Shakin’ the music scene

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/11/2013 (4528 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yes Virginia, there really was a Guess Who without Burton Cummings.

In the spring of 1965, the Guess Who put Winnipeg on both the national and international musical map with their raucous recording of Shakin’ All Over. The voice on that recording, a No. 1 hit across Canada and a No. 22 hit on the coveted American Billboard Hot 100, was Chad Allan — a year before Cummings would join the band on keyboards.

The fact is, there would not have been a Guess Who without Chad Allan.

As Randy Bachman acknowledges in his forthcoming book, Tales From Beyond The Tap, “There can be no denying that without Chad Allan, Burton Cummings and I may not have had the successful careers we’ve enjoyed. He was the catalyst for our success, whether he realized it or not.”

The Guess Who story begins in East Kildonan in the late 1950s when guitarist/accordion player Allan Kowbel (aka Chad Allan) formed Allan’s Silvertones with some high school friends. The lineup would remain somewhat fluid until Jim Kale on bass and piano player Bob Ashley, both from St. Vital, joined up in early 1961. Kale worked at the wheat board with Gary Bachman, so when the Silvertones needed another guitar player, Gary recommended his older brother Randy audition. After he became lead guitarist, the band found itself without a drummer. Randy suggested his high school friend Garry Peterson. Reconstituted under a new name, Chad Allan & the Reflections — Allan, Kale, Ashley, Bachman and Peterson — quickly became the talk of the town. “We were the best jukebox band in the city,” states Kale.

They were also one of the first local rock bands to record, beginning with Tribute To Buddy Holly in 1962. More records followed (along with a name change from Reflections to Expressions) until Shakin’ All Over. The success of that single and the rigours of touring both here and in the United States took its toll on Ashley, who bowed out at the end of 1965. Burton Cummings was recruited from The Deverons to replace him. With Allan and Cummings sharing lead vocals the Guess Who became a powerhouse.

“Oh my god, we were like the best band anywhere,” gushes Bachman. “We could literally do anything — any tunes, any style.” However, it would be short-lived. Throat problems along with a simmering resentment over Cummings’ presence and popularity led Allan to quit in June 1966 following the release of the group’s It’s Time album. “I was saddened to leave,” he revealed to me years later, “but it wasn’t my band anymore.” Indeed, his name had been absorbed into the Guess Who moniker and his role diminished.

“I found it very difficult to be on the same stage with Cummings,” he stated. “Our personalities were diametrically opposed.” Manager Bob Burns described their relationship as “a very polite merger. There were some professional jealousies.”

As Cummings explained, “In hindsight, if I had been him I would have quit, too. Right there in front of him he was losing his band. But it wasn’t me trying to take over. I was still in awe of being in the band with these guys. It’s just that what I had to offer was more new and exciting to the kids. Allan was never much of a screamer but I wanted to be shrieking and the kids loved that. Randy encouraged me a lot to sing more because he liked that harder rock sound.”

Chad’s departure would ultimately prompt Bachman and Cummings to forge a songwriting relationship that bore fruit three years later with a string of million-selling singles beginning with These Eyes. Allan hosted CBC TV’s Let’s Go (ironically backed by the Guess Who), completed his university degree, and played lounges around town.

Following Bachman’s abrupt ouster from the Guess Who in 1970, he and Allan hooked up for what was initially a Chad Allan solo album that quickly transformed into the country-rock band Brave Belt, with Chad on lead vocals. More Bachman’s baby than Allan’s, the singer bailed out during sessions for a second Brave Belt album, unhappy with the addition of Fred Turner’s gritty vocals. Dunrobin’s Gone nonetheless remains one of Allan’s finest compositions and a Canadian country-rock classic. With Allan’s softer style out of the picture, Brave Belt quickly morphed into multi-platinum hard rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive and conquered the world.

“Chad never bought into the band vision,” notes Bachman. “He didn’t have the dream or the determination to look beyond Winnipeg.” Allan released several solo singles including the rather prophetic Ballad Of A Middle Aged Rocker before moving out to Vancouver, where he taught songwriting at Kwantlen community college and performed in lounges. As gigs dried up, he took to playing seniors’ residences, trading on his Guess Who notoriety.

While it’s easy to write Chad Allan off as the Pete Best of Canadian music who, like the Beatles’ original drummer, missed the ship when it finally sailed in, doing so ignores the pivotal roles he played in the creation of two of Canada’s most successful bands. While he may not have gone the distance, he was nevertheless the key instigator of both and worthy of more than a footnote in the evolution of Canadian rock music. In his day he was the undisputed kingpin on the Winnipeg music scene and deeply respected and admired. “Back then, Chad Allan was a big star on the local scene, and no one should forget that,” emphasizes Randy Bachman.

“I do get a tinge every now and then when I think about it,” he later admitted, “but aside from missing out on some good times and money, there was no other way it could have happened.”

 

Sign up for John Einarson’s 2014 Off The Record music history classes at mcnallyrobinson.com.