`AMERICAN WOMAN:' HIT WAS AN ACCIDENT
`AMERICAN WOMAN:' HIT WAS AN ACCIDENT
LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Most rock stars don't like the idea of their work being ripped off, but Lenny Kravitz owes his current hit, "American Woman," to an illegal tape recording made in 1969. Back then the song was a hit for the Guess Who, and former lead singer Burton Cummings says he improvised the lyrics off the top of his head while other musicians began jamming the opening riff during a concert. That's when roadies noticed a guy in the audience illegally recording the song and confiscated his tape. The Guess Who forgot all about "American Women" until they played back the bootleg the tape a few months later and decided to record it -- as is. When the song first became a hit, the lyrics were misinterpreted as being anti-U.S., but Cummings says he was really trying to say he preferred Canadian women because American women grew up too fast. Cummings is currently touring in a one-man show and plans to reunite with the Guess Who this August at the Pan-Am Games.
CONTACT: Burton Cummings, *****; Arrange with Lorne Saifer; LA; (310) 247-1133