Guess Who – American Woman

American Woman is the sixth album from The Guess Who (although only the third under precisely that name, having released two as Chad Allen & the Expression/Guess Who? and another as The Guess Who?) and the last before Randy Bachman left.

Although the album was a massive seller (#1 Canada, #9 US) and is often included in lists of the greatest Canadian albums (#10 in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Albums, #33 in 1996, #34 in 2000, #28 in 2005 in Chart magazine), the critical reception was generally tepid:

• AllMusic gave it 4 stars out of 5, calling it "as close to a defining album-length statement as the original group ever made"
• Robert Christgau gave it a B, which is the highest grade he gave any non-compilation Guess Who album
• New Rolling Stone Record Guide gave it only 2 stars out of 5, but the magazine review contained a funny story about a drug-smoking 16 year-old male overhearing – and deriding as bubblegum music – his 12 year-old sister's copy of American Woman, but not being able to get it out of his head and finally learning to love the Guess Who

American Woman included three Canadian #1 hit singles, all of which also went top 10 in the US: the title track (#1 US, #19 UK) – which also made this list of Great Canadian Songs, its flip-side "No Sugar Tonight" (#1 US), and "No Time" (#5 US), whose flip-side "No Stranger" apparently made the charts in Australia.

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Track Listing

1. "American Woman" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson) – 5:02
2. "No Time" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings) – 3:45
3. "Talisman" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings) – 5:05
4. "No Sugar Tonight" (Randy Bachman) / "New Mother Nature" (Burton Cummings) – 4:52
5. "969 (The Oldest Man) (Instrumental)" (Randy Bachman) - 2:58
6. "When Friends Fall Out" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings) – 2:58
7. "8:15" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings) – 3:26
8. "Proper Stranger" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings) – 4:00
9. "Humpty's Blues/American Woman (Epilogue)" (Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson) – 6:11

Personnel

• Randy Bachman – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals, tambourine
• Burton Cummings – lead vocals, organ, piano, rhythm guitar, flute, harmonica
• Jim Kale – bass, backing vocals
• Garry Peterson – drums, percussion, backing vocals

• Guess Who – Share the Land (album)
• Guess Who – Wheatfield Soul (album)
• Guess Who – American Woman (song)
• Guess Who – Share the Land (song)
• Guess Who – Runnin' Back to Saskatoon (song)