Share the Land

Share the Land (1970) testifies to the Guess Who’s strength and resiliency as a band. After parting company with co-founder Randy Bachman, the Canadian combo quickly recruited twin lead guitarists Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw. The resulting tracks match rousing radio-oriented songs with heavier, less commercial fare. Burton Cummings applies his affable wail to such galvanizing tunes as “Hang On to Your Life,” “Hand Me Down World” and the title tune, spurring his band mates into big harmony-laden choruses. He detours into a little lounge jazz ambiance on “Moan for You Joe,” then joins in an ambitious rock excursion on “Three More Days.” Share the Land gives plenty of room for the new members to prove their mettle, with Winter laying down no-nonsense blues riffs and Leskiw taking a lighter, more acoustic tack. “Coming Down Off the Money Bag/Song of the Dog” is an example of the latter — this cheerfully countrified ditty invokes the back roads of the group’s native Manitoba. The Guess Who knew how to make solid meat-and-potatoes rock with both muscle and taste, and they rarely did it better than on Share the Land.