S$# 002 Guess Who | Of A Dropping Pin
It may not be surprising that I would cast my song spotlight on Of A Dropping Pin, a song first recorded on the cusp of The Guess Who’s transition from perpetual underdogs to international phenoms.
When I began seriously investigating the TGW back catalogue a couple of years ago, it was OADP, along with A Wednesday In Your Garden, that really caught my ear. These two tracks have in fact become my two favourite Guess Who songs.
OADP was the product of the growing song-writing collaboration of Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (many composed on Saturdays in Burton’s grandma’s parlour). A mid-tempo rocker with catchy (if somewhat cryptic) lyrics, Of A Dropping Pin is a powerful piece of post-psychedelic pop. It was first released as a single in the fall of 1968 (just as the guys were off to New York City to record their breakthrough LP, Wheatfield Soul).
As Winnipeg writer and TGW historian John Einarson noted, the song “was truly an artistic if not commercial knockout. Of A Dropping Pin was one of the most sophisticated collaborations, both instrumentally and especially lyrically, between the two songwriters. On this record, [producer] Jack [Richardson]’s savvy for arrangement and Burton’s blossoming lyrical talents bore fruit. That it fared even worse at #97 was a fate undeserving such a fine recording.”
The group rerecorded Of A Dropping Pin in the spring of 1969 for the Canned Wheat album. (The newer recording was also released as the b-side of the Maple Fudge single.) On CD you can find version 2 on Ultimate Collection and the remastered Canned Wheat. Also, the amazing This Time Long Ago 2-disc set contains an early version of the song recorded for the CBC’s Let’s Go program.
When I began seriously investigating the TGW back catalogue a couple of years ago, it was OADP, along with A Wednesday In Your Garden, that really caught my ear. These two tracks have in fact become my two favourite Guess Who songs.
OADP was the product of the growing song-writing collaboration of Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (many composed on Saturdays in Burton’s grandma’s parlour). A mid-tempo rocker with catchy (if somewhat cryptic) lyrics, Of A Dropping Pin is a powerful piece of post-psychedelic pop. It was first released as a single in the fall of 1968 (just as the guys were off to New York City to record their breakthrough LP, Wheatfield Soul).
Can I be somewhere when I'm nowhere
Gaze through a diabetic eye
Can I put down the right to be put down
And never known the right to try
I'd leave and take my pride with me
And find something I could carry it in
But all that breaks the stillness here
Is the sound of a dropping pin.
As Winnipeg writer and TGW historian John Einarson noted, the song “was truly an artistic if not commercial knockout. Of A Dropping Pin was one of the most sophisticated collaborations, both instrumentally and especially lyrically, between the two songwriters. On this record, [producer] Jack [Richardson]’s savvy for arrangement and Burton’s blossoming lyrical talents bore fruit. That it fared even worse at #97 was a fate undeserving such a fine recording.”
The group rerecorded Of A Dropping Pin in the spring of 1969 for the Canned Wheat album. (The newer recording was also released as the b-side of the Maple Fudge single.) On CD you can find version 2 on Ultimate Collection and the remastered Canned Wheat. Also, the amazing This Time Long Ago 2-disc set contains an early version of the song recorded for the CBC’s Let’s Go program.
posted by droppingpin at 8:21 PM
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