Monday, September 10, 2012

Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman

As part of our on-going effort to resurrect some of the material lost during our recent computer crash, we are happy to present this awesome (if slightly out-of-date) piece on Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, two key members of The Guess Who during the mega-hit years.  (Both artists did all right AFTER The Guess Who, too ... Randy Bachman reached the top of the charts several times as part of Bachman - Turner Overdrive ... and Burton Cummings soared to #5 with his first solo single "Stand Tall" in 1977.)

Coincidentally, both of these outstanding artists were out on (separate) tours earlier this summer ... and, thanks to a few of our FH readers who were fortunate enough to attend some of these shows, we've got some awesome reviews and photos to share with you today.  (Randy re-teamed with former partner Fred Turner for a series of shows ... and Burton even made a stop here in Chicago on The 4th of July!)



Since Bachman Turner Overdrive have disbanded, the two principals of this rockin’ 70s band, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, have put together a very impressive band to keep their music alive, and they pulled off a dazzling two night show last week on Broadway in New York City at the Iridium Club, the spot that Les Paul put on the map from his weekly engagements there. 
The new group is simply called BACHMAN AND TURNER and they deliver in a 70 minute set all the tunes that the fans come to hear:

Let It Ride
Takin’ Care of Business
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
Roll On Down the Highway
Hey You 

Randy still makes incredible guitar work look easy and Fred still magically plucks his bass like it’s still 1975. The two take turns handling lead vocals throughout the set accompanied a band of top notch Canadian musicians. To the delight of crowd, they threw in a tune from Randy’s Guess Who days with a rip roaring extended rendition of “American Woman,” with Mr. Turner handling the original lead vocals of Burton Cummings. Throughout the set they sprinkled in some songs from their most recent album, released a couple of years ago. Randy and Fred told the audience “anything you don’t recognize is on the new CD, so get the CD and then you’ll recognize it!”
Bachman and Turner video taped a concert they did in NYC at Roseland Ballroom in Nov of 2010. A CD of the performance is currently available. The DVD version, called “Live from Roseland,” was released on June 26th.
Bachman and Turner say they would welcome Randy’s old Guess Who pal, Burton Cummings, to the band. Turner, Cummings, Bachman. T-C-B, They kid that they could call themselves T-C-B (Turner-Cummings-Bachman). 
-- Tom Cuddy
New York, NY 

Here’s an updated list of upcoming gigs for Bachman and Turner: 

Mon 09/17/12 - Belleville, Onatrio - The Empire Theatre
Thur 09/20/12 - Toronto, Ontario - Winter Garden Theatre
Fri 09/28/12 - Lawrenceburg, IN - City Of Lawrenceburg
Sat 09/29/12 - St. Louis, MO - Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre
Appearing as part of the "Rock Legends Cruise":
Thur 01/10/13 - Fort Launderdale, FL - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Liberty Of The Seas
Fri 01/11/13 - Fort Launderdale, FL - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Liberty Of The Seas
Sat 01/12/13 - Fort Launderdale, FL - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Liberty Of The Seas
Sun 01/13/13 - Fort Launderdale, FL - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Liberty Of The Seas





Above photos by Stuart Hersh - 
Randy Bachman and Fred Turner at the Iridium, New York City



Above photo by Brad Joblin - 
Randy Bachman and Fred Turner at the Iridium Club in New York City


Rock Icon Randy Bachman celebrates his 2012 induction into Canada's Walk Of Fame by hitting the stage at the third annual Canada's Walk Of Fame Festival. The festival takes place from September 19 - 23 at various venues in downtown Toronto.
Randy's show will be held at Winter Garden Theatre on September 20th. Don't miss your chance to see this legendary musician perform live at one of Canada's most exciting events.

We saw Randy Bachman live in concert a few years ago at Schaumburg's Septemberfest ... and he was fantastic. A well-seasoned performer who really knows his way around the guitar neck! It was a solo show but he still treated us to music from all of the different facets of his career. A true talent. (kk)



Does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hate Canadians?
Randy Bachman thinks Rock and Roll of Fame has bias against Canadians
June 7, 2012
Randy Bachman suspects the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hates Canadians.
The Canadian singer-guitarist and founding member of the Guess Who is currently promoting a new live album and concert film, Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC, with musical partner Fred Turner. 

Asked how he feels about being excluded from the Hall of Fame, he tells 97.1 WASH FM (via Ultimate Classic Rock) that the snub irks him.

"It really pisses me off every year," he admitted. "I don't begrudge the groups that get in, but ... being in the Guess Who in their peak years, the 'American Woman' years, when I wrote the songs, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive during the peak years, when we were selling 30, 40 million records - to not get a nod from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and other bands who have had lesser artistic or commercial success get in there, it does really tick you off."
Bachman wonders if there isn't some anti-Canadian prejudice involved.
"Why, because we're Canadians? What is the bias against us, you know? My 'American Woman' guitar has been on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland for the last three years. They just renewed it for another three years, because people want to see it - that's the guitar that made the sound of 'American Woman.'
"And yet the band is not recognized by the Hall. Either [sic] is Rush, or a lot of other Canadian bands who stayed in Canada. The ones who left - I'm friends with them all. Guys like Neil Young, they're in there two or three times. Neil's probably in three times, for Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and himself …
"It would just be nice to get that recognition. It's like your mom and dad coming to your show, or your graduation, or your baseball game, saying 'I'm proud of you, son.' It's that kind of thing, you know?"

I have maintained for years that there seems to be some unacknowledged road block to Canadian artists getting into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Biased?  I don't want to think so ... but how else do you explain it?

You won't find many bigger recording acts than The Guess Who ... for several years during their prime they outsold all other Canadian recording artists COMBINED!!! And songs like "American Woman", "No Time", "These Eyes", "Undun" and "No Sugar Tonight" are nothing short of Rock And Roll Classics, embraced by every generation since they first hit the airwaves in the early '70's. 
Likewise for Bachman-Turner Overdrive, who scored six Top 40 Hits in a two year period! To this day I don't know if you can go ten straight hours without hearing "Takin' Care Of Business" or "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".
And how about Paul Anka, one of the most prolific songwriters and successful singers of the early rock era? How is it possible that THIS Canadian hasn't been recognized by The Hall?  What about Bryan Adams ... or Jack Scott ... or Gordon Lightfoot?  Andy Kim ... or the "roots of rock" sounds of The Diamonds and The Crew Cuts?  Save Neil Young (who's been inducted twice), Canadian artists are NOT very well represented in The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.  This isn't an opinion ... it's a fact.

Instead of focusing on artists who made their first record 25 years ago, why doesn't The Hall start recognizing the artists whose music has stood the test of time ... never left our consciousness over the past  40 - 50 years?!?!

*** 
The show I most looked forward to seeing this summer was Burton Cummings, performing on The 4th of July at Arlington Heights Frontier Days ... Cummings only had a few U.S. stops on his itinerary ... and Forgotten Hits readers let the promoters know that we wanted Chicago to be one of them!
But then ... after about six straight days of 100+ degree heat (and a temperature of 103 degrees at showtime) I must confess that I wimped out, choosing not to brave the heat ... instead we camped out in a semi-air-conditioned living room (the unit just couldn't keep up ... it was something like 88 INSIDE, too!), ate our Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue ... and watched the "Dallas" reboot on TV instead!


But we DID hear from a couple of FH readers who made the journey ... and it sounds like (other than Burton's fixation on Guess Who Drummer Garry Peterson), Cummings put on one hell of an entertaining show. (Wish we could have been there to see it for ourselves ... hoping he'll come back through town again sometime soon!)   

KENT
I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD BE THERE, BUT THERE WERE AN AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE THAT CANCELLED DUE TO THE HOT WEATHER. IN MY OPINION BY THE TIME THE CONCERT STATED THE WEATHER WAS NOT ALL BAD. NOW FOR THE REVIEW.
APPRENTLY THERE IS SOME BAD BLOOD BETWEEN THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF THE GUESS WHO (JIM KALE, BASS AND GARRY PETERSON DRUMS) AND BURTON CUMMINGS. THERE WERE QUITE A FEW REMARKS FROM BURTON ... ONE WAS "ABOUT A CERTAIN FAT DRUMMER" SAYING "HE DID NOT HAVE THE CHOPS TO SING ANYMORE"
LET ME TELL YOU, NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. BURTON WAS IN FINE FORM AS HE SANG HIT AFTER HIT, ALTHOUGH HE MISSED A FEW FOR THE HARD CORE FANS WHO WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR BUS RIDER, HEARTBROKEN BOPPER AND RAIN DANCE (AS FITTING A SONG COULD BE FOR A WICKED HOT SUMMER NIGHT!)
IT WAS HOT OUT THERE BUT THE BAND AND BURTON WERE ROCKIN'. IF YOU WEREN'T SINGING ALONG OR TAPPIN' YOUR TOES, YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN DEAD.
BURTON DOES IT ALL ... WHAT A GREAT SINGER! (I LOVE WHEN HE SCATS) HE'S A DEADLY HARMONICA PLAYER, PLAYS THE FLUTE, OF COURSE, ON "UNDUN" AND THEN THE PIANO. BOY, BURTON HAS TO BE ONE OF THE GREAT PIANO PLAYERS IN ROCK ... THOSE KEYS WERE FLYING EVERY WHICH WAY! TO ME HE BRIDGES THE GAP OF THE 50'S STYLE OF PIANO PLAYING THRU THE 60'S AND 70'S.
JUST A GREAT NIGHT!!
ONLY ONE DISAPPOINTMENT ... I WOULD HAVE LIKE TO HAVE MET THE MAN TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL THE GREAT MUSIC. ALSO FROM MY UNDERSTANDING BURTON IS AN AVID COMIC BOOK COLLECTOR, TO WHOM I WOULD HAVE POSED THE IMMORTAL QUESTION "PREFERENCE MARVEL OR DC"?
YOURS IN MUSIC -
MIKE DE MARTINO
PRESIDENT OF THE LOVEJOY MUSIC CLUB

Boy, you missed one heck of a show. (Burton sure seems to have a thing for his old drummer ... he didn't let up on the guy all night long!) But in between he played ALL of the hits ... and he sounded great! He can still sing and he can still play and the fans loved him.
Yes, it was hot ... but once the music started all of that sorted of faded away and we were wrapped up in the spectacle on stage. You missed a great, great show.
What's the deal with Burton and his old band? He made no secret of his utter contempt for "the big fat drummer"!
Rick

The deal is that when you think of The Guess Who, you DON'T think of Drummer Garry Peterson ... you think of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, the guys who wrote the hits. Burton's voice was one of the most unique in rock history ... he truly was the "sound" of The Guess Who. (Ironically, he wasn't even an original member of the band ... but once he came onboard, the hits started coming ... and between 1969 and 1975, The Guess Who rang up 14 Top 40 Hits, including absolute classics like "These Eyes" (#4, 1969); "Undun" (#22, 1969); "Laughing" (#8, 1969); "No Time" (#4, 1970); "American Woman" (#1, 1970); "No Sugar Tonight" (a tag-along B-Side, also from 1970); "Hand Me Down World" (#13, 1970); "Share The Land" (#5, 1970); "Rain Dance" (#13, 1971); "Star Baby" (#30, 1974) and "Clap For The Wolfman" (#6, 1974).  (Ironically, a good percentage of those hits were recorded right here in Chicago!)   

Even when Bachman left in the early '70's to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive (who had their own string of hits), he admitted that he knew he could never compete with "the voice" ... so he had to go another direction, steering the band toward harder, album rock (of the FM Radio variety.)  Cummings' #5 solo hit "Stand Tall" was another huge hit in 1977. 

On the outs more often than not, Cummings and Bachman have reteamed several times now over the years ... and have put on some AMAZING shows together.  (Despite any differences that may have kept them apart over the years, there is an undeniable love and respect between these two that shines through everything else.  Together they created a musical legacy unmatched by most.) 

Whenever they DO get back together, they cover ALL their hits from all their different incarnations ... but what they're NOT allowed to do is call themselves "The Guess Who". That's because Garry Peterson owns the legal rights to the name, obviously still a MAJOR thorn in Burton's side. 

Peterson's version of The Guess Who still plays at neighborhood festivals (with a Burton Cummings wannabe / sound-alike on lead vocals), but it's just not the same as the real deal ... especially when the real deal is still out there performing. (Sadly, Cummings has done very limited appearances these past several years ... so the opportunity to see him perform in Arlington Heights on The 4th of July was a real treat ... but I blew it!!!)

Sounds like the rest of you sweated your way through a great night of music. Wish I could have seen it! (I last saw Burton when he was part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band a few years back ... where he reportedly stole the show night after night.)

Burton Cummings singing his heart out, covering all the hits ... now THAT'S entertaining!
Burton Cummings taking swipes at his former drummer all night ... not so much.
Hey, I get it ... and I couldn't agree more ... it totally SUCKS that you and Randy don't have the rights to the name ...It's a COMPLETE injustice ... no doubt about it.
But you need to get past it and just concentrate on the music ... 'cause it speaks for itself ...
And there aren't many in your league ...
So take the high road ... and sing the crap out of those songs ... 'Cause we LOVE 'em!!! (kk)    

Kent:
I had the pleasure of seeing Guess Who front man Burton Cummings in concert for the second time this year. The most recent time, last month, was at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. And although the set was virtually the same as I enjoyed earlier in the year at the Tarrytown (NY) Music Hall (I’ve attached the previous review below, for those who might have missed it,) it was just as enjoyable!
He’s a wonderful storyteller between songs and when you hear him bring those incredible Guess Who songs to life on stage, you can’t help but have a smile on your face ... because his voice has not been tarnished since he first belted out those catchy Guess Who vocals in the late 60s and early 70s.
Burton was kind enough to extend another invitation to visit backstage after the show and I told him that I had recently seen his former Guess Who buddy Randy Bachman at the Iridium Club in Times Square as BTO with Fred Turner. I mentioned that Randy suggested that he “would welcome Burton joining them for some (BTO) shows.” Burton smiled and said: “I wouldn’t get your hopes up for that.” He then added that it’s not that he and Randy aren’t still friends, but he doubts that they’ll be performing together anytime soon. 
Here’s a picture I took backstage with Burton alongside Forgotten Hits reader and videographer Brad Joblin:

-- Tom Cuddy


Here's a copy of Tom's January, 2012 review for those who may have missed it ...

After over 35 years in the radio business I can count on one hand the recording artists I would like to see, but never had the chance, and I would still have a couple of fingers left. Guess Who front man, Burton Cummings, was one of those rock stars.
Then came last weekend (Jan. 21st), when Burton ended a small two week tour of the Northeast with a very memorable set (almost two hours) in Westchester County, New York, at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Burton gave up smoking a few years back, which certainly didn’t hurt protecting his voice, which I’m thrilled to report, is now as versatile, expressive, and powerful as it’s always been. 

The 64-year-old singer - songwriter is an incredible conversationalist. He would make a great deejay or talk show host. His love and knowledge of music is very evident. He can recite songs, artists, album cuts, B-sides and trivia going back to the beginning of rock and roll. 
The sad part had been that for a musician who enjoyed 15 Billboard Top 40 hits, he seldom performed in the United States in recent years. Most of his concerts had been in his native Canada, even though he’s had a house in Los Angeles for decades. Burton’s routine has been to split his time between California and Canada each year. And the reason why he hadn’t been more active in the States is because of the “karaoke Guess Who,” as Burton calls them, who seemed to be always touring the U.S. That touring contingent doesn’t include Burton or his Guess Who partner and co-songwriter Randy Bachman. He and Randy gave the rights up to the name years ago. And Burton was uncertain how many American music fans would be passionate about buying tickets to see show without being able to use the GUESS WHO name in the promotion of the show. 
That’s all changed recently as Burton has discovered U.S. fans do remember him by his own name and still have a warm spot in their hearts for Guess Who music. And those fans have been coming out in large numbers to see him energize the songs they grew up to on the radio. He takes great pride in performing the songs just like the fans remember them blasting out of their radio speakers. 
Yes, Burton spends most of his show singing his hits behind the keyboard, but you soon discover this guy isn’t only a keyboard specialist, because from time-to-time he’ll grab a guitar for a song or a flute.
It's impossible to walk out of a Burton Cummings performance disappointed. He does ALL the Guess Who hits you come to see, from the very first one, “These Eyes,” to the very last one, “Clap for the Wolfman.”
Plus, he reveals to the crowd, “About a year ago we put this song back into the set,” and then he dives into his first solo hit, “Stand Tall,” from 1976.
Burton, who became a U.S. citizen in the past year, is just finishing the final mix of a live concert CD that will soon be available to fans and has plans to continue touring the U.S.
When Burton came out for his final encore in Tarrytown I was quietly asking myself, I wonder what song he’ll close with, since he already performed all the hits. “Because this is the final night of our short tour, we’re going to do a tune we don’t usually do.” He then counted down his gifted band and they got everyone up on their feet for a building shakin’ version of ‘Louie, Louie!”
-- Tom Cuddy
I suppose that one can make the argument (and several have over the years) that Chicago doesn't belong in The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame because they went the "sappy ballad" route later in their career ... although I don't see how on earth that period, which just happens to be their most successful period on the charts, outweighs the incredible revolutionary start to their career ... after all, The Rock Hall is SUPPOSED to be about those artists who most advanced and expanded the state of rock and roll while still staying true to rock's roots ... and Chicago (both as Chicago Transit Authority and then as Chicago) did exactly that ... just listen to the new directions explored on those first two albums ... sounds we now take for granted ... and that wasn't the end of it ... the hits just kept on comin'!!!)

That being said, how on EARTH do you not induct The Guess Who?!?!? The most successful band in Canadian History ... and certainly one of the most popular and best-loved bands worldwide. Hit after hit after hit ... and ALL recorded in the TRUEST rock and roll vein. In fact, if you could capture it, Burton Cummings' voice deserves its own wing ... there was none other  like it in the history of rock and roll, before or since. And yet, incredibly, they've never even made the ballot.

Is the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame prejudiced against Canadian artists? They've gotta be ... or else they're deafer, blinder and dumber than Tommy himself!!! Because there can be NO other possible excuse for denying these guys their rightful place in The Hall. (kk)
Posted by at