The Guess Who formed in the early 1960s in Winnipeg, Manitoba under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions (named after vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan, who started the band alongside guitarist Randy Bachman.) When the group’s debut single, “Shakin’ All Over,†was released in 1965, the song was credited to the cryptic “Guess Who?†with the hopes that people would mistake the fresh Canadian band for a more established British Invasion group. The ruse worked, and after selling two million copies and the song reaching No. 1 on the Canadian charts, the band took on their now legendary name. The Guess Who’s 1968 debut album, Wheatfield Soul, was a smash success, earning the band a recording contract with RCA Records and launching their first single, the pop-soul ballad “These Eyes,†to the top of the Canadian and American charts in 1969. The band quickly followed up with Canned Wheat, a stellar album which included the Top 10 hits “Laughing†and “No Time.†In 1970, the group released the Top Ten and gold-selling American Woman, whose psychedelic riff-rocker single, “American Woman,†became the first No. 1 U.S. single by any Canadian group ever and led to The Guess Who’s invitation to perform for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. 1974’s “Clap for the Wolfman†(featuring dialogue by world-famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack) again brought the group to the Top Ten. The band went on to spawn several highly successful solo careers over the following years, reuniting among other times in 1983 for the Together Again live album and in 1999 for the closing ceremonies of the Pan American Games. After a successful Canadian and United States tour in early 2000, The Guess Who performed before an estimated 450,000 people at the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto SARS benefit concert, the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history. The band continues to tour extensively.
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