''Canned Wheat'' is the fifth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock band

the Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of "Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After c ...

, released in September 1969. It peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Albums chart. Two of the band's hits were taken from the album: "

Laughing Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...

" and "

Undun ''Undun'' is the tenth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots. It was released on December 6, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded in sessions at several studios in Philadelphia and New York City. Production was handled ...

". The album also includes a version of " No Time" which would later be re-recorded for their ''

American Woman "American Woman" is a song by Canadian rock band the Guess Who, released January 1970, from the album of the same name. It was later released in March 1970 as a single backed with "No Sugar Tonight", and it reached number one for three weeks ...

'' album and released as a single. The album is regarded as a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

classic.

Production

The band was sent to record the follow-up to '' Wheatfield Soul'' at RCA Studios in New York City. As per company policy at the time, RCA recording artists were required to use the company's own studios. ''Wheatfield Soul'' was cut independently and before the band signed with RCA. The band and their producer Jack Richardson felt that the sound at RCA was inferior to that of the independent A&R Studios, where ''Wheatfield Soul'' was recorded. They duly recorded ''Canned Wheat'' at RCA and secretly re-recorded two of the strongest numbers "Laughing" and "Undun" nearby at A&R. To prove the point that the RCA studio was unsuitable, A&R dubs of "Laughing" and "Undun" were sent to RCA. When RCA released "Laughing" and "Undun" as a two-sided single and it began to hit the charts, RCA wanted an album put out as soon as possible. There was no time to re-record the rest of the material, so ''Canned Wheat'' was released, as recorded at RCA studios, yet including the "Laughing" and "Undun" versions cut at A&R.

Release history

''Canned Wheat'' was first issued as RCA Victor LSP-4157 in 1969. It was reissued in the RCA "Pure Gold" budget line series as ANL1-0981 in 1975 and reissued again by budget label Pickwick by arrangement with RCA as ACL-7067. In addition to the standard two channel

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

version a four-channel

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...

mix was also issued on the

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...

format in 1971. RCA first reissued the album on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

in 1988. It was then remastered and re-released on CD by

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

in 2000 and included two bonus tracks. The first run of Buddah CD pressings accidentally replaced the song "Species Hawk" with "Miss Frizzy". This was corrected on the second run and the pressings with "Miss Frizzy" are collector's items now. Both songs ("Silver Bird" and "Miss Frizzy") are featured on the 1976 album '' The Way They Were''.

Track listing

All songs written by

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

and

Burton Cummings Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for leading The Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career. Cummings has ...

except where noted. ;Side one # " No Time" – 5:15 # "Minstrel Boy" – 3:18 # "

" – 3:05 # "

" (Bachman) – 4:17 # "6 A.M. or Nearer" (Bachman) – 5:24 ;Side two #

"Old Joe" (Cummings) – 3:07 # "Of a Dropping Pin" – 3:42 # "Key" – 11:24 # "Fair Warning" – 1:44

2000 re-issue bonus tracks

"Species Hawk" – 3:33 '' ome copies mistakenly include "Miss Frizzy" – 5:06'

# "Silver Bird" – 2:43

Personnel

;The Guess Who *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, flute, harmonica *

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Jim Kale Michael James Kale (born August 11, 1943) is a retired Canadian musician, best known as the original bassist for the rock band The Guess Who. He also served in the band Scrubbaloe Caine. In 1987, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Garry Peterson The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of "Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After c ...

– drums, backing vocals ;Production * Jack Richardson – producer *John Woram – engineer

Charts

Album Singles

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums The Guess Who albums Albums produced by Jack Richardson (record producer) RCA Victor albums Buddah Records albums