Guess Who founding member Chad Allan in hospital after stroke

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This article was published 28/08/2017 (2964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Winnipeg musician Chad Allan, who helped launch the Guess Who, is in a British Columbia hospital after suffering a stroke.

Allan, 74, fell ill last Wednesday and is in Royal Columbian Hospital in Westminster, B.C. Allan moved to the West Coast in the 1970s.

Friend Larry Hennessey said Allan was in good health, so the sudden turn “came as a surprise to us all.”

“His wife Christine has been by his side constantly since it happened and he is responding to her loving words of encouragement,” Hennessey said in an email from his B.C. home.

“We are hopeful for a recovery but it is very early days to predict much at this point.”

The family has asked for privacy so Allan can rest and recover, he said.

Allan was born Allan Kowbel and took his stage name, Chad Allan, in tribute to a favourite 1950s singer, Chad Mitchell. His first band was Allan and the Silvertones, which morphed into Chad Allan and the Expressions. Allan was lead singer.

Randy Bachman joined the band, which later evolved into the Guess Who. Burton Cummings joined in 1965 and Allen left in 1966 to attend college.

Allan was also lead singer when he and Bachman reunited in 1971 to form Brave Belt, but left before the band became Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Some friends tried to raise money to help Allan, an member of the Order of Manitoba, through financial difficulties three years ago using a crowdfunding web site. They raised more $1,000.

“Thank You from the bottom of my heart for your generous outpouring of compassion and caring for my wife and I. It is humbling for me to know that I am still remembered, after all these years,” Allan replied on the page.

However, he declined the donations.

“My wife and I do have many needs, but there are millions of people throughout the world, that have far greater needs than we do. So it’s in this spirit, that I respectfully decline your offers, and ask you to contribute, if you like, to charitable causes that may touch your heart.”

A friend at the time described Allan’s financial state as not destitute but “just below comfortable.”

Gilles Paquin of Paquin Entertainment, manager for former Guess Who lead guitarist Randy Bachman, said Bachman and Allan still talk from time to time but Bachman has not had contact with the family since the stroke. Paquin said the two last talked about 18 months ago.

“They do stay in touch. There’s no bad blood,” he said.

In his book, Tales From Beyond The Tap, Bachman says the Guess Who might never have come about if not for Allan. “He was the catalyst for our success, whether he realized it or not,” wrote Bachman.

While living in Vancouver, Allan taught music, played lounges and more recently played accordion at singalong sessions in seniors homes and at legions.

— with files from Gordon Sinclair Jr.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca