Inside the AMERICAN WOMAN
album vinyl 33, there was a collage of
pictures, very whitened up and washed
out, underneath the lyrics to all the
songs ... all these pictures were
submitted by the four of us ... they
were pictures of us and our four mothers
... Randy, Garry, Jim, and I all brought
lot of pictures, single pictures of our
mothers or ourselves as tiny kids, and
some pictures of each of us with our
individual mothers.
There was only one master print ever
made for the superimposition. I have
uncovered it and it's being reproduced.
But when you see the master print, each
individual picture is clear as day ...
no washout technique, and no lyrics
superimposed ... just the pictures ...
Burton
Cummings 2012
May
3, 1969
Cow Rock Show
San Francisco, California, USA
Sardi's on West
44th, May 1970, approximately 1 a.m.
A
strange, somewhat sad night. We
had just played our last show with
Bachman at Fillmore East. The after
party was for RCA more than it was for
us, as we'd sold millions of records
and lined their coffers for a
bit. I think we had already made
the phone calls to Kurt Winter and
Greg Leskiw by the time this picture
was taken. About two weeks later, we
were rehearsing somewhere in St. James
with Kurt and Greg, preparing for
"Share the Land"
Burton
Cummings 2012
1970
Appearance on The Johnny Cash Show -
October 21, 1970
Garry Peterson, Jim Kale, Greg Leskiw, Burton Cummings, Kurt Winter
Chicago 1970, RCA Studios
Recording the SHARE THE LAND album in
Chicago, 1970
On July 14 1970, Winnipeg's Guess
Who (Burton Cummings, Garry
Peterson, Jim Kale, Greg Leskiw
and Kurt Winter) played at a
private event at the International
Inn (now the Victoria Inn) for
Prince Charles and Princess Anne
on the occasion of Manitoba's
centennial celebrations.
Along with the royal siblings, two
hundred and seventy-five young
people from schools, universities
and communities throughout the
province were handpicked to attend
a dinner and dance at the
International Inn's Hollow Mug
dinner theatre.
Besides the Guess Who, Monty
Levine and his orchestra and the
Mug's repertory singers, The
Internationals, also performed.
Under the headline "Guess Who'll
Be There", the Winnipeg Free Press
reported the event.
"Prince Charles and Princess Anne,
both bona fide members of the
under-30 club, will attend a jam
session of one of the top
commercial rock groups here
tonight. Winnipeg's The
Guess Who, creators of Canada's
first-ever number one world hit, American
Woman, will give their first
royal performance as the Prince
and Princess turn on to the
contemporary sound of heavy rock
music."
Indeed, Guess Who singer Burton
Cummings gushed about their
impending concert. Mr.
Cummings said the group would like
to sing American Woman
because the song is identified
with the musicians and their
success. But he added, "Some
people consider it
political. We won't do it if
we're asked not to."
Mr. Cummings said the musicians
were "really digging the fact
we'll be playing for the
Queen. We've always wanted
to play for the Queen." When
informed that Prince Charles and
Princess Anne would be in
attendance but not Queen
Elizabeth, he said, "Ah well, I'm
a big Commonwealth fan, that
doesn't matter."
The following day, the newspaper
interviewed several youth who were
in attendance. Nineteen year
old Loree Shinoff was seated next
to Charles at the head table and
noted that he talked continuously
throughout the evening.
"He said he was looking forward to
their trip to Washington Thursday
but feared insinuations of a
relationship between himself and
'the Nixon girl'," she
revealed. "His charges said
he just loves to dance but felt he
couldn't dance to the kind of
music the Guess Who played."
Marcia Lester, also nineteen,
noted that Princess Anne "appeared
to enjoy the dinner and the
entertainment but felt the Guess
Who's last number, American
Woman, and monologue ran a
bit too long." At the end of
their set, Guess Who bassist Jim
Kale announced to the royals,
"We'll see you in Washington."
Three days later, on July 17th the
Guess Who again played for the
Prince and Princess at a reception
at the White House.
