Derek Sharp

In 1958, Winnipeg singer/guitarist Chad Allan formed a local rock band called Al and the Silvertones.

The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, with hit songs including "American Woman", "These Eyes", and "No Time".

During their most successful period, The Guess Who released eleven studio albums, all of which reached the charts in Canada and the United States.

After several lineup changes, the band stabilized in 1962 under the name Chad Allan and the Reflections, which included Allan and keyboardist Bob Ashley, plus future Guess Who mainstays Randy Bachman on guitar, Jim Kale on bass, and Garry Peterson on drums.

Chad Allan and the Reflections released their first single, "Tribute To Buddy Holly", on Canadian-American Records in 1962.

They then signed with Quality Records and released several singles in 1963–64, which gained some regional notice around Winnipeg but made little impact in the rest of Canada.

One single was credited, perhaps mistakenly, to Bob Ashley and the Reflections.

The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965.

In 1965, the group changed their name to Chad Allan and the Expressions after an American group called The Reflections released the hit single "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet".

Chad Allan and the Expressions released the garage rock album Shakin' All Over in January 1965.

That album's single, "Shakin' All Over", earlier recorded by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, was the band's first major hit, reaching no. 1 in Canada, no. 22 in the United States, and no. 27 in Australia.

Their Canadian label, Quality Records, disguised the single by crediting it to Guess Who?, as a publicity stunt to generate speculation that it was by a more famous British Invasion band working incognito.

After Quality Records revealed the band to be Chad Allan and the Expressions, disc jockeys continued to announce the group as Guess Who?, effectively forcing the band to accept the new name.

They released their second album, Hey Ho (What You Do to Me!) in late 1965; it was credited to Chad Allan and the Expressions with "Guess Who?"

displayed prominently on the cover.

Keyboardist Bob Ashley left the band in January 1966 due to the rigors of touring.

He was replaced by 18-year-old Burton Cummings (formerly of Winnipeg group the Deverons) who also took on lead vocal duties in conjunction with Chad Allan on the band's first album, released under the band name The Guess Who?

(The question mark would be dropped later.) Just a few months later, Allan departed; he returned to college and then became a media personality with the CBC.

This left Cummings as the sole lead singer.

After Allan's departure in 1966, guitarist Bruce Decker, a former bandmate of Cummings in the Deverons, joined for a few months.

The Guess Who released its first album, It's Time, with Cummings on vocals and keyboards, Bachman on guitar, Kale on bass, and Peterson on drums, in the summer of 1966.

Decker, despite being pictured on the cover of the album, did not participate in the recording.

Conversely, some contributions by Allan (recorded before he left the group) can be heard on the album, though he is not credited or pictured on the album cover.

The Guess Who continued to release singles that were moderately successful in Canada, and "His Girl" entered the UK charts in 1967.

The band travelled to the United Kingdom to promote the single, but this was a financial mistake as the song quickly dropped off the charts.

They were unable to book shows or obtain work visas while in the UK, and returned to Canada heavily in debt.

Later in 1967, The Guess Who were hired as the house band for the CBC Radio show The Swingers, and as the house band for the CBC Television program Let's Go, which was hosted by their former bandmate Chad Allan.

They initially performed hit singles by other artists, but the CBC producers encouraged them to develop more of their own music as well.

This gave The Guess Who greater exposure in Canada and financial stability for the next two years.

After seeing The Guess Who on Let's Go, record producer/sales executive Jack Richardson contacted the band about participating in an advertising project for Coca-Cola.

This project became a split album titled A Wild Pair with Ottawa band the Staccatos (themselves soon to renamed Five Man Electrical Band).

The album could only be purchased by mail order from Coca-Cola.

Richardson signed the Guess Who to his Nimbus 9 label and production company, and personally financed the recording of a new album in late 1968.

The band was also signed to RCA for distribution outside of Canada.

The Guess Who transitioned to a more mature pop-rock sound with soul and jazz influences.

Their second studio album, Wheatfield Soul, was released in early 1969 and achieved success in both Canada and the United States.

Their 1970 album American Woman reached no. 1 in Canada and no. 9 in the United States, while five other albums reached the top ten in Canada.

The Guess Who charted fourteen Top 40 singles in the United States and more than thirty in Canada.

The Guess Who officially broke up in 1975, although a nostalgia-oriented lineup former bassist Jim Kale has toured and recorded under The Guess Who name since 1978, often performing as a ghost band without any original band members on stage.

Richardson served as The Guess Who's producer until the band's breakup in 1975, and they were managed during that entire period by Don Hunter.