Rock Archeologia

The Staccatos and Guess Who - A Wild Pair (1968) 

Artist: The Staccatos / Guess Who
Album: A Wild Pair
Label: Nimbus 9 Records
Catalog#: NNE-100
Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo
Country: Canada
Released: 1968
Genre: Pop Rock
Duration: 00:28:27

• This split release was a promotional item commissioned by Coca-Cola Canada. It was yours to mailorder for 10 bottlecap liners plus $1.00. It sold 85K copies, at a time when a gold record in Canada was 50K copies! However because it was a promo, the music industry didn't award its sales.
• Coke went to a lot of trouble in making this. They commissioned all-new songs, paid for special recording sessions in Toronto, extra session players, and even brought in New York producer Phil Ramone to do the mixing. At the time, such expenses and care were practically unheard of for rock acts in Canada. Companies all thought they could do everything on the cheap, which was one of many reasons why most of our ambitious 60s acts fled to the US to get their careers going. The Guess Who were our first band to gain international success while staying based in Canada.
• Nimbus 9 was a label started to get The Guess Who out of their contract with Quality in Canada to finally make it big in the states. The Guess Who were told to make 5 new songs for an album which they would share with the relative-unknown, Staccatos, also from Canada.
• The songs Bachman and Cummings came up with were not fly-by-night dreck. 5 full blown orchestrated (at times) psychedelia! They were stuck at CBC filming and recording the LET'S GO tv show for teens (with host and former member Chad Allen). There they did mostly covers of rock songs of the day with a few originals. They released non-lp singles at the time and were able to promote them on television. Here they got a chance to expand on ideas.
• This collection of tracks is a must for hardcore Guess Who collectors. The Staccatos side is decent but falls by the wayside compared to Guess Who.
• This LP was never reissued until the LET'S GO soundtrack cd came out where the 5 songs appeared in a remastered state. The original mix can be found on the "Cummings and Goings" bootleg cd. Otherwise search record conventions and be ready to fork over big bucks.

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 • Side One: The Staccatos
A1. Song Of The City Sings 02:45
A2. Where Did Holly Go? 03:29
A3. Tell Her For Me 02:40
A4. Runnin' Back To You Everytime 02:15
A5. She Is Tomorrow 03:20
 • Side Two: The Guess Who
B1. I Need Your Company 03:07
B2. Mr.Nothin' 02:25
B3. Very Far From Near 03:04
B4. HeyGoode Hardy 03:28
B5. Somewhere Up High 02:06

The Staccatos:
Dean Hagopian - vocals
Brian Rading - bass
Rick 'Bell' Belanger - drums
Les Emmerson - vocals, guitar
Vern Craig - guitar
Ted Gerow - keyboards
The Guess Who:
Jim Kale - bass
Derek John Sharp - guitar, lead vocals
Laurie MacKenzie - guitar, vocals
Leonard Shaw - keyboards, saxophone, flute
Garry Peterson - drums

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