Record basics

Album name: The Best of The Guess Who
Group name: The Guess Who
Year: 1971
Number of discs: one
Label: RCA Records
Collection: Selman
Distinguishing characteristics:
- Stamped on back of album: NOT / FOR SALE / PROMOTION USE ONLY
Buy it on Amazon: $39.79

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m somewhat familiar with The Guess Who, but their only song that I can name is American Woman, which does happen to be on this compilation.

What I expected

Rock, hard rock.

What it was actually like

The audio on this record was not the greatest – it seemed a bit compressed, like listening to mp3s – but I loved it anyway, and there were no bad songs, and I recognized several of them.

I had not heard the original version of American Woman in a very long time, maybe decades, but it was a classic for a reason, and I loved the guitar riff and the guitar solo. I also thought that I remembered it being more different from Lenny Kravitz’s cover that was popular when I was a senior in high school, but the two versions were remarkably similar, so I couldn’t say whether I preferred one or the other.

I also recognized These Eyes, probably from a ska or reggae cover, but I can’t seem to figure out which one!

No Time was another that I recognized, but like These Eyes, I never knew it was a Guess Who song, and if I had guessed, I probably would have said Crosby, Stills and Nash. I thought it had a great ending, and some amazing 1969 energy that’s hard to find in music from any other time.

Share the Land was also familiar to me, and I could not remember where or when I had heard it, but I thought it was great.

Undun was the most unusual song on the record. Its style was much more jazz fusion than any of the others, and kind of reminded me of Mahavishnu Orchestra. I would not say that this was my normal type of music, but I thought it was the best song, and I even thought the surprising flute solo worked pretty well.

Bus Rider was the bluesiest song on the record. Do You Miss Me Darlin’? was the least good song.

As I mentioned, there were no bad songs here: this was a very solid, consistent rock / hard rock record that I enjoyed very thoroughly. Nice work, Canada.

Grade

5/5: love it

The Best of The Guess Who (Vinyl record album review)