So why is The Guess Who’s American Woman on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
American Woman is not only by far The Guess Who’s best album, but it also represents the best of what I’m looking for in a “classic rock” album.
I’ve had a journey with the title track where, through no fault of its own, there were years when I couldn’t stand it thanks to overplay on the rock radio stations I listened to growing up on Long Island, New York during the 1980s and early ‘90s. But after taking a lengthy break, I’ve come back around on “American Woman,” and now deeply dig and appreciate it.
If you haven’t heard it in a while, you might have forgotten that it has an acoustic bluesy opening section that reminds me a bit of the beginning of Led Zeppelin’s “Bring It On Home.” And speaking of Zeppelin, there are absolutely Zeppelin-esque at its best vibes when “American Woman” reaches cruising altitude, including Burton Cummings channeling Robert Plant at his howling best.
As a lifelong lover of morning (and sometimes all day) coffee, I joke around sometimes that I tend to give songs that talk about coffee or overall caffeination “extra credit,” if you can dig. “No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature” needs no such credit, as it’s my single favorite Guess Who trackthat toggles between modes: sweet and gentle, hard early ‘70s rocking, and groovy and swinging.
“No Time” is a phenomenal psychedelic rock track that should get way more attention than it does these days.
And “Got To Find Another Way” shows a core strength of pop chops and sensibilities that underlines all of The Guess Who’s output. Which is to say it’s pretty and delightful, really.
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with The Guess Who’s American Woman
Here are some bonus songs that are both fantastic and relate to caffeination.
I must start with the scorching 34 seconds of “Coffee Mug,” off of the Descendents’ Everything Sucks (#824 of best 1,000 albums ever).
More coffee plus punk rock: “Mr. Coffee” is my favorite Lagwagon song. “Legal speed, the American way,” indeed.
I adore “You’re So Great,” off of Blur’s brilliant self-titled album (#20).
Tea, tea and coffee helps to start the day
Tea, tea and coffee shaking all the way
City’s alive and surprise, so am I
Tea, tea and coffee get no sleep today
Also, “Coffee & TV,” off of 13, is great stuff.
Some stats & info about The Guess Who – American Woman
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Canadian Bands, Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was American Woman released? 1970
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #246 out of 1,000
The Guess Who’s American Woman on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Guess Who’s American Woman that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
No sugar tonight in my coffee, no sugar tonight in my tea.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.