artists:  The Guess Who

songwriters:  Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings

date released:  1968 by The Guess Who

Winnipeg's contribution to Canadian rock music history was The Guess Who featuring lead vocalist and keyboardist, Burton Cummings.  Also known as "The Voice", Cummings was born on December 31, 1947, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  When he was a child, he was already showing his musical ear by tinkling on a neighbour's piano without any formal training.  The lessons came in his teens when he studied the piano and saxophone in addition to singing tenor in high school productions of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals.  

By eighteen, Burton Cummings was ready to join Winnipeg's big name rock band, Chad Allen and The Expressions.  Shortly after, Chad Allen left the group, and the band changed names to The Guess Who. Left behind were the two kingpins, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, to steer the band into enormous success and international fame.  The Guess Who's "American Woman" rocked the world in 1970.  Ironically, the song was not about a woman, but a protest against American military aggression and the draft.

"These Eyes" was the first hit for The Guess Who to crack the American music market.  After its release, it quickly sold its first million and went on to become a gold disk.