Customer Reviews

Canned Wheat

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Canned Wheat was The Guess Who's second album for RCA, containing the hits "Laughing" and "Undun." It also included the original version of "No Time," later re-recorded for the American Woman album. The later version is the one that you're familiar with. The original has an extended intro and outro, plus a different guitar solo by Randy Bachman. Musically, this was always my least favorite album of the band's catalog. Still, there are quite a few tracks worth mentioning (besides the hits).

"Old Joe" is one of the better tunes on Canned Wheat, featuring a theme that would show up later on "Those Show Biz Shoes," a song from the band's Artificial Paradise album. Another highlight on the CD is "Of a Dropping Pin." Originally recorded during the band's ill-fated London sessions, this version is a bit more polished than the earlier one. The album's centerpiece is the ambitious, 11-minute "Key." Reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird," the song gives everyone in the band the chance to stretch out a bit--especially drummer Garry Peterson, who turns in an extended solo.

There were a couple production problems on Canned Wheat. Several copies of the CD were pressed and released with a different bonus track ("Miss Frizzy") instead of the one that was listed on the jewel box ("Species Hawk"). Unfortunately for the collectors out there, there's no way to tell which 'version' of the CD you're getting until you put it in your CD player. The other problem concerns the way the songs are tracked. Five of the songs have 'interludes' before them. In every instance, these 'interludes' are part of the previous song on the CD. None of this affects the music in any way, as long as you're listening to the CD from start to finish. The problem only occurs when you try to go to a specific track.

It's great to see these albums finally getting the treatment they deserve. Aside from the minor production problems mentioned above, the folks at Buddah have done a great job with the recent reissues from The Guess Who. The sound quality has been superb (far surpassing the original vinyl), and the packaging has been outstanding (with new liner notes, photos, and bonus tracks). All they need to do now is release the rest of the band's RCA catalog.

A definite original! The songwriting style of Bachman & Cummings couldn't have come out of anywhere but the Canadian midwest. The sometimes nieve (or maybe just young) lyrics and fresh/clean instrumentation combine with melodies an artist of any genre would be proud of.

The marathon KEY (the one with the obligatory drum solo)is still interesting to listen to thirty years later and has definitely aged better than FRIENDS OF MINE from Wheatfield Soul. The musical styling is more diverse and the lyrics both poetic and insightful without being overly preachy.

The album ends with some really tasty guitar styling by Randy Bachman in FAIR WARNING. A tune with a message as relevent today as thirty years ago.

Most of the songs on this album aren't very exciting, but the few exceptions make it very worthwhile. "Of A Dropping Pin" is an undiscovered gem that sounds somewhat like fast-paced Moody Blues songs, "Undun" is generally considered by musicians to be one of this group's best, and I much prefer this alternative version of "No Time" because the strummed acoustic guitar chords are clearer, the guitar solo is extended, and the ending is more climactic than in the Top 40 version of early 1970.

"Canned Wheat" is probably the best of the Guess Who's original albums. It contains the singles "No Time" (In an extended version), "Laughing" and "Undun," as well as a number of fairly strong guitar laden album tracks. The song "Key" stretches out to over eleven minutes, but still manages to be worthwhile. The only clunker is the awful "Fair Warning," that comes along at the end like a bad acid trip, but is mercifully held to less than two minutes. At their best during this, the Randy Bachman period, the Guess Who were worthy competition for Creedence Clearwater Revival and mined some of the same musical and political ground. They only lack CCR's consistantly great songwriting. "Canned Wheat" is no "Green River," but it's still a worthwhile listen.

I haven't got that many guess who albums (3+2 best of albums), but I think this one beats American Woman. It carries a better variety of stuff, with a better version of No Time than on most other collections and American Woman itself. Key is a great song as well, with an amazing drum solo, longer than the song proper.

The following review USED to be part of the reviews of this album (which I like the album, by the way) - the review is, in my opinion, one of the finest works of art ever put to print, I happened on it one day long ago and just now noticed that it had "expired" from the site - I saved it to a text file when I originally found it, so here it is, deservingly relisted! . . . it's brilliant.

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my uncle's fav!!!, June 23, 2004


Reviewer: A music fan

Guess what? My uncle Curtis loves this CD. His brother gave it to him for his birthday and he plays it every weekend when me and my sister stay over at his house. He makes us these really funky pancakes on Sunday morning and he dances around the kitchen in his funky blue bathrobe singing along to "She Come Un-done." Which is really a groovy song even my sister Caitlyn like. It was so funny last weekend we were at Curtis house and he had been taking medicine for his stomach but he hadn't eaten anything in three days. He was acting really goofy. He puts on the Guess Who and starts air drumming to "The Key." It has this drum solo that last for an hour and Curtis was rolling up newspapers and making them into drum sticks. He starts hitting the newspapers on the kitchen table. Next thing you know he slams one of the newspapers into his ash tray and it goes flying up in the air and ashes got all over my sisters scrambled eggs! Then the cat jump on the table and the cat got swatted with a newspaper and my uncle turned up the CD really loud. But he loves the music. Its like he goes into a time warp and he starts burning this incense that he has had since 1977. It smells like stale perfume but he says to us: this is what we did in the 70's. But the worse thing he did is he slammed his head into this twisty lamp that he has coming down from the ceiling. He has probably hit his head thirty times on this stupid thing. But this time was the worse. He was screaming in agony. First his face went red and he was just really silent then he started yelling explotives and me and my sister like it was our fault. Then my sister told my mom that he cussed at us and she yell at Curtis for being a bad role model! Uncle curtis is sort of the black sheep of the family. Last thangsgiving he spent the whole day in the garage trying to put together an old train set. But he loves old music the best. I tell you when he listens to the Guess Who he is just happy as a kid in a candy store. He sings along to "These Eyes" and even the dog starts howling and singing along! That's the magic of my uncle. Even if he puts tin foil in his kitchen window and doesn't shave on the weekends and read the Sunday funnies like it's front page news! He still tells my sister: one day I'm selling everything I own and moving to Bermuda. But one thing is for sure, he will never sell his Guess Who albums!

Too often, many people would write off The Guess Who as a singles band mostly capable of delivering some hits and pretty much ignoring their albums, aside from a Greatest Hits package. Too bad, as Canned Wheat, their second from RCA demonstrates, that they were fully capable of making great albums too!

Here you get treated with the original version of "No Time". We all know the hit version that appeared on their following album American Woman, that version was edited, with some of the more hostile lyrics at the end removed. Here, you get to hear it all in its original glory. There's also an extra guitar solo you don't hear on the more familiar hit version. The album did spawn two big hits, with "Laughing" and "Undun". The former tends to be rather pop-oriented, while the latter has a rather jazzy feel. There's also the wonderful acoustic piece "6 A.M. or Nearer". I really love how the band suddenly gives us a jazzy passage with flute, certainly making them far more than a typical AM dial pop/rock group that some might dismiss them as. "Of a Dropping Pin" is another one of my favorite, but I have to say "Key" would be the album's crowning glory if Garry Peterson didn't waste around 3/4 of this piece with a drum solo. "Key" itself starts off great, with nice use of acoustic guitar, and a great electric guitar solo from Randy Bachman, although I find the biblical lyrics a bit hard to take in. The album closes with "Fair Warning". It's basically one of the band members, speaking in a pseudo-Scottish accent warning everyone the dangers of being a rock star and that you're better off not being one.

Except for the excessive drum solo on "Key", this is an excellent collection of songs proving the Guess Who really do deserve more credit.

this record was the one I looked for for a long time. It was exactly the way I remembered it. Plays great. Thanks

What a sad, sad world we live in today- the Guess Who is NOT being fondly remembered for their enjoyable music. The same band that had like, 15 big hits, has apparently slipped out of most peoples memories. What a freakin' shame. This is some quality songwriting.

Let's mention the big hits first. "No Time" is a classic pop song with a soaring chorus. I absolutely love the way the vocal melody builds and builds into the "No time left for you" part. It's really good and reveals the bands talent in regards to being creative with a vocal melody.

"Laughing" has a distinct emotional feeling connected to it that -to me at least- sounds completely original. It's actually a perfect song. What makes it stand apart from other ballads of the time period is that it doesn't sound quite like an early 60's ballad nor does it sound like an early 70's ballad- it's stuck somewhere in between, making it a perfect piece of history.

You know when I was a little kid and my parents would play Guess Who albums, for some reason "Undun" never caught my attention. NOW however, I absolutely love it. The jazzy, atmospherically sneaky, fast-pace nature of the way it's constructed is just *brilliant*.

Now let's mention some of the other songs considering the Guess Who was most definitely an album band and NOT a singles band like radio stations have been trying to make us believe for the last 20 years. Ridiculous line of thinking!

The 12-minute "Key" jam is awesome. The vocal melody is REALLY catchy, and it leads into some really melodic guitar playing. The second half features a drum solo but unlike most drum solos, this one actually keeps my attention. "6 A.M. or Nearer" has a wonderful vocal melody that's definitely quite soulful and meaningful. Not to mention the flutes are really good too- they're always played tastefully and melodically. Excellent song. "Of a Dropping Pin" speeds along at a good pace and once again, Burton Cummings delivers a great performance.

However his ultimate performance for me is *still* on "6 A.M. or Nearer" because of his distinct style of sincerity on that particular track. With that said, "Minstrel Boy" is a MAGNIFICENT song that brought me to tears upon hearing the lyrics, and "Old Joe" has a chorus that's really sad as well. Clearly the Guess Who is no ordinary rock band because they always venture into really honest and emotional territory with their songwriting. Steppenwolf is another band that did the same thing. Excellent stuff.

Overall, yes. Canned Wheat is a can of success and long-lasting good vibes. Pick it up for a good taste of the Guess Who.

The Guess Who are either one of the most deservedly recognized singles bands or one of the most under-recognized albums bands of their era, and either way, that is a situation I hope to help change minds about.

With this band, you have great song writing, tracks that worked as both singles and FM rock. Any band that can work a track like "Undone" as jazz, "Laughing" as soul, and "Friends Of Mine," off Wheatfield Soul as Fever Tree Maple Leaf acid funk gets my unqualified vote.

So does Burton Cummings. If Robert Plant's voice had given out on a sub zero Canadian night in 1969, and the band needed a quick stand in, Cummings could have done the job, no problem. Could have worked a shift for any Stax singer of the era, too.


And do you know what the Canned Wheat album is? An album. Listen to the atonal guitar riff that opens "No Time." Dig on the classical piano swoops that segue into "Undone." Or the jazz flute that fits so organically. A lot of singles bands in 1969 were trying little asides like this, when AM still sliced it off. And it sounded ridiculous. (Did you ever hear the atonal stings in the middle of "Susan." by the Buckinghams?)

But the Guess Who were a fantastic rock group, who just happened to make songs great enough to compete on top forty radio. And here, the 1960s art games really work.

Every time