Lenny Kravitz covered The Guess Who’s 1970 song “American Woman” for the 1998
Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me
soundtrack.
Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me
soundtrack.
The song was originally written by The Guess Who as a tribute to Canadian women. The Guess Who, lead singer, Burton Cummings, said in 2013 “What was on my mind was that girls in the States seemed to get older quicker than our girls and that made them, well, dangerous. When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ It was all a happy accident.”
The Guess Who’s guitarist, Jim Kale said, “The popular misconception was that it was a chauvinistic tune, which was anything but the case. The fact was, we came from a very strait-laced, conservative, laid-back country, and all of a sudden, there we were in Chicago, Detroit, New York – all these horrendously large places with their big city problems. After that one particularly grinding tour, it was just a real treat to go home and see the girls we had grown up with. Also, the war was going on, and that was terribly unpopular. We didn’t have a draft system in Canada, and we were grateful for that. A lot of people called it anti-American, but it wasn’t really. We weren’t anti-anything. John Lennon once said that the meanings of all songs come after they are recorded. Someone else has to interpret them.”
Lenny Kravitz was a little hesitant to remake the song when he was approached to do so for the
Austin Powers 2
movie, but decided to take on the challenge. Cummings called him and told him how much he liked it.
Austin Powers 2
movie, but decided to take on the challenge. Cummings called him and told him how much he liked it.
Lenny Kravitz won a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1999. He also had great chart success with the song: #49 on the Hot 100, #23 on the Adult Top 40, #7 on the Alternative Songs, #3 on the Mainstream Rock, and #17 on the Mainstream Top 40.
Lenny Kravitz “American Woman” 1998
