40 Year Itch : Workin So Hard

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             Thanks to the Top 10 hit "Clap for the Wolfman", featuring a cameo from Wolfman Jack himself, Road Food was seen as a comeback album for The Guess Who. But the Canadian band hadn't really gone anywhere. They had consistently been churning out albums with great songs. And 1972's Live at the Paramount remains one of my all time favorite live records. 

Burton Cummings recently on "Clap For the Wolfman"

Personally, I never saw it coming, the huge hit single it became. It was just a novelty song about our pal who hosted the Midnight Special. We did the show many times, that's how the lyrics came to mind. Kurt and Billy were writing words about "Clap For Napoleon" and they didn't really amount to much...so it became what it became...and the actual Wolfman came into the studio and did his bits...all because he happened to be in Toronto at the time, hosting a classic car show...serendipity

                         Burton Cummings, one of rock's great singers and strangest lyricists ( "Well, have you ever seen a Madras monkey?/Have you seen an Orlon eel?"), still led the band through this filler-free effort. The first single, "Star Baby", barely scratched the top 40 in the US but it's a power pop classic.

                         

                        For consistently great pop, don't dismiss the early 70's pop from The Guess Who. It deserves the same kind of appreciation as the Beach Boys music of the same era.