtait815 Thanks
I agree. My interpretation is the woman is the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of America.
You’ve understood it that way because you are correct! It is a metaphor for America. And it is him complaining about the dark side of the America that he was seeing when he wrote the song. 🇨🇦
Exactly, it's a metaphor. He finds American culture to be seductive and dangerous and he has to reject it, as a Canadian.
The Guess Who have a lot of great songs, here are just a couple I suggest you react to "These Eyes," "Laughing" “No Sugar Tonight “ and "No Time”. Also, Lenny Kravitz did awesome cover of this song!
Sooo many. Love youz guyz. Philly in the house. 🤘🏼💜
UNDUN!
Butthole Surfers do the best cover version. Demo is even better than the crazed lp version
Will add "Clap For The Wolfman" (my all-time favourite although these two definitely won't get it) and "Sour Suite" which is a great song too. Also "Rain Dance" which has my favourite line: "where'd ya get the gun John?" Always makes me sing along.
These eyes for sure! 👀
You'll love their "These Eyes" and "No Sugar Tonight"!
Right!
"No Time".
These eyes was a hit again by a rapper Mistro Fresh Wes called Stick to your Vision. 🎵
Although Burton Cummings denies it, the lyrics,were interpreted as Amercan Woman = Statue of Liberty...Viet Nam. The lead guitarist, Randy Bachman, went to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive who had hits as well. The Guess Who should have been voted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame years ago.
This is what I understood the song to mean it ,wasn't about women at all ,it was about the United States, Viet Nam and other things he didn't care for in the U.S.
@@markmeister2444 Cummings has stated several times it was not a protest song. It may have been marketed that way but the basic idea was Canadian girls were more laid back, less aggressive etc
@@jethro1963 nah he said he had at least one girlfriend in every state in the U.S
@Tony D Source??
@@brentsobie3977 saw it in a documentry
'American Woman' is a metaphor for the US and US foreign policy. Being a Canadian band, they took a huge risk. The US government could easily have barred them from entering the US. This protest song got a receptive ear on both sides of the border as the Vietnam War and treatment of minorities outraged people regardless of nationality.
Let you've got to leave brad he's just so negative
You really need to listen to an interview with Burton Cummings. The song had nothing to do with politics. He was in fact talking about American women, who he thought were a little too forward and trying to grow up to fast. He preferred more conservative Canadian girls. There was zero planning in these lyrics. He made it up on the spot at a show in a curling club. “War machines” and “ghetto scenes” came to him just because they rhymed!
I dunno they said it was about groupies.
Maybe he's right.
ruclips.net/video/f2AJNs-4v7k/видео.html
@@the_Kurgan Podría ser una canción de protesta, pero tampoco son imbéciles, difícilmente aceptarían su significado real para que no les prohibieran la entrada al país, ya que a pesar de todo buscaban vender, lo cual es un tanto hipócrita, pero a la vez comprensible xD
It cracked me up how many girls I knew who said that was their theme song. The thought the song was somehow complimenting American women. I never told them what the message was.
Thank you Canada for all of the talent you have given the world. . . . . and the beer.
keep slamming them cheeseburgers Randy! cheers brother
And Kat Wonders 😎😉🤣
They've got a lot of great songs, all different flavors.
"No Time" is one of my favorites.
Great Canadian band !! 🇨🇦 👍🏻😄
The Guess Who are a Canadian band, perhaps along with Rush the greatest Canadian rock bands of all time. Burton Cummings is also considered one of the best rock vocalists of his time, regardless of nationality. Lenny Kravitz covered this and had a big hit with it.
I think you are leaving out one great Canadian band that would be Triumph .
@@tomcherry7029 I like Triumph but those two really are the big two, maybe BTO fits there as well, maybe not.
Cummings' name is rarely if ever mentioned when the great vocalists are talked about, and it's a shame, because he's absolutely incredible.
@@jethro1963 Pretty sure that the Guess Who and BTO had Randy Bachman in common.
Also Heart is a fantastic Canadian band!
This song started as "scatting" during a concert. The guitarist broke a string and while he was replacing it,
the singer was fooling around singing whatever came to mind. They decided to turn it into a real song.
Please react to "So Long Banatyne"
Never knew that - Preeeesh
This happened at a concert in the Glenbriar Curling Rink in Waterloo, Ontario (about an hour west of Toronto). It is now a hardware store and there’s a plaque in the store commemorating the writing of this song. They also have a great plumbing section but I digress! Do “These Eyes” next.
The line "I don't need your war machines" speaks volumes.
yes dont need this american goverment!!!
To me this song is the perspective of Canadians (The Guess Who is a Canadian band from Winnipeg) to the overwhelming cultural and social influence of the American Empire to the south (coloured lights, war machines, ghetto scenes). For decades Canada has been flooded with American culture, American music, American movies, American news, American symbols and American propaganda. Which is understandable, considering the asymmetrical size, influence and power of the two countries. Still, it must have been difficult for a Canadian band from a relatively small city to deal with touring life down in the States in the late 60s and early 70s, especially with the Vietnam war in full gear, the staggering racial inequalities of the time and the deep political divides in the US. Anyway, that's my interpretation of this song.
By the way, the lead singer, Burton Cummings, is in my top 5 rock singers of all time. He had a fantastic voice. And the guitarist, Randy Bachman, went on to form Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO), a band which made it huge in Canada and really big in the US too.
You nailed it
Right on point. We didn't need their bullsh**t.
Right on man
Brad, I believe that the "American Woman" was a reference to America. This group was from Canada, in the 1970's you could go to Canada (and they could come here) by just showing your drivers license, very friendly border crossings. I'm from Michigan and we would cross the border to get the good Canadian beer back in the college days. I believe that this has to do with the Vietnam war, he didn't want Canada to follow us into Vietnam. If you listen again, he talks about your "war machines" in one of the lyrics.
I doubt he was worried about Canada following the US into Vietnam, I don't think anybody has ever been worried about Canada following them into any war zone
@Brian Edwards....Well said brother !!
Three more Guess Who classics: "Albert Flasher" "Clap for the Wolfman" and "Star Baby"
Clap for the Wolfman! Man, it's been 40 years!
Star Baby!
So many great hits from these guys...soooooooooo under rated imo
The Guess Who was a Canadian band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. They must have met some baaaaaaad girls from the USA before they wrote this one. 🤣 This song hit #1 in both countries and was Billboard's #3 hit for the overall year of 1970.
Fun fact. In 1970, the Guess Who sold more records than any other act on Earth. Including the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
I know I'm prejudiced being Canadian but Burton Cummings has the best voice in rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top 5, certainly. I have him at #3, after Freddy Mercury and Ian Gillian.
even better then fellow Canadian Justin Bieber ?
@@markvanderstelt8999 The Biebs couldn't sing the Blues if his life depended on it.
It is really great but the best voice in rock belongs to Robert Plant!
Less well known but I'd say put David Clayton Thomas from Blood Sweat and Tears on the list as well.
This is a great song, so glad you did the full length version. The Guess Who are a Canadian band and this song is about the Vietnam War and the political scene and the social horrors going on the USA at that time and even carrying forward to this very day. So it's a really protest song.
Catch the version live from Winnipeg if you want to hear the real full length version
Loved the fact that you reacted to the unedited version. That intro has always sounded so good.
I've heard both this and the LK version so many times I can sing it by heart over something like 30 years. This is the FIRST time I've EVER heard that intro. Not sure if I like it or not, or if I feel it adds anything to the song (or detracts, for that matter). Gonna have to give it some thought.
Actually, (according to lead singer Burton Cummings on a radio interview I remeber hearing back in the seventies) the song was a kind of a shout out to Canadian girls at the time (the band is Canadian) letting them know that they preferred their natural, down to earth style rather than the streamlined, Marilyn Monroe - artificial looks being (allegedly) promulgated by American girls at the time. I am sure a case can be made for the metaphor aspects of the song as well as it was written during the Viet Nam era. (Of course, any such claims made today by him - or anyone - about whose women - or men - are the most wholesome are specious at best!)
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band : "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."
Please do Lenny Kravitz - I Belong To You !
But their guitarist, Randy Bachman (later of Bachman Turner Overdrive BTO) said American Woman was the American war machine (deep in the Vietnam War at the time) that went so far as to try to conscript the Guess Who when they entered the US on tour.
its on amazon prime, they play and talk in Winnipeg. I live in Manitoba same Province they are from.
@@cheampeake1680 How do you conscript citizens of another country?
@@cheampeake1680 An AWESOME band...coming from a 53 year old Canadian!!! Great lyrics and songs!!! Brad & Lex should listen to "No Sugar Tonight" next...
I've always heard the "American Woman" is the Statue of Liberty, and the "war machines" and "ghetto scenes" don't track with what you're saying here, IMO.
Randy Bachman from the Guess Who referred to The Statue of Liberty as the woman he was mentioning in the song, it was an anti war song from that era of Vietnam War.
Lex looks like she's ready for the club. Take her out tonight Brad!
From the day in 2015 that Rush finally received its much-belated induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Guess Who became the most glaring omission. Just a cursory look at the catalogue of classic rock music made by Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman (in The Guess Who, in BTO, and in solo work) reveal the exclusionary travesty!
Apart from American Woman, their shared catalogue includes:
These Eyes
Laughing
Undone
No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature
Share the Land
No Time
Takin’ Care of Business
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
Stand Tall
I Will Play a Rhapsody
English Canadians have long enjoyed a unique vantage point from which to view US politics and culture. We speak the same language (by and large); we share extended families; we even watched the same TV channels (I grew up with Buffalo stations but Detroit stations appear to be the most popular for cable TV providers… Hell, the PBS station in Erie Pa actually brands itself as “Erie / London” to attract donations from the Southern Ontario city of around half a million souls, which is obviously a lot larger than Erie, albeit pretty small market).
This special vantage point has produced some incredible musical commentary, with American Woman providing one of the best examples. Written at the height of the Vietnam War - with thousands of draft age men moving north to escape that particular horror - American Woman was embraced by a generation of Americans seized by social upheaval.
PS - The same goes for comedy, which is why so many of the US’s most celebrated comedians over the last four decades were actually Canadian. We have a window into your world but have just enough distance to be able to examine it objectively.
The Guess Who are from Canada. Love to watch your comments, and I like Lex a lot, so full of life.
These guys also went on to form the band "Bachman Turner Overdrive"....with a lot of great tunes. Check them out also!!
Only Randy Bachman was in BTO, he had left The Guess Who
Although Randy is a big guy he is only one person lol
As Bachman tells it the band almost slipped into a recruiting trap at the border while going to an American gig. They turned around and wrote this song spontaneity.
The song is a metaphor. The "American woman" represents the Statue of Liberty, the seductive culture of unbalanced American nationalism, and the divided American society at the time of the Vietnam war.
Here is what happened. The Guess Who are a Canadian band from Winnipeg. One time they were crossing the border to do a tour in the US and the customs agents tried to get them to sign some paper work which had a clause, IIRC, that would have allowed the agents to immediately force them into the US military and maybe even have them sent to Vietnam. Instead the band recognized the guards as the nationalistic fanatics they were and turned around and went back to Canada. This is apparently the roots of the song. Randy Bachman, their lead guitarist, explains the origins of the song in this TV interview here: ruclips.net/video/f2AJNs-4v7k/видео.html
The Guess Who are not anti-American or against American women. It can be a little difficult to get to the bottom of this unless you know the back story. The vast majority of Canadians are quite happy to have the US as their neighbour. But both countries have served as an escape valve during the times of their existence for those who disagree so strongly with the policies of one country or the other that they feel they must move across the border to stay true to their innermost convictions. So-called draft dodgers during the Vietnam war, or people like Louis Riel in the 1870s and 80s. (If you don't know who he is, Google him.) Many Americans came to Canada to join the Canadian armed forces when the US did not become involved in WW1 and WW2 soon enough. So it is a simple but complicated song, ha, ha! 👌💖😏
exactly
@COCCO MAN The gung-ho types are usually a danger to everyone. As many as 40,000 Canadians joined the US military during the Vietnam war, of their own volition as far as i know.
The first time this song was played was completely improvised. The band was on a break, and the guitarist came back early. He just started noodling around with that riff, and as the other guys finished their beers they just joined in. Burton Cummings made up the lyrics on the spot.
Cummings tells the story that this was just an improvised one-off but some kid in the audience recorded it on a cassette player. He played it for the band after and they said ,according to Cummings, " oh,well,very nice, but you cant record without permisson" they just wanted the tape so they could go back and work on something that was off-the-cuff and turned out to be good. They did not want the tape going elsewhere in case someone else heard it and claimed it. lol
Try Undone, These Eyes, and No Time by this band - three big hits back in the '70s!
Y'all are getting into some great bands now. Definitely give" Mother Nature's Son/No Sugar Tonight" by these guys a listen🤘🏼
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
A fine butchery of the title.
@@gvbezoff sorry gandolf, sometimes my dyslexia acts up, well, all the time actually, it does however seem to subside when I cut myself as punishment
I believe this is actually an anti-war protest song and I think it was the first protest song to get regular air play... no one realized it was a protest song.
It wasn't a protest song although it was misinterpreted that way (on purpose)
It’s not the first protest song to get airplay. Lots of protest songs were hits. Loads of Dylan songs were protest songs. “Fortunate Son” by CCR was released a year earlier. “Eve of Destruction” (Barry Maguire version) was released in 1965. As was “Universal Soldier” (Donovan’s version).
Burton Cummings has one of the best voice in rock. The Guess Who should have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame years ago.
I read that the Guess Who were touring in the US in the late 60’s and they were told they could be subject to the Vietnam War draft because of the time they spent in the US so they immediately left and went back to Canada. This song represented their feelings about the experience.
Somebody must have pulling their leg…….only citizens could be drafted. They were not registered for the draft…had no draft number…..
you are a simpleton
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 6:44
Guitar player is Randy Bachmann of Bachjmann Turner Overdrive. Guess Who was a Canadian band and American Woman is a metaphor in the second half of the song about America during Vietnam and the race riots. They were my wife and my first concert in Des Moines, Iowa.
So happy you guys did the full length version, a lot of times they cut out that first part. Also, Lenny Kravitz does a great cover of this song.
I wore out the 8 track tape of the "Best of the Guess Who", driving to high school on the 47 mile drive daily. My parents had divorced by my senior year. I didn't want to change schools, literally lived across the street from what would have been my original high school, then my family moved to the country (what people called the country then). So my daily commute in my '69 Dodge Charger (yes, the 440, with a turned cam). By about mile 15 I'd be just through this song, No Sugar Tonight and then "These Eyes" would kick in and I'd be pulling into the parking lot. Brings back good times and good memories. Love you guys doing these great songs, when music was played with real instruments.
definitely check out "No Time" "These Eyes"
Home town proud. Thanks for playing the full-length version of this. The song brings me back to being a youngster and hearing this on the radio when it was released. Local boys made it big!
Burton Cummings is from Canada. I believe he's a great singer. These Eyes out a year earlier is my favorite,much different! Had many hits Laughing, Undun, Stand Tall. Keep up the good work!
This is what I found on Wikipedia (didn't vet it out): The inspiration behind “American Woman” wasn’t a broken-hearted band member, longing for his American sweetheart. No, in fact, “American Woman” started with a pushy border crossing guard who tried to sign up the members of The Guess Who to go fight in Vietnam. The peaceful Canadians were on their way to a gig in the US but got freaked out and hightailed it back to the safety of the Great White North.
They've got dozens of amazing songs.
When he says war machines and ghetto scenes he is talking about America and all the wars and poverty that we have.
...we also have tremendous wealth...if you want some, go and get it.It is easier here than anywhere else in the world.
The Guess Who has many other classic turned worth reacting to. “These Eyes”, “No Sugar Tonight”, “Undun”, and “No Time” are a few suggestions.
The American Woman is the USA, at the time the country was experiencing war, racism and severe economic inequality and many other issues, and at the time there were many disillusioned young people with the USA. Great commentary great voice great song.
Fun fact: This song was created during an instrumentation check at a show in Waterloo Ontario.
SO much better than the Lenny version imo. Nothing against Lenny at all, but this is just SOOO DOPE
What's funny is I was gonna suggest listening to that version. While this is clearly superior, Lenny did a great job.
@@RSpracticalshooting I agree. Lenny did a great job covering this song but I just love this version, especially the opening of the song. The covers of this song usually skip that part and just jump into the main song itself.
I like this version better but Lenny did a solid job of it, too.
devil's train version is great (more metal)
🤘😁
Lenny's version is musically okay but with him being American, it undermines the political content. Unless, of course, one sees it from his view as a non-white minority, in which case it works as an adaptation.
I grew up with this song and love it. Thought it was about a woman when I was a kid but it's actually an anti- war song (Vietnam war). You might want to check out "no Sugar tonight" - another great song!
One of my favorite classic rock vocalists! The guess who have so many good songs.
The lead singer's voice is SO great -- Kind of a growl t times, but with lots of power and range. His name is Burton Cummings, and he was widely regarded as one of the best vocalists in rock music.
Burt Cummings....Sammy Hagar....Paul Rodgers
Clap For The Wolfman... it rocks
The song is about America, a metaphor for our country, the USA and the negative aspects, war machines, ghetto scenes.
My hometown boys from Winnipeg, Canada 🇨🇦 Burton Cummings has one of the best voices in rock. Please check out Undun, These Eyes, No Sugar Tonight, Humpty's Blues. Cheers
I remember when this song came out in, I think, about 1969. The song seemed pretty weird at the time but the catchy riff made it very popular. The Guess Who were from Canada & this song made us Americans take a look at ourselves which was ok.
"No Time" - an 80's live concert vid, is one of my favorites by them...when I go back and listen to that era of rock I start with that and "Ventura Highway" by America. 👍
Does this woman ever not look good? Jesus Christ what a beauty
Another great canadian band! You know,I actually did some tile work for one of the guys from GUESS WHO. LOL. nice guy and very talented
I'll second the praise for Burton Cummings as a vocalist. Check out the song "Stand Tall" that Cummings did as a solo artist in the mid 1970s.
I heard in an interveiw of the Gues Who, after the band drove across the Canadian border one night for a gig Stateside, they had a run-in with an overzealous border patrolman, who tried to get them all to sign up for the draft and ship off to the jungles of Vietnam. This, of course, freaked the band out, and they quickly turned around and sped back Canada-ward.
Since they no longer had a gig planned, Bachman and his mates scored a last-minute show at a curling arena. To make matters even weirder, in the middle of the gig, Bachman broke a string. While restringing his axe and strumming chords backstage to get it in tune, he landed on the famed intro riff to the song out of nowhere. To make sure he didn’t forget it, Bachman went back onstage and started playing the chord progression, and had lead singer Burton Cummings sing the first thing that popped into his mind. Guess what that was.
There are virtually no bad Guess Who songs like No Time, No Sugar Tonight, Laughing, Undun etc.
Yes!!! Go down this rabbit hole please and thank you!!
Canadian band. One of the best rock voices out there. And it is also an analogy -- statue of liberty and America as a country during war time?
Saw them in 1975 when I was 15! Great concert!
America was drafting young men for the Vietnam war an non stop war footage on television when this was written. Dont come knocking around my door , I dont wanna see ur face no more. Song is a very clever war protest song.
Gave a surprise birthday party for a friend many years ago. He thought his brother was taking him to a concert but took him to a clubhouse we rented with a local band (The Studabakers), then showed him a video tape of Cummings wishing him a happy birthday. My friend , his brother, and several others would travel around to their concerts, the last being in Toronto and got Cummings to do the tape since he knew they were avid fans. Made a great surprise for the birthday boy.
Hey Brad and Lex, some other Guess Who songs you definitely check are "No Sugar Tonight" and
"Undone"
Burton Cummings is amazing both as a recoeding artist and songwriter. Even his solo stuff is spot on. A Wednesday In Your Garden from the Wheatfield Soul album is a classic.
The popular conception was that they were talking about rejecting America's excesses and failure to live up to its promise, hence the reference to war machines and ghetto scenes.
The Guess Who were staples in my life as a young lad. “No Time” will forever be embedded in my head. A MUST LISTEN! 😎🎶❤
Great reaction!!! You have to do 'These Eyes' by the Guess Who. It's an incredible song
Aside from the fact that they didn't get what the song was about in the least.
Always had all there music on every music play device I have had since the 90's. As a kid I would be rocking out to this.
Great rock tune. The best thing about the song is lyrically; we get to interpret any way we want. That is art:-). It is actually a little Dylan-ish in that it is both personal and has political overtones.
Had the pleasure of seeing them live with Steppenwolf back in the day😎
One of the best Canadian bands ever. Lenny Kravitz did a killer version as well as krokus.
The Butthole Surfers also did a rather lively cover of this tune
@@joechurch7 The “Butthole Surfers”?
What kinda band name is that? LOL 😂
"American Women refers to the Statue of Liberty".
Final word - Above statement and below story was told to me by the bands lead guitarist at our small local community theatre on Vancouver Island, BC Canada.
While performing in the USA under a work visa, they were almost forced to join America's Vietnam War. They quickly returned across our boarder, found a gig to play at, where lead guitarist Randy (BTO fame) broke a string. While re-tuning his guitar he accidentally created that killer riff and in order not to forget it, he got lead singer Burton to sing words to his new riff. Burton still freak about almost being drafted, began singing the lyric "American Women Stay Away From Me".
You all really should be checking out Randy Bachman's other band (BTO) Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Songs like -Takin' Care of Business, -You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet, -Hey You and -Let it Ride.
You should really watch a live performance of them singing this song, it's so much better when you're also watching them.
I'm a 61yr.-old man. Had many, many American Woman in my days. (maybe they had me)...Excellent song, AND so very true. lol
Listen closely - Lifted Clapton’s lead tone specifically from the Cream years! Regardless of all that - a wonderful band…truly!
Sure sounds like a neck humbucker to me too!
Always loved Randy Bachman’s lead tone with that smooth sustain, like you said that neck humbucker through a tube amp right on the edge of break up.
As I'm sure has been said - 'woman' is a metaphor for the country.
Love "The Guess Who". Lenny Kravitz does a great cover of this.
Krokus does one better!
When this song was on the air there was another song titled 'Mississippi Queen' by Mountain.
The live version from the "Live at the Paramount" album is absolutely the best version of this tune.
That whole side of the album, with American Woman, leading into Trucking Off Across the Sky is one amazing jam and one of the best sides of music ever, they are on freaking fire!
I was in the tenth grade in Edmonton, Alberta when this song came out in 1970. Still a classic!
A new band to check out is “Krokus”. They do a very good version of “American Woman”.
The Guess Who was Canadian. The lead singer, Randy Bachman, had a bad breakup with his girlfriend, who was American. It's said the song is partially venting at her. Of course, this song was also written at the height of the Viet Nam war, and the Guess Who were very anti war.
Some people say this was actually a anti war song , American woman was related towards the statue of liberty for what it represents , i don't believe the band didn;t deny this
A great Canadian band that broke up into two very popular acts: BTO -- Bachman Turner Overdrive, with hits like "Taking Care of Business", and singer-pianist Burton Cummings gone solo, with many hit songs and albums: "My Own Way to Rock", "Stand Tall", "Take One Away".
You guys gotta heard the cover of Lenny Kravitz Is 🔥🤘🔥
I TOTALLY agree. Love his version even more than this. First time I heard Lenny's version I thought why is he messing with a classic and when he dropped I thought oh yeah, I see.
While I like Lenny Kravitz's version, I prefer the original. The vocalist and lead guitarist got back together a few years ago and did a tour and album as Bachman Cummings and released a more laid back and somewhat bluesy version that I love very much. ruclips.net/video/KdNczNgxpFo/видео.html
The Guess Who is completely underrated. One of my top 5 of all time. You should check out No Time, or maybe a deep dive with Bus Rider.
The Guess Who were Canadian. I think I remember reading that the song just kind of happened out of improvisation during a sound check. I wouldn't read too much into the lyrics. Think they just kinda got made up on the spot. Surely, don't think it was precisely a diss on all American women. The two guys who were the band's driving force appear to have widely different perceptions of what the lyrics mean. Burton Cummings claims it's not an insult to American women but his perception that American women (remember this was the late 60s) were different than Canadian women in that they got older (mature?) faster which he said made them more dangerous. Randy Bachman claims it was a Vietnam War protest song which seems less likely to me; although, it does have that line about war machines. Anyway, I'm guessing that it was Cummings who came up with the lyrics for the most part, so maybe his story holds more water. At any rate, it became really popular in America mostly because it had the word American in it and Americans (including women) took it as a message of pride. Also of note is that The Guess Who performed on the White House lawn at the request of the Nixons whose daughter liked the band. They did not, however, perform American Woman, reportedly at the request of the First Lady.
The part about not being asked to perform the song I believe is myth that goes with making for a good story. There is no way Tricky Dick was not going to let Tricia have what she wanted. They were good Canadian boys, I think the story has come out they didn't perform it out of common respect, unlike that classless girl with the Ray Conniff Singers who went rogue trying to get herself over and that's what that is when you do something as selfish as that.
..That is all interesting Tom
The Guess Who are one of Canada’s best!! Right up there with Rush!
This song is about American foreign policy. Great singer, great voice - they have a lot of great songs.
I love the guess who!! Bunch of boys from Winnipeg MB who were one of the first Canadian bands to make it big in the US.
“Congrats to everyone who is early and who found this comment”!
The last verse turns the whole meaning of the song to a metaphor. Had they sung about Uncle Sam, it would have been obvious right out of the gate.
Guitarist Randy Bachman went on to form Bachman - Turner Overdrive. Before that happened, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake asked him to join what was to become Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
That plan fell through but on the longer term no harm was done as both groups became massively successful.
It was because Burton was really young at the time and he felt like the women in the USA grew up and dressed a lot older than Canadian girls and he was a bit intimidated by the attention. He did talk about how he came up with the beginning lyrics from a riff Randy Bachman was playing around with when Burton was late getting on to the stage. They later came up with the rest of the lyrics, and the song became a number 1 hit. I heard an interview by Burton about it.
Canadian band! Song came out of a spontaneous jam on stage, and the singer (Burton Cummings) made up the lines on the spot. He's a real home boy and found America at that time to be crazy (read up on this history). He missed the girls back home in Winnipeg, a city of maybe 250, 000 at the time. Neil Young came out of the same music scene there.
I'm from there too, which is why I know this😅
Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman says the song was written via an onstage jam, where singer Burton Cummings came up with lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness way, off the top of his head. Bachman also said they couldn't help but notice American groupies were aggressive and that this might be at least in part what BC was singing about, though he brought in the phrases "war machines" and "ghetto scenes" also off the top of his head.
Always loved this song and Lenny Kravitz' version too. And Lex, love the eyes and the scarf, you could slip right into the era.
I was totally expecting them to know this song because of the Lenny Kravitz cover.
This song was about the Statue of Liberty. As the boys were crossing the border from Canada to U.S. to do a concert they were asked to sign up for the draft by the border agents - which apparently was open to Canadians working in the U.S. too. They were shook up by that - made a U-turn back to Canada and Randy Bachmann and the boys came up with this anti-Vietnam war song.