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One fine day in 1969, Randy Bachman of the Guess Who was walking down a street in Berkeley, California...when up ahead he spotted a group of tough-looking bikers.
Just as he decided to cross the street to avoid them, a car screeched to a halt just yards away, and out jumped a woman who made a beeline for one of the bikers. As the rest of the bikers took off, she read the riot act to the one who was obviously her husband or boyfriend.
When she was finished, she stormed back to the car, as he followed meekly behind her. And just before they drove away, Randy heard her say, "And one more thing, honey: you're not getting any sugar tonight!"
At that point, Randy crossed the street, walked back to his hotel and started writing today's "Great Song of 1970." Well, at least HALF of it.
At just around two minutes, "No Sugar Tonight" was a bit short. Randy was at a loss on how to make it longer, so he ran it past his bandmate Burton Cummings, and Burton had the solution.
Burton noticed right away that Randy had written the song in the key of F#. As luck would have it, Burton ALSO had an unfinished song in F#, so he suggested they combine "No Sugar Tonight" with "New Mother Nature," and the finished blend was added to the The Guess Who's "American Woman" album. Plus, the short "No Sugar Tonight" version was released as the "B" side to the title cut.
As the song "American Woman" went to #1, "No Sugar Tonight" went with it. Many stations played both sides, so Billboard Magazine considered it a double-sided #1! Some stations even took it a step farther and played the blended album version.
The whole thing was rather ironic, because before the song hit the charts, Randy left The Guess Who to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and neither group ended up playing it in concert--since it would be sort of a conflict of interest for both groups.
But that doesn't take away the fact that "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" is a "Great Song (Songs?) of 1970!
Full version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzjfw6I78jI
Short Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmeUCGQ0xnM
"American Woman" (Just because):
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