# The Guess Who - Damn, they were good! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248 "2009-10-27T01:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/41 "2009-10-28T16:36:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Moose Jaw saw a few, Moosomin too, runnin’ back to Saskatoon I see that’s what the first hit on Google is for the lyrics but it’s got to be wrong. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find a site that has it as: > [@](#): > > Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too, runnin’ back to Saskatoon That make more sense since Broadview is an actual town in Saskatchewan. BTW, before The Who got to Tommy they released the following singles, among others: I Can’t Explain Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere My Generation Substitute A Legal Matter The Kids Are Alright I’m a Boy Happy Jack Pictures of Lily I Can See for Miles Magic Bus “Good, catchy, rocking pop hits” all. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/42 "2009-10-28T16:45:45Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Can you suggest certain albums? Probably “Canned Wheat” and “American Woman”. I’m most familiar with the latter – it has some goofy songs on it, but it does feature “No Sugar Tonight”/“New Mother Nature”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/43 "2009-10-28T17:02:42Z")
Say, speaking of the Guess Who, anybody know what the hell the story is on _Albert Flasher_? There’s a fragmented story there that suggests it might have been part of a musical or something. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/44 "2009-10-28T18:31:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Please fans, can you tell me if this style is typical for the band or at least for one of their phases? Can you suggest certain albums? Well, “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” is pretty much a one-of-a-kind song. But if you like it, I think it’s very likely that you will also like the rest of the album it’s from, “American Woman”. Sure, the title track was clearly designed to be radio-friendly (AM radio, in those days), but there are some other truly great songs on that album that have a similar appeal to “No Sugar”, like “Talisman” and “Proper Stranger”. I would actually suggest that you NOT go for the greatest hits album, because you’ll get all the, well, hits, which don’t include The Guess Who’s really greatest work. So try the “American Woman” album first. If you like that, try “Artificial Paradise”, which includes greats like “Samantha’s Living Room” (yeah, no one’s ever heard of it), “Follow Your daughter Home”, and one of my personal favorites “All Hashed Out”. After that maybe the album “Road Food” (hmm, that name sounds familiar somehow…) which has one of their mega-hits, “Clap for the Wolfman”, plus a couple of truly great ballads, “One Way Road to Hell”, “The Ballad of The Last Five Years”, and the truly, truly fun song “Attila’s Blues” (with such lyrical gems as “Have you ever had an aardvark sandwich? Have you ever had a seagull stew? I had a pet pitiful penguin and I made him watch the six o’clock news; shine my shoes.” Yes, you need to listen to truly appreciate it.) Yes, I am a huge Guess Who fan. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/45 "2009-10-28T18:43:00Z")
What, no love for _Share the Land_ (the album)? The one that contains, besides the title track, “Hand Me Down World,” “Bus Rider,” “Do You Miss Me, Darlin’?,” “Hang on to Your Life,” “Three More Days”? One cool thing about the Guess Who is that, like the Beatles, they never stuck to a specific “sound.” Even just listening to their hits, you’d hardly guess that “These Eyes,” “Undun,” “American Woman,” “Clap for the Wolfman,” and “Albert Flasher” were all the same band. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/46 "2009-10-28T19:52:30Z")
I’ve got the Best of the Guess Who on my iPod and listen to it fairly often…my favorite song is one I don’t think anyone else has mentioned: “No Time.” For a singer in a pop band, Burton Cummings is quite an impressive shouter. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/47 "2009-10-28T20:53:49Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > What, no love for _Share the Land_ (the album)? The one that contains, besides the title track, “Hand Me Down World,” “Bus Rider,” “Do You Miss Me, Darlin’?,” “Hang on to Your Life,” “Three More Days”? I like that album. But then, I like all things Guess Who. I’d put _Share the Land_ in the middle; similar to _American Woman_ (not surprising, since it came out right after), but just not as good, nor up there with _Road Food_ or \* Rockin’\*. Still, better than _#10_ or _Power in the Music_. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > One cool thing about the Guess Who is that, like the Beatles, they never stuck to a specific “sound.” Even just listening to their hits, you’d hardly guess that “These Eyes,” “Undun,” “American Woman,” “Clap for the Wolfman,” and “Albert Flasher” were all the same band. Or “Dirty” or “Long Gone” (From _Flavours_) or “Rain Dance” or “Goin’ A Little Crazy” or “Fiddlin’” or “Life in the Bloodstream” (from _So Long Bannatyne_) or “Musicione” or “Lie Down” (from _#10_) or “Running Bear” or “Herbert’s a Loser” or “Key” or “Maple Fudge” . . . ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/48 "2009-10-28T21:00:23Z")
1. It was 4 years before I got there, but it was still talked about. [The Guess Who, CRHS 1972](http://xpn.org/blogs/885mmmm/2007/08/27/the-guess-who-surprise-concert-at-council-rock-high-school-1972/) ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/49 "2009-10-28T21:20:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > Say, speaking of the Guess Who, anybody know what the hell the story is on _Albert Flasher_? There’s a fragmented story there that suggests it might have been part of a musical or something. Yeah, it came from a hungover Burt’s misreading of an [“Alert Flasher”](http://askville.amazon.com/story-Guess-song-Albert-Flasher/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7379043). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/50 "2009-10-29T00:20:38Z")
Slight hijack: Randy’s son, Tal, became a pretty fair musician in his own right: [She’s So High](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVKcfwJxa54) [If You Sleep](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvZfFWbnvwM&feature=channel) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/51 "2009-10-29T01:40:22Z")
Do you remember the Sea of Love? They covered it as filler on one of the later albums. The Sea of Love is playing in the background while a couple of drunks are speaking over it. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/52 "2009-10-29T19:07:22Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Do you remember the Sea of Love? They covered it as filler on one of the later albums. The Sea of Love is playing in the background while a couple of drunks are speaking over it. Yeah, that’s “Hi Rockers”, the last song on the album _Rockin’_. That’s Burton Cummings and . . . gotta admit, I don’t know who “Bri” is, doing the odd dialog. They don’t really sound drunk to me, just two guys talking (and making sure to say the other guy’s name at the end of every sentence; “Comme ci, comme ca the world, uh, Burt”). “Sea of Love” is playing on the jukebox in the background and when it finishes, Burt puts another quarter in and the song “Heaven Only Moved Once Yesterday” blasts into the foreground. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248/53 "2009-10-30T13:39:44Z")
With regard to Albert Flasher, it’s that rarest of rare songs: the one where you’re certain you’ve misheard the lyrics, and then years later, you realize you were right all along – Cummings really did sing “I was a workshop owner in the gulch for the people, an I offered myself to the world!” What the hell does that mean? Is this the only use of the word “gulch” in the history of pop music lyrics? On the other hand, I always heard “Michael was a movie maker” and it’s actually "Michael was a moonbeam maker. Great tune, anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guess-who-damn-they-were-good/515248.md?page=2)