Wheatfield Empire: The Listener's Guide to The Guess Who

Wheatfield Empire is a truly excellent book that tells the story of The Guess Who through the most important aspect of any band's career - the music itself. All TGW albums are discussed and explored chronologically on a song-by-song basis; crucial insights and details are given that may be previously unknown to even the biggest TGW fans. Input from Burton Cummings as well as other key band members is included. As such, it's an essential purchase for fans, but also serves as an excellent primer for those who may be unfamiliar with the band's often neglected post-1970 albums. I can say that as a fan myself, this book has me going back to the music and hearing it with "new ears" and an even greater appreciation overall for the band's work. In addition, Wheatfield Empire details key band members' post-TGW work all the way up to the present year. In all, mandatory reading for anyone with even the slightest interest in The Guess Who.

Wheatfield Empire is a "must have" for any classic rock music fan. It is fast paced and entertaining throughout as it gives an excellent inside look at one of rock's most talented and fascinating bands - The Guess Who. As the introduction to the book states, "Bands that get along are boring." Wheatfield Empire takes a deep look at the varied personalities in the band and the creative and lifestyle differences that made for excellent music, but also provided internal tension and drama. I could not put the book down once I started reading it and finished the entire book in just two days. In addition to giving you the inside on the Guess Who, there are also interesting sections about the post Guess Who careers of principal bandmates, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman. Do yourself a big favor and read this book or purchase it as a gift for your favorite classic rock music fan.

As I type this review, I'm sitting here listening to the Guess Who's "Track Record Collection". Robert Lawson's incredibly complete album-by-album, track-by-track histology of the career of one of my favorite bands was both a rip down memory lane and a get-me-up-to-date pleasure experience. I was a high school senior when I purchased "Wheatfield Soul" and became an immediate fan of the Bachman-Cummings-Kale-Peterson Guess Who lineup. This book takes you back to the Guess Who's beginnings in the mid-60's and methodically brings you up to the present (early 2020) on the group and all its individual members' recordings. It indirectly tells the story of the Guess Who. This book is a MUST READ for all Guess Who, BTO and Burton Cummings fans. It has made me go back and replay the group's albums starting with "Shakin' All Over" with a greater appreciation of what has to be Canada's greatest rock bands.

I received this book from Amazon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Robert Lawson's well-written account of the Guess Who years is chock full of facts, quotes from the band members, and a ton of great information. Lead singer Burton Cummings stands by Robert Lawson's account for representing the "absolute truth." Lawson breaks down twelve albums, offering colorful insights into the background, overview, release & reception, and reissues & remasters. He digs into each song detailing the vocals, instrumentation, reviews, charts, some of the lyrics and influences. Any Guess Who fan will enjoy and benefit from this complete listener's guide to the music, the personnel changes within the band, and the many memories... It's a great, briskly paced read! I highly recommend it.

I bought the Kindle version of this book a few days ago and proceeded to read it in one sitting, and it was a trip down memory lane. I have been a Guess Who fan for a very long time, and any time a book or article about them happens to cross my path, I make time to read it.Robert has done an exceptional job at gathering tons of information about this seminal Canadian band and transforming it into a rewarding and engaging read that is a must for any music fan. The chapters on the pre-RCA years alone are worth the price of admission. Songs I had not heard in years came rushing back to me, along with some great memories....always a good sign of great music, and a great book.

If you're an old rock hound like myself and was aware of The Guess Who pre- Cummings.And if you've heard every album, read every interview, read posts by Bachman or Cummings over the years then you probably won't find much new here. Including solo projects by Randy and Burton. If your interested on how a particular album was pronounced and appeared on some foreign chart, well you'll find stuff like that here. No "behind the curtain" material,but then again that's been played out also. If you're new to this band then have a go at it. But like I said for some of us "Boomers" nothing new here.

Overall I thought the book was very informative but I do wish there was more cd information on the post Burton Cummmings version of the band.

Lots of details. Adds news since Einarson's 1995 "American Woman". Doesn't include some concert cd's I bought on Amazon that are no longer available, unfortunately. Mentions some tapes that aren't available yet, but that I hope will be. The Guess Who are still the best.

I discovered this book while scrolling through Burton Cummings instagram page. Am I ever glad I found it.Robert Lawson Takes us through the history, and pre history, of the Guess Who while travelling through the singles and albums track by track. His research is impeccable and clears up some of the many questions Ive always pondered on. Even though he is wrong on one account (as the When Friends Fall Out single is WAY better than the album version) , his knowledge and insight into the music is incredible.The book is very well written and accessible with NO typos. And the fact that the music of the great Guess Who is the primary focus is what elevates this book in my eyes.And then he discusses all the solo projects and reunions of the various band members. Extremely well done Mr. Lawson. Ive been looking for this book for years. Thank you.

The very first album I bought with my allowance money was The Best Of The Guess Who. I literally wore out the grooves on that LP (thank goodness music has evolved to the relative permanence of digital media). A few years later, my parents bought me the Artificial Paradise. album. That record came in a package that included a large envelope made up like a Clearing House promotion. I used that envelope to store the various newspaper clippings I gathered about the Guess Who. I bought the John Einarson book the first time I saw it in 1995. When the remastered CDs were released, I bought them for both the music and the informative booklets. I follow Burton Cummings on Facebook.So I waited a few months before buying this book. After all, what more was there to know about Canada's Greatest Band (hey, you always stay true to your first love)?Turns out that Mr. Lawson was able to dig up even more information. The book basically outlines the band's history album by album, providing information that goes beyond those wonderful CD booklets. My only complaint is that the author teases me by mentioning unreleased tracks that may never see the light of day.Is this book a worthwhile purchase? Maybe not for the casual fan, who will probably be happy to listen to the band's hits via some digital service, but if you're enough of a fan that you came to this product page in the first place, you won't go wrong buying it.

I thought this would be a simple history of The Guess Who but it was so much more. This book is literally a song by song documentary of the greatest rock band in Canadian music history. It goes through the tracks on each Guess Who album and the singles, whether from an album or not. It even discusses albums that didn't happen and songs that may well be lost to the vaults of RCA/Nimbus 9 Records. There are quotes from various band members or others connected to various songs giving additional insight into the creation of the song or album. It also talks about how albums were released on CD and what is good or bad about about the releases. I thought I knew a lot about The Guess Who. Well, I do now but I didn't before I read Wheatfield Empire: The Listener's Guide to The Guess Who.

A thorough and lovingly written history of the recorded output of the band. Mr. Lawson has really done his homework, and included commentary from band members and involved parties concerning the Guess Who. Well worth reading.

I liked that it wasn't only a history of The Guess Who, but it also talked about each album they put out, plus touching on Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings after The Guess Who. The last chapter covers 2004-2020.