Randy Bachman Taking Care of Business

An Epiphone Interview with rock legend Randy Bachman

Randy Bachman, taking care of business

Epiphone’s Don Mitchell recently had the opportunity to talk to one of the Legends of Rock and Roll… Randy Bachman.

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Randy Bachman has become a legendary figure in the rock and roll world through his talents as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer.

He earned over 120 Gold and Platinum album/singles awards around the world for performing and producing.

His songs have been recorded by numerous other artists and placed in dozens of television, movie and commercial soundtracks.

His music has provided a veritable soundtrack of the last thirty years of popular music.

EPI:  What are your earliest recollections of being drawn to music?

RANDY: I started playing classical violin at age 5-1/2. That lasted 9 or so years until I saw Elvis on TV. His music was so exciting, compared to the classical stuff I was playing and I immediately wanted to play guitar.

EPI: So, how did you make the jump from violin to guitar?

RANDY: My cousins had an acoustic at the time. One day they showed me the three chords to “I Walk The Line” and then left the guitar with me for the weekend. When they came back to get it, I could play it better than they could.

EPI: How did your development as a guitarist/musician/songwriter progress from there?

RANDY: After I got my own Silvertone guitar from the Sears catalog, and had been playing about a year, I was fortunate enough to meet Lenny Breau. He was 16 and I was 15 at the time and Lenny had been playing finger-style guitar for 10 years at that point. He also played in his parent’s country-swing band so I skipped high school in the afternoons for 2 years to hang out with Lenny. Those 2 years were the most important years of my musical life. I learned everything about guitar music from Lenny… 8 complete Chet Atkins albums, a couple of Merle Travis records, Jimmy Bryant, all the Elvis stuff with Scooty Moore as well as music from Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Howard Roberts and more.

EPI: It’s interesting that Lenny Breau had such an impact on you considering that he is primarily known as a finger-style guitarist.

RANDY: Well, as Lenny got deeper into jazz and his own style of playing, I got into The Shadows, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, James Burton, Cliff Gallup and all the great rock and roll players.

EPI: Where did things go from there?

RANDY: My first band evolved from a group called Alan & The Silvertones. I joined and Garry Peterson came in as the new drummer and we cut a #1 British hit called “Shakin All Over” as Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.

Quality Records in Toronto released “Shakin All Over” in Canada and for some reason put “Guess Who?” on it. Before we knew it, we had a #1 record in Canada and a new name for the band… “The Guess Who”.

EPI: I guess the accidental “Guess Who” was a good thing considering what was ahead for The Guess Who!

RANDY: In 1965 we did the USA Louie Louie bus tour with The Kingsmen, Dion & The Belmonts and the Turtles and I was hooked. Rock and roll was the life for me.

EPI: No doubt… but that was just the beginning.

RANDY: Right… after the Louie Louie summer tour, our lead singer, Chad Allan, decided to go back to college. He realized that he didn’t like touring so I recruited Burton Cummings from another Winnipeg band, The Deverons, to take his spot.

We were a rock and roll garage band that played all the 60s hits… like a live jukebox for every dance in Winnipeg. Us and Neil Young and the Squires were getting the best gigs in town.

After a trip to London in ’67, we came back to Winnipeg and got the house band gig on a CBC-TV show called “Let’s Go”. The show ran weekly for two years across Canada and suddenly we were a household name. We had to learn and record 8 new hit parade songs every week, and then perform them on TV so we learned about studio chops, arranging, and being comfortable on TV real fast.

Eventually the producer of the show, Larry Brown, asked Burton Cummings and I to write and do an original song on every show which forced us to write songs that were as good as the hits we were covering. The first recordings of These Eyes, No Time, and much of the material on the first couple of albums by The Guess Who came out of those two years.

EPI: The pressure to write good songs sure paid off. Many of those tunes are icons of rock music now.

RANDY: Our string of hits was amazing. These Eyes, Laughing, Undun. No Sugar Tonight, American Woman and No TIme all were million selling singles as well as were the albums. The summer of 1970 saw both the American Woman LP and the double A side “American Woman/No Sugar Tonight” single at #1 in all the trade magazines.

EPI: It sounds like everything was rosey but I’ve heard stories that things were not always so great.

RANDY: From the time Burton joined the band we must have broken up every week. (laughter) However, we all realized the chemistry in the band and that there was no one else we’d rather create and play music with… so we would get back together. Endurance and patience seemed to be our greatest trait. You kind of have to stick out the rough ride and wait for smoother roads ahead. “Do not give up” has become my motto.

EPI: Most would be completely satisfied with being a part of one group that influenced the history of rock music… but after The Guess Who you did it all over again with Bachman Turner Overdrive. How did that band come about?

RANDY: After The Guess Who I needed some rest and recuperation but I became restless and had to get back to making music again… so I turned to my brothers and Chad Allan.

We started as a low-key country-rock band called Brave Belt and Neil Young helped me connect with Mo Austin and Don Schmitzerle which lead to a deal with Reprise Records. But as with the The Guess Who, Chad just didn’t like the touring aspect of it all so he left the band, opening the door for C.F. Turner to join. When Frank came into the band we started playing heavier music to fit his voice and started calling ourselves Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

EPI: And the second Randy Bachman, history impacting rock and roll band was launched!

RANDY: We cut a heavy rock album, got some great airplay and sold a million copies. We toured in the early 70s with, ZZ Top, Peter Frampton. The Doobie Brothers, The Allman Brothers, Lynnrd Skynnrd, The Charlie Daniels Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Foghat, Rory Gallagher, Robin Trower… and together we all managed to get this very guitar based bluesy-rock going that is now referred to as Classic Rock.

EPI: I’d say the “rest and recuperation” thing was over at that point!

RANDY: Yeah… I produced the band, picked the songs, got Bruce Allen to manage us and kept on going. We did many back-to-back 90 day tours in those days and in the first year played about 300 gigs.

EPI: Again the hard work seemed to pay off with radio… but this time in a heavier vein.

RANDY: The hits started to come. I started to take my commercial Top 40 kind of song ideas from my experience with The Guess Who and mix them with heavy guitar riffs and hooks. “Let It Ride”, “Taking Care of Business”, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet”, “Roll On Down the Highway”, “Lookin Out for #1”, “Hey You”, “Four Wheel Drive” and more all came in a row and by the summer of ’75 BTO’s album “Not Fragile” and the single “You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet” hit #1 on the charts.

EPI: It must be very satisfying as a songwriter to know that many of your songs can be sung word-for-word by the masses… including those that were born 20 years after the records were even released. Then in 1999 Lenny Kravitz comes along and records and releases “American Woman” for the movie “The Spy Who Shagged Me” proving it to be a timeless classic and pushing your work to the radio masses all over again. How did that come about?

RANDY: Mike Myers, who is also Canadian, was creating the movie and wanted the song to be in it. He included the original version by The Guess Who and then asked Lenny to record a new version for the closing credits. It became a monster hit for Lenny, won him a Grammy and the movie soundtrack sold millions of copies, as did Lenny’s album. It was another case of good timing.

EPI: Two hugely successful bands, a successful solo and producing career, induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, an Honorary Doctorate from Brandon University, the Lt. Governors Performing Arts Award, induction into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame… your list of accomplishments goes on and on… and yet you still seem motivated to press on. You continue to record, produce, host a radio show and continue to tour with The Guess Who and Bachman – Cummings. What is it that motivates you to continue your music?

RANDY: I’ve tried to do other things and they just don’t resonate within me. Since the age of 5 I’ve know that music was my gift and that I should cherish it, develop it and never abuse it. I don’t feel I’m in the top list of super-great songwriters, guitarists or singers but I’ve managed, through practice and never giving up, to have a great life in music.

EPI: You have indeed lived a great musical life and we are thrilled that you are playing some of our guitars! Which models do you have?

RANDY: The Epiphones in my collection include a vintage Mahogany Al Caiola guitar that I just love and an Epiphone EJ-200 that I bought on tour with the Beach Boys in the late 70’s. I play that guitar all the time in the studio. I also have a new Les Paul Ultra-II, an Elitist Country Gentleman… and I just got the Epiphone Slash GoldTop that is really amazing. It plays so well and the finish, frets, neck and set up are absolutely top notch. All of them are great.

EPI: Before we go, I wanted to ask you about your career in radio. Tell me about “Randy’s Vinyl Tap”.

RANDY: Randy’s Vinyl Tap is now on CBC Radio One every Saturday night from 7-9 pm with a repeat the following Friday 11pm-1am. It is also on CBC Radio Two on Sunday’s from 6-8 pm and available on Sirius Satellite 137 for those in the USA and Mexico. My website: www.randysvinyltap.com has digital streaming of the shows as well.

EPI: How did you get involved?

RANDY: This show started as a joke for me. A friend of mine, Danny Finkleman had this slot on Saturday nights called “Finklemans 45s” that we’d listened to for decades. When he announced his retirement I said, “How and why would this guy retire. He only plays old record for 2 hours on Saturday nights?”

I asked CBC Radio who was going to replace Danny and when they told me they did not have a replacement I told them I could play records and talk about my many experiences. They asked for a demo so I sent them one and they liked it enough to offer me a 10-week summer show. When the ratings came out, the show had done so well that they asked me to do the next season. Now we are renewed for several years and have been told it’s the most popular show CBC Radio has ever had on a Saturday.

EPI: It sounds like fun!

RANDY: It is and it has changed my life in so many positive ways. I have collected music all my life in my world travels and now to be able to revisit it every week and share it with all the “Tapheads” who listen provides an amazing connection with my fans.

EPI: So what is next for you?

RANDY: I am booked way into 2010 and am now setting dates and events for 2011. There are some amazing projects being worked on which I cannot talk about right now but if you check my website: www.randybachman.com you can get updates. I’m also on Twitter as @randycbachman which I update several times everyday. My new Rock CD which I’m recording now will have some great guests in the grooves. Neil Young, C.F. Turner and others will be sharing some of their musical chops with me.

EPI: We are looking forward to that. Thanks Randy for taking time to visit with us!

RANDY: You are welcome and as I say at the end of each radio show.. “Keep the Rock Rollin”