Junk Box Jury

“American Woman” / “No Sugar Tonight” (RCA Victor RCA 1943) April 1970

Memories from Burton Cummings

AMERICAN WOMAN: This cut started out as a jam on stage one night in 1969 at a curling rink called the Broom and Stone in Ontario . . . we were doing two sets that night, and between sets, I was outside the building, bartering to get some old Gene Vincent records off another obsessed collector.

I heard the other three start up the second set . . . I was supposed to be on stage! They were just vamping on this great guitar riff . . . dump dump danah-danah-da, da-dah…dump dump danah-danah da, da-dah.

I ran as quickly as I could through the crowd to the stage, hopped up and grabbed a microphone, and sang whatever came into my head at the moment, not really thinking about it . . . and suddenly, it was over.

Bootlegged the show

A kid had been bootlegging the show that night with a small condenser mike and a portable, battery powered cassette machine, a fairly new invention in 1969 . . . later, we confiscated the tape from him and virtually “learned” “American Woman” from the jam.

Had the events occurred differently, “American Woman” would have been lost forever in the air of that night long ago . . . it ended up being the biggest impact single the Guess Who ever had, staying at #1 in Billboard for three consecutive weeks.

Don Burkheimer, the great MR man at RCA who originally signed us in New York, upon hearing the first playback of “American Woman” in the studio, threw up the newspaper he was reading into the air and shouted “That’s a number one record!” Shortly afterward, his prophetic words became a reality.

The Guess Who| “American Woman” | RCA Victor

NO SUGAR TONIGHT: Randy had “No Sugar” and I had “New Mother” . . . two pieces which coincidentally were both in F#, a rather unusual key for pop writers.

It was either Randy or Jack Richardson who originally suggested we “squash the two together,” I can’t honestly remember now . . . but for whatever strange reason, it seemed to work and the two fit together very nicely, thank you.

Jocko was a bass player in a Toronto group called the Rifkin, who later changed their name to Buckstone Hardware, releasing one single called “Pack It In”.

I hung out with those guys a lot around the time of the American Woman album, and Jocko’s name ended up in the song for posterity’s sake . . . I think Jocko ended up in North Bay, Ontario, but I look back fondly on those days with the Rifkin/Buckstone Hardware.

Wondrous days

The “corner basement” was in a house at the base of the Salter bridge in Winnipeg. Our pal Chuck had a few parties there, and those in attendance altered their perception while listening to the Doors for hours on end, specifically “The Crystal Ship” and “When the Music’s Over”.

Wondrous days upon which I look back with nostalgia, sadness and a longing for more like them.

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cost of record: £1
from: charity shop