Following the luke-warm reception of the Guess Who’s Back album in early 1978, Kale and company decided to try it again later that same year with the release of All This For A Song. This time, the album was also released in the USA but the American version of this album is actually a compilation that combined the best songs from the band’s previous Canadian only album, The Guess Who’s Back, together with some highlights from this album.
After the dismal response in Canada to the last album, Kurt Winter left the band reducing the line up to a quartet with Donnie McDougall taking over as leader of the band on lead vocals and guitar as well as writing all of the songs on the album. For this outing, Jim Kale appears to take a back seat in the band which seemed to quell some of the controversy surrounding the use of the Guess Who name. None the less, the Canadian version of “All This For A Song” it is a more dismal album than the previous effort with most songs veering towards country rock or recycled classic Guess Who riffs.
Musically, the sound of the “new” Guess Who alienated fans and by the end of 1978 this incarnation of Jim Kale’s Guess Who ceased to exist. This release by Unidisc Music Inc., is a straight reissue of the original All This For A Song album at a budget price complete with original artwork but contains no bonus tracks.
This is the first appearance of this album on CD format and while its place in the Guess Who catalogue is controversial, this release will no doubt be welcomed by many Guess Who collectors worldwide as a unique collectors item.