American Woman (song)

Single infobox
Name=American Woman


Artist=The Guess Who
from Album=American Woman
A-side="No Sugar Tonight"
Released=March 1970 (U.S.)
Format=Vinyl single
Recorded=August 12 1969 at the RCA Mid-America Recording Center, Studio B, Chicago, Illinois
Genre=Hard rock Folk rock
Length=5:10 (album version)3:51 (single version)
Label=RCA/Victor
Producer=Jack Richardson
Writer=Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson
Last single=
This single="American Woman" (1970)
Next single=Infobox Single
Name=American Woman


Artist=Lenny Kravitz
from Album=5
Released=June 29, 1999
Format=CD Single
Genre=Hard rock Funk rock
Length=4:25
Label=Virgin America
Producer=Lenny Kravitz
Last single="Fly Away " (1998)
This single="American Woman" (1999)
Next single="Black Velveteen" (1999)

"American Woman" is the title track of Canadian band The Guess Who's 1970 album, "American Woman".

ong information

The song's origins took the form of a live jam in Kitchener, Ontario.Fact|date=May 2008 The group was rushing into the second set and began improvising a rhythm to liven up the crowd. Burton Cummings, the lead singer, began improvising lyrics to fit the music.Fact|date=May 2008

The song's lyrics have been the matter of some debate, often interpreted as an attack on U.S. politics (especially the draft). Jim Kale, the group's bassist and the song's co-author, explained his take on the lyrics:

Randy Bachman has claimed that the American woman referred to in the song is in fact the Statue of Liberty, furthering the anti-war theme.Fact|date=May 2008

As a single, the track spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (where it was credited as a double sided hit, along with "No Sugar Tonight"), an unprecedented success for a Canadian band; at the time, it competed with singles such as The Jackson 5's "ABC" and the Beatles's "Let it Be".

"American Woman" was voted Best Canadian Single of All Time by "Chart" Magazine in both the 2000 and 2005 polls of readers, music industry professionals, and musicians throughout Canada.Fact|date=May 2008 The song has been covered by many rock artists, including Lenny Kravitz, Krokus and The Butthole Surfers. It was also featured in Sam Mendes's movie "American Beauty". It has most recently been covered by former Guess Who members Cummings and Bachman in a blues rock style.Fact|date=May 2008

Lenny Kravitz version

Kravitz covered the song for the soundtrack of "". It was later included in the 1999 re-issue of his "5" album. Lenny said that he wanted to make a funkier version of the song, but ironically it did not feature any kind of snare drums, something common in funk songs. However, Kravitz argues that he has listened to old funk records that do not feature notable drums sounds. [ [http://www.livedaily.com/interviews/liveDaily_Interview_Lenny_Kravitz-1921.html?t=6 liveDaily Interview: Lenny Kravitz >> LiveDaily ] ]
*Single tracklisting

#"American Woman (Single Version)" – 3:50
#"Straight Cold Player (Live performance)" – 3:42
#"Thinking Of You (Hexum Dancehall Remix)" – 5:58
#"Fields Of Joy (Live performance)" – 4:20

In pop culture

*This was used in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger and Castrol motor oil.
*It was featured in .
*The song has been covered in the grindcore style by pioneering band Anal Cunt and appears on their early album Top 40 Hits along with several other covers such as Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees.
*The Lenny Kravitz version appears on the game "Karaoke Revolution Party". It is also available as downloadable content for the game "". The original version by The Guess Who will be featured in rhythm games "Rock Band 2" and "Guitar Hero World Tour". However, the acoustic intro is not included.
*The song was sung by Kevin Spacey in the movie "American Beauty" while playing a character called Lester Burnham. He sang this song along with the radio playing in his car while on his way to get a smiley burger shortly after quitting his job. He was also smoking marijuana while singing this song proving his complete disconnection from his former lifestyle.

Trivia

*Shortly after its release The Guess Who were invited to play at the White House. Because of its supposed anti-American lyrics, Pat Nixon asked that they not play "American Woman." [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifqxqe5ld0e~T1 allmusic ((( The Guess Who > Biography ))) ] ]
*The song starts with a 1:15 intro, in which Randy Bachman plays a blues shuffle and turnaround repetitively on an acoustic guitar. While Bachman plays guitar, Cummings sings in a spoken word style. Though this intro is contained on all releases of the song, it is rarely played on the radio.
*The song is widely regarded as a rock classic. M.C. Strong calls it "a juddering behemoth of a record fuelled by guitar distortion and a testosterone saturated verve" and describes Cummings as sounding "like Jim Morrison after a particularly heavy night on the whisky and cigs" [M.C. Strong, "The Great Rock Discography", 1998, p. 322.] .

References

External links

* [http://www.superseventies.com/1970_2singles.html "American Woman"] .
* [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=446 "American Woman" Songfacts] .