Let's Go

by

The Guess Who

Edit

I had the good fortune to catch the return tour of the REAL Guess Who in 2000 (Bachman, Cummings, Peterson, McDougall & Wallace) and was overjoyed when the live double CD came out. Then, Randy Bachman unearthed a ton of early material from before the release of Wheatfield Soul (the double CD This Time Long Ago, with a few great cover tunes and early versions of several tracks that made it onto the Wheatfield album)...I was aware they'd been the house band on CBC Television's "Let's Go" in the mid-late 60s. This CD proves how good they were at handling just about any material at all (never mind their own great stuff). To hear the Guess Who tackle songs like Along Comes Mary, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, Time of the Season, You Keep Me Hangin' On and more only cements my respect for these guys as a band who could do it all, and when These Eyes finally hit the airwaves, as Burton Cummings put it, "It changed our lives forever". The real bonus on this disc is the inclusion of five tracks done for a Coca-Cola promotional album ("A Wild Pair", with Ottawa's Staccatos on the other side of the LP...later to be known as The Five Man Electrical Band). Some of the band's first RCA hits are included here as performed on the TV show, the cover songs you have to hear to appreciate, and the "Wild Pair" music has been nearly impossible to come by until now. This is worth any Guess Who fan's money...as well as the attention anyone who hasn't made themselves familiar with them yet (if not, why not?) If you have the other stuff, this is a must. If you don't...get this and at least one of the greatest hits packages! Kudos to Randy Bachman for bringing this material to the light of day!