Few bands have as intriguing — one might say, unlikely — a history as The Guess Who. In retrospect, they might have been considered a supergroup of sorts, given that they housed the twin talents of singer and keyboard player Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, both of whom went on to further glories. Together, they scored a string of chart hits, among them “American Woman,” “These Eyes” and “No Time,” plus no less than five Top 10 albums in their native Canada and one, American Woman, that climbed to the top of the charts back home and broke into the Top 10 in the United States. Other albums affirmed that the band were adept at doing more than turning out the hits.
The original incarnation of The Guess Who disbanded in 1975, but credit drummer Garry Peterson with maintaining the band — and the brand — for years. Currently, the group also features Derek Sharp (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano), Leonard Shaw (keyboards, saxophones, flute, backing vocals) and the two newest members, Michael Staertow (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Michael Devin (bass guitar, backing vocals), both of whom joined in 2021.
New releases from the band have been decidedly slow in coming. Their last album, The Future IS What It Used to Be, came out in 2018, but prior to that, there had been no new offerings since Lonely One (a repackage of Liberty from the year before) in 1995. The last album up until then was Now and Not Then, from 1981.
That changes with the new album, Plein D’Amour; it’s bound to take longtime fans by surprise given that it maintains a progressive posture more reminiscent of Queen or 10CC than the band’s traditional heartland heroics.
recently had the opportunity to speak with Sharp and Peterson about The Guess
