Track Record: The Guess Who Collection

The Guess Who | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 26, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WH7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,499 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (Almost) Everything You Need To Own by the Guess Who, February 13, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Track Record: The Guess Who Collection (Audio CD)

The Guess Who were essentially a singles band. As such this two-disc set is a perfect compromise between the skimpy 11-track Best of the Guess Who and the over-generous 57-track The Guess Who: The Ultimate Collection. [However, all three of these omit the Guess Who's first two Canadian No. 1s: "Shakin' All Over" and "Tossin' and Turnin'." "Shakin' All Over" even charted in the U.S. at No. 22, but these were both pre-RCA singles when Chad Allan was still in the band.]

Beginning in 1969, with Burton Cummings (vocals) and Randy Bachman (lead guitar) writing most of the material, the Guess Who had a string of memorable singles over the next three years, including 3 million-sellers: "These Eyes," "Laughing" and "American Woman."

It would have been nice to get a few album tracks from the stronger early albums. Wheatfield Soul is represented by only the single "These Eyes." Arguable their best album, Canned Wheat, features only the three singles extracted from the album: "Laughing," "Undone" and "No Time." Fortunately Share the Land, in addition to the hits, is also represented by the equally strong "Bus Rider," "Do You Miss Me Darlin'" and "Hang on to Your Life." Share the Land was also the first Guess Who album after the departure of founding member Randy Bachman (who would go on to form Brave Belt and eventually Bachman-Turner Overdrive).

Following Share the Land, the band went into a creative tailspin from which they never fully recovered. The constant shifting in the band's lineup during this period didn't help either. They would have only one more top ten song, the novelty "Clap for the Wolfman" and a handful of lesser singles. By 1975 Cummings dissolved the band to pursue a solo career.

Disc 1 contains by far the band's strongest material, but disc-2 contains some equally fine songs ("Star Baby," "Dancin' Fool," "Guns, Guns, Guns") and provides the necessary material representing the band's final years. An excellent overview of an underrated band. RECOMMENDED

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY NICE COLLECTION, August 12, 2001

By 

Patrick Earley (Edmond, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Track Record: The Guess Who Collection (Audio CD)

This is a band I pretty much grew up with starting in my highschool years. They had their biggest hit "AMERICAN WOMAN", an overplayed song at the time, but their only number 1 hit. And "NO TIME", which I liked even better, that reached number 5. I still enjoy listening to these songs from early on in their career, but it's their later stuff that I like even more. Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings made for a very forminable songwriting team. But with their immense talents, they were always buttin' heads over the direction the band should take. Bachman finally got fed up and quit the band in 1970 to form Bachman Turner Overdrive. I thought after Bachman left, that the band was pretty much washed up. As it turned out, they were only getting started. Cummings and company proceeded to put out a string of early 70's hits with the songs "SHARE THE LAND", "HAND ME DOWN WORLD", and "BUS RIDER". All from their overall best album "Share The Land". They also had a hit that came along a few years later with "CLAP FOR THE WOLFMAN". I think the music the Guess Who did the last year or two before their breakup is underrated. Their later album from 1972 "Artificial Paradise" was a very nice record that included the songs here: "FOLLOW YOUR DAUGHTER HOME", a very cool flute driven song. The country flavored "ORLY" and "THOSE SHOW BIZ SHOES", which featured some nice singing and great piano work by Cummings. This was a very different Guess Who record that got a lot of 8-track play at the time. Also included here is the catchy b-side song "LIFE IN THE BLOODSTREAM", which has a distinct 50's flavor to it. They also have an unreleased song "SONA SONA", which has a nice west coast rock feel. Another outstanding cut here is "ALBERT FLASHER", which used to be my favorite song to shoot pool to. It's also a great song to try to sing to, if you can. It's a fast one. "Track Record" is a very satisfying best of collection. If your a rabid Guess Who fan, you might want to splurge for their 56 song Ultimate Collection. But be prepared to pay out the o-ring for that one. For my money, you get everything you need to know about the Guess Who right here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Guess Who - A Vastly Underated Band, April 29, 2007

By 

Steven Sly (Kalamazoo, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Track Record: The Guess Who Collection (Audio CD)

I am going to go out on a limb here and propose that Burton Cummings may have been one of the best vocalists in rock n roll history, and probably one of the most overlooked. In all honestly The Guess Who were a bit before my time. By the time I was discovering music as a teenager the Guess Who's glory years were far behind them. By the time the band called it a day in 1975 Randy Bachman was long gone, and although they could still get the occasional single to break the top 40, they were burned out and burned up. As a kid I had, of course, heard various Guess Who songs on the radio, but never really gave them a lot of thought. All that changed in the late-80s when I happened to catch a Burton Cummings solo performance on Public Television's "Soundstage" program. I sat there mesmerized through the whole thing. Cummings was nothing short of incredible. His vocals and stage presence were riveting and much of the material he was performing was from his days in The Guess Who. This was really great stuff and I set out to find some Guess Who on CD. I decided on this 2 CD set that looked like it covered the most ground of the band's many compilations. Although I had never been into them before, I found that I knew about 70% of the songs on the two disc set already. Some had been huge hits, and some much lesser ones, but I had pretty much remembered them all if I had heard them even once. The Guess Who have a number of compilation albums out, and this one falls somewhere between the single disc ones and the 4 disc box set "Ultimate Collection". "Track Record" contains 31 cuts, including all of the bands big and lesser known hits, albums cuts, and a few live cuts. After Randy Bachman left in 1970 the band featured a revolving cast of guitarists. The change in sound can be heard here on the latter day material became a bit heavier and somewhat more varied. There is really not a bad song on the collection. I always liked the way that some of the band's singles were a bit on the different side. "Albert Flasher", "Rain Dance", "Glamour Boy" were all hits, but were not your typical top 40 radio fodder. Every time I pull this compilation out I think that I need to delve deeper into The Guess Who's proper albums. Hopefully I will do this one of these days, but for now this compilation remains a very nice addition to my collection.