The Guess Who started out as a local Winnipeg band in 1960 called Chad Allan and the Reflections (later changed to Chad Allan and the Expressions). All the band members were born in Winnipeg.

Chad Allan and the Expressions signed with Quality Records in 1962 and released several flop singles before releasing their first hit, a 1965 rendition of Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over" which reached No. 1 in Canada and No. 22 in the U.S. However, in an attempt to build a mystique around the record, Quality Records credited the single only to "Guess Who?" It was hoped that some listeners might assume the "Guess Who?" identity was deliberately masking several famous performers working under a pseudonym -- given the "beat group" nature of the record, perhaps even members of The Beatles.

It is debatable as to whether anyone was really fooled by this ruse, or if the record would have been a hit regardless of the artist credit. But what did end up happening was that, even after Quality Records revealed the band was 'really' Chad Allan and the Expressions, disc jockeys still announced the group as Guess Who?, effectively forcing the band to rename themselves. So on their first two albums the band was credited as both Guess Who? and Chad Allan and The Expressions.

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