Taking Care of Some Unfinished Business

From rock-and-roll icons such as Neil Young, Rush and Joni Mitchell, to more contemporary rock artists such as Metric, Sam Roberts Band and Arcade Fire, The Great White North has always been, and continues to be, a constant contributor to rock music. One of the most legendary and enduring musical names that Canada can smugly claim bragging rights to is blue collar rock-and-rollers, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. With a total of 30 million records sold and such enduring hit singles as “You Ain’t See Nothing Yet,” “Takin’ Care of Business” and “Roll on Down the Highway,” from just their first successful run in the ‘70s, Winnipeggers Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are undoubtedly certified rock Gods.

Now, Canadians will get the chance to relive some of the duo’s most beloved classic hits, as well as newer tunes from their most recent album Bachman & Turner, when the pair teams up with British rock star Paul Rodgers this fall for a cross-country Canadian tour. The tour, which will include dates in Toronto, Calgary and of course, Winnipeg, will kick off on Sept. 8 in Belleville, Ont., and will wrap up in Richmond, B.C. on Oct. 1. Randy Bachman, lead guitarist, songwriter and one-half of the band’s famous namesake, tells Lifestyler that touring Canada is undoubtedly a different experience than touring any other part of the world.

“Anywhere in Canada feels like home because people feel like they know me intimately, especially because of my radio show,” says Bachman, who also hosts Randy’s Vinyl Tap on CBC Radio One and Sirius Satellite Radio weekly. “You’re the local kid that everybody knows and that’s something that happens in Canada that doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

Bachman himself is a legend in music all on his own. Having written more than 1,000 hit singles for bands including The Guess Who — of which he was also a founding member — the singer-songwriter was in the middle of working on his own solo album when he was contacted to headline the 2010 Sweden Rock Festival alongside Fred Turner. After inviting Turner to guest on his solo album’s track “Rock and Roll is the Only Way Out,” Bachman immediately saw the potential for a reunion.

“I sent him this track from my solo CD and said, ‘You know, I’ve got a solo CD I’m working on and I’d love you to sing a track,’” says Bachman. “He sang ‘Rock and Roll is the Only Way Out’ and I said, ‘Man, that’s just incredible. I’ll scrap my whole solo album if you’ll join me, so we have something new to play at Sweden Rock.” 

After reconnecting, Bachman began working on the new album in 2009, using the gritty, gravelly vocals of Turner at every opportunity.

“Turner, he delivers the goods. I’m the driver but he’s the load, if you know what I mean,” says Bachman. “I kind of drive the vehicle and he’s the delivery man. There’s nothing better than me chucking away at guitar and him singing a song, it really is prairie rock at its best.”

Although band reunions often come with a heavy level of pressure to produce hits and generate buzz, Bachman's long career in music and extensive experience allowed him to work with an understanding of the changes in rock-and-roll’s landscape.

“In the ‘60s and ‘70s there was nothing but the music. There were no videos, no national magazines, there was no national radio like Sirius Satellite where you can get everything at once, wherever you are in the world, so you got excited about it,” he says. “You got excited when Ray Charles was coming to Winnipeg. Now there’s such a saturation of artists in the media that you got to do these over-the-top things like wearing a meat dress like Lady Gaga wore.”

While neither Bachman nor Turner are willing to try attention-grabbing gimmicks, it seems that the duo’s way of doing things continues to work. Since recording and releasing Bachman & Turner in 2010, the prairie rock band has been touring the globe, playing for both old and new fans at shows such as the Sweden Rock Festival.

“When we went to Sweden Rock last year, we didn’t have our own gear, we couldn’t do a sound check ‘cause we’re in the middle of a 4-day festival and you’re just going, ‘What if this goes wrong, if that goes wrong,’” he says. “Then we just said, ‘Let’s go out and rock it and do our best,’ and we went out and it was incredible. Playing songs we didn’t think they knew and to have 40,000 people respond with their fists in the air, singing along to album tracks from 1974, 1975, 1976, you just go ‘Wow, this is amazing.’”

The amount of loyalty Bachman-Turner Overdrive has amassed in its ongoing rock-and-roll run continues to be recognized today. Both Bachman and Turner were inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame, and Bachman himself was honoured with The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Global Impact Award for the enduring popularity of his music. The enduring success is something he attributes completely to the band’s focus on creating good music.

“It boils down to one thing — the power of the song,” says Bachman. “It’s always about hit songs. There are many, many great guitar players and singers out there, but if they don’t have that magical glue to hold people together for 4 minutes at a time with the song, with the lyrics and the groove, and what you’re playing to relate to people, you won’t have a career. If you write a good song, it’ll last forever and that’s what happened to BTO, that’s why it’s been such a great ride — and it still is.”

For more information on Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s upcoming tour, visit bachmanandturner.com • 

Check out this video of Bachman-Turner Overdrive performing "Roll on Down the Highway" at Casino Rama in Ontario:

 


Photo Courtesy: Christy Gatto