BILL and SUE-ON HILLMAN: A 60-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY
ROOTS AND WINGS SECTION
Presents
The Rock Legends Series:
The Guess Who Connection

DON McDOUGALL Born on this date, November 5, 1948 in the Winnipeg, Manitoba suburb of St. Vital, guitarist/singer/songwriter Don McDougall best known for his two years in The Guess Who (1972 to 1974). McDougall comes from a musician family. His father played with Smokey Ferlin in The Seine River Boys and brothers Bill, Robbie and Alan all played in bands. Robbie pursued a career in music while also becoming an ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Don McDougall played in several local community club bands in the 1960s including Terry & The Gentry before moving to Vancouver and joining hippie band Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck. The band enjoyed a hit single with "One Ring Jane" which included McDougall on vocals and lead guitar. After relocating to Toronto in 1969 the band eventually folded. McDougall returned to Winnipeg, joining popular pub band The Vicious Circle. He was playing in that group, which included Blair and Gary MacLean, when on March 17, 1972, he received a phone call from Burton Cummings asking if he would join the Guess Who. Guitarist Greg Leskiw had abruptly quit the group following a gig that night in Texas.

McDougall met the band the next day in Phoenix, Arizona. He sat up with guitarist Kurt Winter, several cases of beer and a tape recorder, for the better part of the next forty-eight hours learning the band's set, guitar parts and harmonies. He made his debut on March 19 to a sellout crowd in Phoenix. McDougall appeared on five Guess Who albums: Live At The Paramount, Artificial Paradise, #10, Road Food and The Best of The Guess Who Volume II before being dismissed along with Winter when the group decided to recruit Toronto guitar ace Dominic Troiano.

Not noted as a lead guitarist in the same league as Greg or Kurt, McDougall was a competent rhythm and second lead player. What he did bring to the mix, though, was an excellent voice and songwriting experience. His songwriting graced each of the studio albums he participated in. Though the band would come to miss Greg's creative contributions, McDougall was a team player who blended in comfortably. As Jim Millican noted, "Donnie was the most amiable, easy-going guy you could ever meet, always happy and having fun. Burton respected Donnie's singing."

After his ouster from the group, McDougall joined Jim Kale's rehashed Guess Who in 1977, appearing on two albums. He also performed with Bill Wallace's Best of the Guess Who band. McDougall later played bass in Randy Bachman's band in 2000 and was then invited to participate in the much heralded Guess Who reunion which toured from 2001 to 2003. He has released one solo album.

~ John Einarson Remembers

The Guess Who - Laid It On Me Anyway
https://youtu.be/3vKa4q7a2wI

Runnin' Back to Saskatoon - The Guess Who (Live at the Ambassador, St. Louis, MO - June 5, 1974)
https://youtu.be/CjY3aFxI1Gg
 

Photo by Paul Newsome
May 4, 2023 at the Osborne Taphouse
when he was playing with Carl Dixon's Guess Who tribute band