Golden Nuggets #18: The Guess Who- American Woman

                                          

Welcome back to the eighteenth iteration of the Golden Nuggets series, where I take a look at the Billboard number one hit singles from half a centuries' past and share my thoughts, as well as hypothesize on the success and the lasting impact, if any. I'm still a little behind as I normally like it to be fifty years to the week, but this plague has me a bit preoccupied. This time, we'll be looking at the hit song 'American Woman', by the Canadian rock band, The Guess Who. If you've never heard of the song, or want a quick listen, you can check it out here. 

If you did listen to the song I provided, you might notice that this is the album version, about a minute and a half longer than the single version, which starts just about where the main riff comes in. I much prefer the album version, the the little acoustic blues tune with the vocal riffing in the front. I understand why it was cut, as it takes a while to get started and might be too soft in the beginning to grab a radio listener, but on FM stations, I'm sure they played the full version. In my opinion, this is a great song, but one whose meaning seems to elude a lot of listeners. There have been multiple movies where I've seen it used positively, and it's anything but. Whether you believe the vocalist Burton Cummings' original statements that that was no allegory there, and it was an apolitical commentary on how American girls grow up faster than Canadians and are dangerous, to guitarist Randy Bachman now stating it was in fact political and railing against the Vietnam War and the draft, it still shouldn't a thing for a pretty woman to dance to in a movie montage.

Musically, the guitar riff is on point and has a dirty sound to it, and makes the song the kind of thing you'll hear in dive bars to the end of time. Burton Cumming's vocal performance is also very soulful, and he can go from lightly singing during the intro to practically screaming near the end, exercising an impressive range in the process. This is in stark contrast to Lenny Kravitz' garbage cover, which is as sterile as an operating room and has as much swing as a Baroque chamber piece. I find it amazing that a person so obviously influenced by Jimi Hendrix could produce such a soulless husk of a cover, while you're getting schooled in the blues by some dorky looking dudes from Manitoba.

I really enjoy the track, and whatever the interpretation of the lyrics that the listener believes or that the members want to provide this week, I feel like this tune has stood the test of time due to its killer riff and the use of 'American' in the title. It seems to give it a novelty that probably gets it tossed on tons of Memorial Day or Fourth of July playlists, whether the listener is aware of the irony or not, or whether there is irony at all, depending on which member you listen to. I myself am more inclined to side with Randy Bachman, as I probably would be turning down a girl based on her countries' "war machines" and "ghetto scenes", but maybe I'm just weird like that.

Check back in later for the next installment of the Golden Nuggets series, where I tear into the hypocritical garbage track 'Everything is Beautiful' by Ray Stevens. I'm making no bones about this one. I hate the song and I intend to state my case. Later.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Golden Nuggets #17: The Jackson Five- ABC

It's been quite a while, but I'm back to deliver the seventeenth installment of the Golden Nuggets series. With the combination of the pandemic, lack of motivation, and a broken laptop, it took me a minute to get back into the swing of things and start writing again. Now, normally this series takes on the number one Billboard hit from around the week of release 50 years prior, but it's going to take a minute to catch up now that I'm four months (yikes) behind, but hopefully I can get back into the game and start pumping these out, along with maybe some other content. Today we'll be looking at the classic track from the Jackson Five, "ABC". If you've somehow never heard the song (liar), or just want a refresher, you can check out the link here. Hopefully that link's still up; I made the draft for this post four months ago and I'm too lazy to check. Digressions aside, let's get started.

First things first, one of the many reasons I've been putting off writing was simply my uncertainty as how to tackle discussing this song. It's probably one of the most famous songs in Motown's catalog (and that's saying something), so there's obviously been a wealth of material written on just this song alone. For my part, I like the song alright. The melody is nice, lyrics are catchy and the groove is pretty tight. I really enjoy the fuzz tone on either the bass or guitar (can't really tell) that you don't really hear on a lot of bubblegum pop records, but other than that, this track doesn't hold a lot of nostalgia for me. My dad was about 14 when this song came out, and I feel like he would have been listening to stuff like Chicago or early prog stuff around this time, so I didn't really get that personal connection you get when your parents play their music to you as a kid. Admittedly, I'm not really into a lot of '60s Motown stuff, and even though this dropped in 1970, it still has a '60s feel to it. I feel like until Marvin Gaye challenged the assembly line formula of Motown with What's Going On, a lot of Motown was pretty boilerplate, meat and potatoes disposable pop. That may be blasphemy to some, but I'll take '70s Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye over a '60s girl group or Miracles record any time.

I think the experimentation into other forms of music other than pop and R&B wasn't really allowed in the '60s and early '70s at Motown, and as such, there's not a lot of diversity or depth there. That being said, I feel like this song is pretty good for what it is, and I can definitely see why it became popular. This song has survived for fifty years, and endured through the dissolution of the Jackson Five, the exposure of Joe Jackson's heavy handed (pun intended) managerial "parenting" that propelled the groups, and Michael Jackson's own controversies. The public has to have a pretty big personal investment in a song for it to survive relatively unscathed through all the years and scandals like that, even if I don't really get it. A solid hit? Sure. A classic? Of course. Defining song of a generation and childhood? Maybe for others, but not so much for myself or my parents.

Next time (hopefully soon), I'll be taking a look at the song 'American Woman', by the Guess Who, which unfortunately, is just as prescient as the day it was recorded. Some things never change it would seem. 

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."