Wheatfield Empire - A Listener’s Guide to The Guess Who

Robert Lawson’s new book, “Wheatfield Empire The Listener’s Guide to The Guess Who” is a welcome addition to the literary history of one Canada’s foremost bands, a history that is surprisingly thin. The Guess Who, a Canadian group that should need no introduction, have been around in various incarnations since the early 1960’s. Starting out in Winnipeg, they became international successfully, and are best known for their 1970 hit “American Woman”, a number one single in both Canada and the United States. The band is also known as the launching pad for two of Canada’s best known rock stars, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman. 

Robert’s book is valuable compendium for fans of the group providing exceptional detail not only of their recording history, but also of the different musicians who over the years were part of the Guess Who. The author is described on the book’s cover as “a life long fan of The Guess Who” who “has spent years tracking the band’s recording history and consulted closely with many Guess Who experts to compile this comprehensive guide”. This is certainly borne out in the thoroughness of the detail contained within. 

The information is provided in a chronological order, including the earliest iterations of The Guess Who, and the various reunions that have taken place after the demise of the band in 1975, and also includes details about Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings’ solo careers. Robert also includes details about specific live performances made by the band such as appearances on television shows, and “bootlegs” from concerts performed by the group.  

Each of the dozen albums released during the band’s golden period (1969 - 1975) has its own chapter, including details about the recording studio, the producer and engineer, and release date. The description of the album includes a background, an overview, details concerning the release and reception and the subsequent reissues and remasters of the recording. Complimenting the above are reproductions of promotional materials pertaining to the release of the record and other relevant documents of historical relevance, as well as commentary from band members (including Burton Cummings), individuals closely associated to the recording and those with insight into what was going on at the time. As to be expected, the book also contains a complete discography. 

 

I found the book to very entertaining and an easy read, containing all of the kind of detail a fan of the group would be interested in. The commentary provides interesting context about the what was going on with the band at the time the records were being made, with many humorous asides. It goes without saying this book is a must for fans of The Guess Who, especially when one considers the scandalous paucity of written material about this seminal band. Definitely recommended.    

Coyote 

Reaching that elusive brass ring of commercial success can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the music business for many talented artists. In the golden age of Canadian rock music (generally considered the 1970’s and 80’s), this meant selling records. Although experts could make an educated guess about which bands would “make it”, it was difficult to explain why one single could break a band and propel them to stardom, while at the same time, other groups could record and release great music, and yet toil in obscurity. While it may seem to casual observers of the music scene that having a recording deal with a label meant that a group had finally “made it”, the truth is that it was merely the first step. Radio had to be convinced to put the song into rotation (so that the listeners could hear it), artists and repertoire (A&R) representatives from the label had to promote the record and ensure that it was in stores (so the public could buy it), and crucially, the record label itself had to decide to release the record in the first place (before any of the aforementioned actions could take place). You would think that if a band had a record deal, (and they actually went into a studio and laid down enough tracks for an album), then the label would release same and offer it to the public for purchase. However, the truth is that in many cases, for reasons known only to the label, the recordings never see the light of day. While the band may have had a devoted following based on their live performances, commercial success relied on selling records. Coyote, a mid 1970’s Canadian group, had this unfortunate experience.

Coyote was comprised of a number of veterans of the Eastern Ontario music scene. I contacted Gary Comeau, one the original members and through some text messages, he graciously provided me with the band’s story. In the summer of 1974, Gary was in Kingston with his girlfriend. He had just finished playing with Cliff Edwards (of the Bells fane). While in Kingston, Gary renewed acquaintances with two old friends, Richard Patterson and Colleen Peterson. Colleen told Gary that a friend of hers was starting a band, and that maybe Gary should talk to him. She arranged for Gary to meet with this friend whose name was Paul Lockyer. The meeting went well, and the boys started work on putting together a new group. The first bassist was Brian Edwards (lead singer with Mashmakan), but he left and Gary recommended his old friend Charle Bergeron. Gary and Charles had worked together previously in a group named James Leroy and Denim. This was for the next two years the lineup for what would be known as Coyote. The band was comprised of Al Manning (guitar & vocals), Paul Lockyer (keyboards & vocals), Gary Comeau (guitar & steel guitar), Glen LeCompte (drums) and Charles Bergeron (bass). In 1974 the band got off the ground and started working around Southern Ontario. The quickly became popular on the club circuit and soon developed a following. Gary advised “four of the guys were singers so we had good vocals. Al and I did a lot of two guitar harmony tracks when I wasn't playing pedal steel; it was a very musical band. Capitol reps saw us in Toronto, since we played there a lot”. These people liked what the heard, and recommended that head office in Los Angeles should take notice. After hearing the band, and some “demos” they had recorded, in late 1975 Capitol signed the group to a recording contract. Coyote recorded its songs for the proposed album in Toronto at Thunder Sound and at Le Studio In Quebec. The producer was Spencer Proffer, and the engineer was Larry Green (both from Los Angeles). Gary recalls that “we had a lot of fun in the studios, it was really pretty easy”. Mixing the tracks as well as some of the overdubs also took place in Los Angeles. 

Out of these recordings, in 1976 Capitol released the single “Never Want To Leave You” backed with “Just Want Your Love” into the Canadian market. (As an aside, John Capek is listed on the label as producer. When I asked Gary about this he replied that the single came from their first session at Thunder Sound, and for that session, John acted as producer). The song did receive airplay, although I’m unsure of what position (if any) it received on the local charts. Plenty of copies seem to have been released, as used versions (including promotional ones) are readily available for sale on-line. Although enough songs had been recorded for an album, Capitol decided not to release one. Gary explained “at the time the boss of Capitol L.A. was Rupert Perry, I found out years later from old friend Paul White who was with Capitol Canada that Rupert put us on the back shelf and really didn't care about us, while Capitol Canada thought we would be big in the record world, but thanks to Perry we never got promoted. Capitol Canada was very upset to say the least. We released one single and that was it. One of the reasons Perry put us on the back burner was because we played country, rock and progressive pop. Back then they liked to slot bands in categories and they couldn't classify us.” The band continued to perform all over Ontario to support the singles, and this version stayed together until 1977 (another without Gary would resurface a couple of years later). The quintet were known as a great live act with four lead singers and good instrumentation but without support from their label (in the guise of an album release), the band found themselves treading water, and decided to go their separate ways. Gary has access to the recordings made by the group from those sessions back in the day, and he has been generous enough to make them available on-line.