hero
Randy Bachman
To some, Randy Bachman may seem a strange choice for a guitar hero. If fact, many younger players may not even have a clue who he is. But if you consider that he was the creative force (writing and playing) behind two of Canada’s most successful bands — The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive — it starts to make more sense.
Randy’s career is a bit of a paradox. Early in his career, with The Guess Who, he achieved phenomenal success (outselling the Beatles in 1970) and played with maturity of a seasoned studio musician. The Guess Who was a pop band and Randy’s guitar often played a supporting role, yet his parts were always tasteful and an integral part of the music. His playing ran the gamut of pop, jazz, country, folk, and rock — often mixing elements of each in the same song. Then came “American Woman” a breakout hit with rocking guitar and an overdriven lead that foretold the direction he would take later with huge success. At the height of their commercial success, Randy stunned the music community by leaving The Guess Who.
After leaving The Guess Who in 1970, Randy took a totally new direction with the band Brave Belt. Brave Belt was a country rock outfit that met with little success. Randy quickly changed directions again and transformed Brave Belt into the group Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO.) BTO had a harder rock sound that, when blended with Randy’s pop sensibilities and C.F. Turner’s gravely vocals, produced some of the biggest hits of the early 70’s. Randy’s career post BTO has been less visible, although he occasionally re-unites with previous BTO or Guess Who members.
Some critics have written off BTO’s music as simplistic, riff rock. But it is hard to imagine the impact it had on generations of teenage guitarists just starting out (as I was in the early 70’s.) While listening to Randy’s playing during the writing of this profile, I began to realize that perhaps I was more influenced by Randy’s playing then I had ever realized. For that, he earns the title of “hero.”
Essential Recordings
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The Best Of The Guess Who
The Guess Who
From the jazzy Undun, to the mix of rock, pop and country in No Time, to the pop guitar on Laughing, Randy is a master of tasteful playing and perfect guitar parts. His playing along with Burton Cummings incredible vocals made an unbeatable combination. Of course, American Woman is the song guitar players find most compelling. Starting off as a folk/blues acoustic number it explodes with a distinctive crunchy rhythm part and soaring overdriven lead.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Any of the first three BTO albums are classics, but I chose the first one because it often overlooked due to a lack of radio hits outside of the jazzy Blue Collar — which had limited radio success. Instead it is a time capsule of early 70’s rock/boogie — an era that passed too quickly. With the album BTO II, the band started moving in a more pop direction and during Not Fragile, more towards hard rock. Even though it was eclipsed by the BTO II breakout hit Taking Care Of Business the same year, the first album has plenty of songs that should have been hits including Hold Back The Water and Gimme Your Money Please. The song Blue Collar is stylistically different from the rest of the album and features Randy’s jazzier side. A side of his playing he should have explored more often than he did.
The Anthology
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Don’t bother with any of the greatest hits collections unless you just want the radio hits. However, The Anthology is a great collection that features many of the gems from the first five albums plus some previously unreleased and live tracks. Unfortunately it contains some (fortunately only 3) songs from albums after Randy left BTO. From the boogie to the hard rock, this 2 CD set is a great way to get the big picture of Randy’s time with one of the early 70’s most successful bands.
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- Randy Bachman
