The Guess Who, Barbara Lewis hit ‘Mayfest on Main’

No one will need to guess who will headline North Myrtle Beach’s “Mayfest on Main” this Saturday, which also will include a classic soulstress adding her charm.

The Guess Who will take the stage at 4 p.m. at the “Horseshoe,” at Main Street and Ocean Boulevard, closing a concert begun at 12:30 p.m. with Barbara Lewis, backed by the Carolina Soul Band, and Blue Monday, going retro with the 1980s-’90s, in the middle at 2 p.m. This 10th annual festival opens at 10 a.m., with free admission for all.

Garry Peterson, a singing drummer and one of two original members of The Guess Who, with Jim Kale on bass and vocals, has lived since 1991 in Greensboro, N.C., and he knows the Grand Strand well through his escapes to his condo in Calabash, N.C.

Formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1962 as Chad Allen & the Reflections, The Guess Who would go on to lead a “Canadian invasion” of pop rock with hits such as “These Eyes” in 1969 and starting the 1970s with two No. 1 singles: “American Woman” and “No Sugar Tonight/No Mother Nature.”

Speaking by phone from home last month, Peterson thought back to the 1960s and how The Guess Who — whose members once included Randy Bachman, who formed Bachman Turner Overdrive, and Burton Cummings, who went solo in 1975 — evolved and has kept its energy alight in concerts all these decades.

“We were playing little places and had only “Shakin’ All Over,” he said, and “we went and saw The Association and sat in the audience.”

One of The Guess Who’s “biggest goals in life” was to build a base in bookings for concerts, and through that growth in popularity, Peterson said he gained a better perception “of where you come from and where you end up.”

A drummer since 1949, he said “parts are wearing out,” for he’s had a hip and knee replaced, but “I manage to get through it.” A few months off for health recovery will have him ready for his return gig this weekend in North Myrtle Beach.

Peterson accords “a lot of credit” in the The Guess Who’s longevity to all the band members, at this time rounded out by three more singing colleagues: Leonard Shaw on keyboards, flute and saxophone; Derek “Dexter” Sharp on guitar and lead vocals; and Will Evankovich on lead guitar and vocals.

He also called this group “better than the original band.”

‘Hello, Stranger’

Calling Barbara Lewis at her residence in Orlando, Fla., she said she hasn’t visited the Carolinas “in a while.”

“It’ll be nice to get back up there,” she said. “I used to do many shows there many years ago.”

A Carolina Beach Music Awards Hall of Fame inductee from 2003, Lewis wrote and recorded her debut hit, “Hello, Stranger,” in 1963. Two years later, “Baby, I’m Yours” — written by the late Van McCoy, maybe best-known for his disco hit, “The Hustle” — made waves, and that resurfaced 30 years later, in the movie soundtrack “The Bridges of Madison County.”

“Puppy Love,” another self-penned song — separate from Paul Anka’s ditty of the same title also recorded by Donny Osmond — hit first in 1964, then got a second life in 1997 on the soundtrack for “Chasing Amy.”

Coming from a saxophone-playing mother and guitarist father, Lewis began composing when she was 9 and cultivated her Michigan farmstead origins during World War II into her own musical career.

Lewis, who stepped back from the music scene and dabbled in various other professions from the 1970s into the ’90s, later found a second wind on stage, rekindling oldies and memories for fans, a flame she keeps burning, at her pace.

Performing concerts across the country with other music stars who have made their mark in soul and pop circles, “I do a lot of oldies shows,” she said, hoping all fans who see her live “have good memories” of the hits.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 10:31 AM with the headline "The Guess Who, Barbara Lewis hit ‘Mayfest on Main’."