To order the Guess Who Live album check out http://www.theguesswho.com

Q: The Live album - what's the street date for it?
CD: I guess immediately. We'll be selling it at shows beginning next Friday when we're in Orlando, and I'm going to be putting it in some stores and distributors through Gerri McGhee's company - Isotope. And I'm working on a couple of other local distribution things here and there, but it's not a big marketing sort of thing.

Q: Is it going to be a limited press or anything?
CD: I don't think we're going to make a big splash out of it. I don't think we're going for a big sales thing because it's kind of difficult when there's all the talk of the old band reuniting to get people excited about our band doing a live album. We're really interested in selling it to the fans.

Q: What can you tell me about where and when it was recorded and I guess, the reasoning for recording it?
CD: Well we recorded it in Eligin, Illinois, in a beautiful theater there in a little suburb about 20-30 miles outside of Chicago. And the reason for doing it was because the band had a live CD of the band from before I joined and this was the CD we were selling at the gigs, and once Spider started playing bass with us and Kale stayed home the band really got tight and sounding powerful, and we thought 'gee it's really a shame that we don't have CD with me singing and Spider playing bass, and the band playing the songs so well!' - Because that's really what people expect when they buy a CD and we're selling them a CD at the end of he show and we sound nothing like that. So that was the logic - 'get something that sounds like show they just heard.' So it really was for the sake of the fan that we're doing it, so that we're selling them a CD that they'll be happy with.

Q: So it's mainly marketed just for the fans!?
CD: That's the basic intent. It will end up in some shops. And things are a little uncertain right now with the original band having reuniting talks.

Q: What's the line-up on the album? Yourself.......
CD: Me singing and playing guitar, Spider playing bass, Gary Peterson - the original drummer, a guitar player named Dale Russell from Winnipeg - who's been there for 17 or 18 years, a keyboard player named Leonard Shaw - also from Winnipeg.

Q: What happened with Jim (Kale) that he went off the tour there?
CD: Really, he was sick of it. In a sense, he'd been doing non-stop since when Burton quit the Guess Who in 1975, and there was no Guess Who at all for a little while, and then Kale realized "I could make a living out of this if I get some of the guys back together", so he started it up again with Kurt Winter (who was in the original band) and Donnie McDougall, and they asked Gary Peterson - but he didn't want to do it at that time, and they got another drummer named Vance Masters who was in a band called 'Brother' with Kurt Winter and Bill Wallace. So they started out with that line-up and they had a few changes along the way, and essentially Kale kept it going ever since 1978 or so, starting at the bar level at one point to back up where it is now, but they were in the mid 80s and even up til 92 doing 250 shows a year, and a ton of that was bars, and he's not a young guy , he's 55 now. Peterson wasn't going through that - he's got a little more life left in him than Kale does at this point. But Jim was just tired of it, and he always had Spider on immigration papers as his potential sub if he ever got sick or something. So he started to stay home more. He owns the band name, so he collects money anyway regardless if he stays home.

Q: Since you joined the band - how do you see the fan turn-out -- I guess the size of the gigs you're playing and responded to and that?
CD: Unbelievable! I always knew they were a big group, but I never knew how big until i joined. Everywhere we go! We've done shows that have had as many as 30 thousand people outdoors, and then there's sometimes where we do a Casino thing - like a Ballroom -- but it's always big news whenever The Guess Who is coming to town. And the fans are just so dedicated and even though there's only the one original guy left in the band, they're just so happy to have something called The Guess Who out there for them. Especially now that we play the songs the way they want to hear them, the way the records are, because the other line-up before that Kale and Peterson had going - they almost made it a point not to make it sound like the records.

Q: Now, you guys just play in the States right?
CD: We had one Canadian show last year, and we had one Canadian show this year.

Q: On the web there's a lot of positive response to the shows......
CD: Yes, I'm very pleased. And my attitude is it could possibly end at the end of this year for me and all the guys except the original members if they decide to reunite - which is really uncertain now. Some days they think they definitely are and other days they don't know what they're doing. For me it's been a great experience - the best gig I ever had! I've made the most money I ever made, and just to be on that level of doing high-level shows all the time, flying all over the place and being treated with respect - like a world class band, ya know! It's been a big boost for my feelings about performing because, well you saw the kind of things I'd been doing for the past few years, and I was really starting to wonder if I was coming to the end of the line as a performer, because i really did not like that running all over the place and doing bar shows thing at all. It really takes a lot out of you and it's hard to justify in terms of career. So I think that being in the Guess Who has brought me back a lot of confidence. I can still perform at that high level -- in fact I've learned a lot of things that uhm....[ha ha] I guess I treat the whole thing with more maturity and more calmness now, but still try to build the excitement into it that the fans want. But it's made me realize that i can foresee my own music as well.

Q: Has there been any highlights that stand out - certain gigs or moments?
CD: Certainly there's been some amazing gigs. I'll never forget this one in Boston, an outdoor show down at City Hall - on the steps I guess, and it was an evening thing sponsored by a radio station, and we were headlining, and that was one of the ones (there were 2 or 3 times) where there were about 30 thousand people. And the fog came in off the ocean and it amassed all the buildings surrounding us, so all you could see was people, a sea of people in all directions, and everything beyond them was hidden by the fog. And it was a killer show. We had a few amazing musical moments this year in different places -- one in Orlando Florida that we did a benefit for the Children's Hospital down there, and there are a few photos from that show in the album package. The crowd was amazing. If you play those songs right - people just know them! It's one of those bands where people hear the song go by and they say "oh that one, I forgot about that one...." or "I didn't know they did that". And there's so many hits.

Q: Do come across the old Guess Who fans who come up and ask where certain ex-bandmembers are?
CD: Oh sure! The funnier thing is the people that think I'm Burton! They come up to me and go "Man - you haven't aged a bit, what's your secret?" There was 2 ladies in Omaha who came up and said "We just had to tell you - you look exactly the way you did when we fell in love with you in high school 25 years ago!" [Laughter!] The thing is I don't look anything like Burton ever did! But peoples' memories fade. I sing alot like him though.

Q: Is that intentional or do you have certain voice characteristics?
CD: I think it's both. I mean, I have a similar voice, and I try to make it sound like people remember it.

Q: Do you guys get a lot of press down there?
CD: Just on the level of "The Guess Who's coming to town!" in the 'Coming Events'.

Q: How's the camaraderie amongst the guys in the band?
CD: Oh pretty good. The line up is really good decent people, and it's just a very smoothly running high quality music machine these days. It's a shame if it does have to end, but.....

Q: Did the reunion that did take place, did that kinda get in your mind when it was first mentioned?
CD: Well once the offer was there for the original guys, even before they did that Winnipeg show they all started talking "wow - what's the possibilities of keeping it going? - we could make a lot of money!" So as I said it's gone back and forth and whether or not it's going to happen - I have no idea, but i still think it might all be over for me being in the band and the other guys come January 1st or sometime next year.

Q: Did you go to that show?
CD: No, I was home here in Toronto, and I watched it on TV. I was pretty impressed, they sound WAY better than I expected them to! And I was thrilled about seeing them because I was a big fan of the band before I was ever in it! It was pretty neat to see them playing together.

Q: did any of the other ex-members ever attend any of the shows? did you ever come across anybody?
CD: No. They never did. I know Burton's not happy about there being a Guess Who without him, he doesn't like it. Randy's pretty cool about it.

Q: Getting back to the live album. The set list is posted from the album. Do you guys have a regular set list or do you guys do a lot of variations...?
CD: There are about 4 or 5 songs that we play that aren't on that album. But we've found, as alot of bands in our position find, that the fans want the hits. If you drift too far in to obscurity they lose interest quickly. The band has no new album's or new material on the radio. When people come to see the Guess Who - they want to hear that old stuff.

Q: The original Guess Who recordings were done in the late 60s, early 70s and they're not as heavy as.....how does this stuff come across live?
CD: I think it probably comes across heavier as a result of the way I play rhythm guitar and the way Spider plays bass. We're both from 'heavy-rocker' backgrounds. But, we're also careful to play it the way it should be played and not to over-do it. At first I played it a lot heavier than i do now, but then I started to pay more attention to the dynamics and the guitar sounds. But if you listen carefully, especially if you listen to the Live At Paramount album, there was a lot more really gutsy guitar playing on those records.

Q: Listening back to the finished album - what stands out for you?
CD: A great "Shakin All Over"! I'm very happy with "Rain-dance". "No Sugar Tonight".....Highlights -- "Albert Flasher" is pretty cool, "These Eyes", and we actually had a real horn section in the show that night. It's all pretty strong, but those are the highlights for me - the things I'm happiest in the way they turned out.

Q: Did you guys attempt any new material -- live or studio?
CD: The band had a singer - Terry Haddy - before me, and they did a studio album with him, and it was sort of his writing and some outside songwriters they used, but I didn't really like the material. And with me, I joined with the intention of trying to work toward a new studio album as 'The Guess Who', but it just didn't seem to be in the cards once i was in there. There were too many conflicting agendas going on. So what i did was i decided that I'll keep my songwriting and recording energy for my own, and here I'll concentrate on making the hits of this band sound great when we play live. But there really are no plans for a new album as The Guess Who.

Q: Do you think down the road if it sticks together it would have to happen!?
CD: That's hard to say. [That's funny, that's - Down The Road] Is the name of the live album!].

Q: Have you come across alot of people after the shows coming up to see you?
CD: I have had a surprising number of people in different places come up and talk to me about Coney Hatch, know who I am. Or sometimes - 'what other band have you been in? I know I've seen you before!' - that kind of thing.

Q: There's a few notes on the web site from people who say things like "love the new singer. He has a solo album out, anyone got it?............"
CD: Well, I started putting copies of my solo album out at the shows, and I think that people are in such a 'Geuss Who' frame of mind that it doesn't register because it doesn't say 'Guess Who' on it.

Q: I guess you guys have a big memorabilia stand and that.....
CD: Yeah. The band has a tradition of having a merchandise thing where at the end of every show we sit out at an autograph table and we sit there and sign everything for everybody who wants something, and we don't leave until the last person is done. There have been some nights where we stay out at that table longer than we actually played!

Q: It's understandable for the guys who aren't original members if the reunion happens?
CD: Oh sure. it's their band. In a way I feel like I'm just keeping the chair warm until Burton wants to come back. In a way I always felt like this might happen, because it does feel like a bit of a masquerade at times, ya know - all the people who think I'm Burton, or all the people who wanna talk 'oh you're just as good as he was...' , but it really is about the guy who did the record. It's no problem for me; some of the other guys are owed more money than I am out of the organization because they've been there longer. They're not quite as thrilled...ha ha...they're more unhappy I should say. But if ends tomorrow I'm ahead because I got such a good experience out of it.

Q: Has it opened doors for you in the industry, like people you've met?
CD: Yeah, it certainly has enabled me a few radio people that I'm glad to have on my side now. A lot of people I've met that are interested in a fan club, or an internet thing, and promoting my stuff. And I don't know if you heard, but i finally did get my solo deal signed with MTM Records, the contracts are signed at both ends.

Q: Now is this your solo album, or your retro album......?
CD: This is a new solo album. The retro album i still haven't got around to finishing yet. I put so much energy into that Rebecca Timmins project as producer, and then the Guess Who thing kept going on and on, so it was hard to justify going back in and finishing the Retrospective album. [Ed: chat on the retro disc goes on....]

Q: What's the plan for the new album -- will it be your album or will it be a Coney album??
CD: It won't be a Coney album. Steve and Andy both for various reasons bowed out. We could've did a more lucrative deal for a Coney album. They're [MTM] priority is to get it out in Japan, and then I have the right to get whatever deal in North America, or whatever other territory. So i plan to start recording this month and have it prepared for a February release.

Q: Do you have a lot of stuff written?
CD: Oh yeah! And I found me a great song, by an unknown writer named Jimmy Davis, and I really liked it. And that's an unknown song that I would've never found otherwise. I'll definitely be using it.

Q: Any covers you want to do or anything?
CD: A FREE song - "A Little Bit Of Love", it's on the "Free At Last" album.

Q: Wo are you going to use on the album?
CD: I'll be using Mark Santers [on drums], Mike Hall [lead guitar], I'll be playing a lot of guitar, but I'll get him in for that 'flavor' as well, and Spider is going to play bass. It's a pretty powerful line-up. What they're after in sound is a as much like the Coney Hatch "Friction" album as I can make it. They've very clear in every fax they've sent me [ha ha], with "The Friction album is considered a classic in AOR/Melodic Rock circles........".

Q: Interesting!?
CD: Well, I wouldn't have predicted that in 1999 someone would be wanting to make a Friction type album. [Ed: further discussion on Friction].

Q: Seen any bands lately?
CD: You know I've only seen the bands we've played with -- The Turtles, Eddie Money, 3 Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears.....The kind of shows we do are mostly oldie bands when there's other acts on the bill. I saw a great new act, 4 sisters called "Mullberry Lane" out of Nebraska. They're from Nebraska and they're first album just came out. I was pretty impressed with them. Gosh I haven't gone out to see anybody in ages! [Ed: further discussion on possible solo gigs in the near future and the Western Canadian scene, and Coney Hatch].

For more interviews and ordering info for the new Guess Who live album - check out http://www.theguesswho.com , and from there link on to Carl Dixon's own web site.

Interview September '99, Copyright Kevin J. Julie.

*Apologies for any misspellings of names or song-titles.