The Guess Who – ’87 (EP)

The Guess Who is a Canadian rock band, formed in Winnipeg in 1965. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, the group found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with many hit singles.

In 1983, Bachman, Cummings, Kale, and Peterson (the “American Woman” line-up) reunited as “The Guess Who” to play a series of Canadian gigs and record the Together Again live album and video at the Canadian National Exhibition bandshell on June 29, 1983. The concert and subsequent releases were the first time Bachman had performed many of the songs written and recorded after his departure. Four new studio recordings were also made with overdubbed audience noise.

After the reunion, Cummings resumed his solo work, Bachman took Peterson with him for a Bachman-Turner Overdrive reunion album and tour, and Kale once again resumed touring with various musicians under “The Guess Who” banner. In the fall of 1983, Russell and Bernardi joined Kale, as well as singer Trevor Balicky and keyboardist Mike Hanford (from the 60s Winnipeg band Gettysbyrg Address). In 1985 Balicky was succeeded by former Stilettos singer Bob Fuhr and then, in 1986, Kenny Carter. Terry Read (formerly with The Lyme) came in briefly to sub for Hanford in 1986.

In 1987 a four-song cassette of new material from the Kale/Russell/Bernardi/Hanford/Carter line-up appeared, called Guess Who ’87. In one of the few mainstream reviews it received, Craig MacInnis of the Toronto Star opined, “The playing is roadhouse sloppy and the songs are pure junk.”

After the BTO reunion played itself out, Drummer Peterson returned to the Guess Who just after the release of Guess Who ’87. From this point on, the band mostly concentrated on the by now very lucrative US nostalgia circuit, appearing on bills like Super 70s (in the summer of 1988) with Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Rare Earth, Mark Farner and Ray Sawyer (of Dr. Hook) and Dick Clark‘s American Bandstand Tour in 1989.

Track listing

1. Razors Edge
2. Evil Eyes
3. Is This the Love
4. Don’t Want a Broken Heart

Credits