Garry Peterson playing Palace Theatre with The Guess Who

Outside of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, there aren’t many rock ’n’ rollers who can boast that they’ve been in the same band for 60 years.

Drummer Garry Peterson of The Guess Who is one of the few who can make that claim. Peterson was 17 when he became part of the band in 1962. On Nov. 10, Peterson will be part of the current edition of The Guess Who when it makes a tour stop at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg. He is the last original member of the group.

Influential Guess Who members such as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have long since moved on, while Peterson insists he has never entertained thoughts of departing.

“The reason why is because I spent from 1962 to today devoting my entire adolescence and adult life to this band and to the creation of music in this band and the promotion of music created by this band,” Peterson said from his home in the Ocala, Fla., area.

“So, I think when you’re that heavily invested, unless you’re looking for something that you’re not getting out of this band, you would stay in it.”

When Peterson joined the Winnipeg-based group, it was known as Chad Allan and the Reflections (later Chad Allan and the Expressions). The lineup included lead vocalist Allan, keyboard player Bob Ashley, guitarist Bachman, Jim Kale on bass and Peterson on drums.

A few years later, Ashley and Allan left the band, and 18-year-old Cummings joined and took over as the keyboardist and lead vocalist. That’s when things really began to take off for The Guess Who. There was a string of big hit songs that began by the end of the ’60s. In 1969, the single “These Eyes” reached the top 10 in the United States and became a gold record with sales of more than 1 million copies.

In 1970, “American Woman” reached No. 1 in both the U.S. and Canada, making The Guess Who the first Canadian band to have a chart-topping single in the U.S. during the Billboard Hot 100 era. The songs “No Time” and “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” also reached prominent spots on the singles charts.

But as the ’70s wore on, The Guess Who’s commercial success declined in the U.S., and eventually Cummings and Bachman moved on to solo careers. There had been lucrative reunions of the classic lineup in the early ’80s and early 2000s, but they were temporary and Peterson has never fully understood why they didn’t stay together.

“Those members had a chance to keep the band going because we’re all still alive and performing in one form or another,” Peterson said. “Why aren’t they here? The original band could probably make a lot more money than we’re making now. When we went out on the last reunion tour, we were making $90,000 a night. Why wouldn’t (we) want to do that?”

Cummings and Bachman have been highly critical of the newest iteration of The Guess Who, calling it a cover band and “the fake Guess Who.” Peterson’s response to their criticism is that it was their decision to leave the band and the door is open for them to return.

“They decided to go on to their own careers, which I respect and I support,” Peterson said. “You have to, in life, do what you feel you’re called to do. My calling is to be in The Guess Who.”

The attraction to playing drums in a rock band was so strong that Peterson gave up a promising hockey career, as well as studying to be a dentist at the University of Manitoba to devote his life to it.

“I was playing (junior hockey) when the band had its first hit record, and it got to the point where we all had to start making choices. The first thing that went was sports. The next decision that had to be made was school. My father wanted me to be a dentist but as I told him, ‘You put drum sticks in my hand when I was 2 years old, taught me to be a drummer and now you want me to be a dentist? Are you crazy?’ ” Peterson said.

That first hit record for Chad Allen and the Expressions was a cover version of “Shakin’ All Over,” which reached No. 1 in Canada and No. 22 in the U.S. Their American label, Quality Records, credited it to “Guess Who?” as a way of creating speculation that it was recorded by a more famous British Invasion band incognito. “The Guess Who?” name stuck — with the question mark eventually being dropped — and the rest is history.

The band’s success in the U.S. led to an invitation from President Richard Nixon for them to perform at a party for (then) Prince Charles and Princess Anne on the south lawn of the White House in the summer of 1970. But Nixon requested they not play “American Woman,” which Peterson co-wrote and said was written as a commentary on the racial tension and Vietnam War protests happening in the U.S. The songs lyrics include lines like “Don’t come hangin’ ’round my door, Don’t want to see your face no more, I don’t need your war machines, I don’t need your ghetto scenes.”

“It wasn’t (President Nixon) that wanted the band. (Nixon’s daughters) Tricia Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower and (son-in-law) David Eisenhower were the people who wanted the band there,” Peterson said. “Little did I know that I was going to have my picture taken with the future King of England. And little did I know that some 50 years later I would be an American citizen and married to an American woman.”

His wife’s name is Kimberly and she is a native of North Carolina. As for the song “American Woman,” Peterson said they complied with the White House request not to play it.

“(Nixon) didn’t want us to play it, and we said, ‘Fine. You’re paying the bill. We’re here to entertain people. If you don’t want us to do our No. 1 song, that’s fine,’ ” he said. “We didn’t write it with an ax to grind. It was merely a comment on what we saw.”

Over his six decades with The Guess Who, there have been many other moments that have produced great memories for Peterson. One of those that stands out happened in Pittsburgh during a show at the old Civic Arena, or Igloo as it was sometimes called, which was famous for being one of the first arenas to have a retractable roof.

“We’re there playing one night, and they started to open it after we started to play. They didn’t tell us they were going to do that, and I’m looking and I’m going, ‘Jeez, am I stoned? We must be playing so great we’re moving up to the heavens,’ ” Peterson recalled.

One can probably rule out Peterson being stoned because he said he has never done drugs and, for that matter, wasn’t much of a drinker. He credits that, in part, for his longevity and ability to still drum at the age of 77.

Peterson said Guess Who fans in Greensburg can look forward to the band playing its hit songs, as well as new material from the latest album “The Future Is What It Used to Be.” The group also has plans to release an album of new material later this year or early the next.

“As long as we have this band, I will try to create new music,” he said.

As for how long The Guess Who’s last original member plans to continue touring and playing, Peterson said he has no plans to quit anytime soon.

“As long as people want to see the band, I hope I can keep playing until I die. And then I would want the band to go on after that.”