This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 66. “They were all greenhorns,” Randy now says of his bandmates. I asked Bachman to explain their sustaining their success. Black Oak Arkansas: the band who had it all, then gave it all away, Story Behind The Song: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman Turner Overdrive, How The Guess Who's American Woman was written by accident. “You look at a group who have been obliterated. That came from Fred Turner. As road manager Jim Martin said: “Kale’s clone band hurt the name. The same goes for the lyrics. “We`ve had different, slight changes, but I find the people like basic rock and we`re selling to basic rock audiences. 2. They even named the band after a truckers’ magazine they found at a truck stop. So many times I’ve left people behind – literally. I could do it and I could probably expand our audience by another 10 per cent, but I`d lose 10 per cent who are buying what we`ve got now, so it`s a losing battle trying to please new people. “We`ve had different, slight changes, but I find the people like basic rock and we`re selling to basic rock audiences. You either change or die; you shoot for the target and you either hit or miss. I think I brought a hard edge to the band; it was pretty countryish when I joined”. The Guess Who rode with the tide. Robbie Bachman had been asked to play drums but declined, and was replaced by Garry Peterson who switched horses from The Guess Who [a belated change of heart from Robbie led to yet more sibling aggravation], while brother Tim now had the satisfaction of replacing his own one-time replacement in BTO, Blair Thornton. As I mentioned before a lot of BTO`s success is derived from Bachman`s experiences and observation. Strongly influenced by the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Poco and fellow Canadian band” – for the Saturday night. And guess what? Visit our corporate site. As Bachman indicated earlier, he seems to have varied amounts of musical influences and the last time I interviewed him he was promising a solo album. They wanted to go out on the road and tour, all of them but Chad Allen – who quit because he couldn`t face going through all that again. Mostly, they boogie. Cruise control never caught on over here either, which is maybe why the band are mainly known for their 1974 hit, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, whereas across the Atlantic they were the soundtrack to a large chunk of the 70s. This site uses cookies. So I can never skip any articles with Hunter in the future – I must transcribe everything from here on. Inexplicable because it doesn`t relate to or affect the band`s music which relies on sheer sympathetic energy between musicians devoid of any contrivance; understandable because after being in the business for so long barriers of cynicism are expected to appear. But the highs he enjoyed with those two bands have been more than matched by some dismal lows. Bachman conceded that Freeways was “kinda the end. Although new material has been written and recorded, the crowds at the festivals, biker balls and rib roasts BTO play still want to hear the radio hits – the majority written by the now absent Randy. Their new name was inspired by the truckers' magazine Overdrive; Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the record formerly turned down by every record company they sent it to, was released in 1973 and did fairly well: it stayed on the charts for 68 weeks. “I don`t believe in pleasing critics because they get their albums free and all they do is tear them apart, all I want to do is please the people who are buying our stuff.” Visit our corporate site. But lead singer Allan left and, at Neil Young’s suggestion, Randy turned to CF ‘Fred’ Turner, a musician from the same Winnipeg background as both Young and The Guess Who, “Neil and my brother Gary said we really needed a strong lead singer,” Randy says. For his part, Fred Turner more than approved of the change: “I was very happy with my situation; the alternatives were pumpin’ gas or selling shoes, which wasn’t what I was striving for. The fact that Bachman had sung the big hits – Takin’ Care Of Business and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – put Fred Turner in the shade somewhat. They were stars by then, and enjoying everything that came with that. Randy Bachman left Bachman-Turner Overdrive early in 1977, the last TV show he did with the band being on New Year’s Eve 76. Combined with the comparative failure of fourth album Four Wheel Drive in 1975 – which sold half-a-million, and suggested they’d flooded the market – the seeds of decline had been sown. The eight studio albums they released during that decade have been bundled into a slimline box, each in its own original, miniaturised sleeve that will probably keep you going if you’re planning on driving from Plymouth to Glasgow – although you might start feeling musically brain dead around Carlisle. Having failed to cut it as a solo artist, Randy formed Ironhorse. Once you hit number one there’s nowhere else to go but down.”. He is following in the footsteps of other musicians of greatness, like Roger Fisher (Ex-Heart), Punky Meadows (Angel) and Lita Ford (if they haven`t unfriended me since the last time I checked). And driving was something BTO did a lot of in those early days, following up the record’s radio success with gig after gig. “I probably won`t do it for a while. Leave a comment. Randy remains unapologetic, arguing passionately to Classic Rock that his way was the right way. “It`s a progression for us,” Bachman reported happily, “nothing like heavy jazz rock like Yes who I think are a very progressive group. Bachman-Turner Overdriv - Bachman-Turner Overdriv Bachman-Turner Overdriv - Four Wheel Drive Bachman-Turner Overdriv - Freeways Bachman-Turner Overdriv - Head On Bachman-Turner Overdriv - Not Fragile Bachman-Turner Overdriv - The Best of B.T.O. © Because I’m a songwriter. All rights reserved. [Other US Top 10 hits for The Guess Who included These Eyes, No Time and Laughing]. Although externally his appearance is burly and aggressive all in all he seems to be quite a composed, laid back character. It just EXPLODED with hits, and a lot of them were reading about Ian Hunter.

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