Guess who's back? Burton Cummings on The Guess Who reclaiming band name, concert stages

Cummings, Randy Bachman and band set to perform Saturday at OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino

√ First tour in 20+ years for iconic Canadian musicians

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings are reuniting to tour behind the songs that took them to No. 1 in North America: “These Eyes,” “No Time,” “Laughing,” “Undun,” “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” and “American Woman.”

Moreover, the Canadian hitmakers are reclaiming the name they made famous: The Guess Who.

Following a fight for the band name – which was being used by bassist Jim Kale and drummer Garry Peterson – guitarist/vocalist Bachman and vocalist/keyboardist Cummings have set out to repay the fans they consider were duped by another group of musicians.

Of the other The Guess Who, Cummings said, “They were using the songs as bait. They were using our real records to draw people to their fake shows.”

He added, “It was a long, ugly legal battle. It's over with, and Randy and I are very happy that the confusion is over. There won't be any more fake Guess Who bands out there.”

The Guess Who is set to tour across Canada this summer – for the first time in more than 20 years. Before that, they will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday inside the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino.

In an interview last week, Cummings said the setlist will definitely feature The Guess Who’s hit songs, and will possibly include selections from Bachman-Turner Overdrive (perhaps a “Taking Care of Business,” “Let it Ride” or “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”) and Cummings’ own solo career (maybe a “Stand Tall,” “I’m Scared,” “My Own Way to Rock,” “Break It to Them Gently” or “You Saved My Soul”).

He said the tour is reflective of fans’ continued love for The Guess Who songs made famous in the late-1960s and 1970s.

“I think the thing that makes me the proudest is that the songs have never gone away,” he said. “ ‘These Eyes’ is way over 50 years ago now, and I still hear it on the radio. I'm very, very proud of that. I think that's something that a lot of performers don't get – that longevity.”

Cummings shared more in this edited Q&A.

Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings photo courtesy of GW Productions // provided by 2b Entertainment.

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Q: So, we are stop No. 1 for the reclaimed, renamed The Guess Who. How is it that we're so fortunate that we get to be the first tour stop?

Burton Cummings: Well, it just worked out that way. They wanted us back at Niagara Falls; and that's a tremendous venue. I just love that venue.

We didn't want to do it in Winnipeg, because that would be just too much over the top. That's where it all started for Randy and me. So, when Niagara Falls came up and the date was properly timed, we just jumped at the chance. “OK, let's do this.”

We've had several days of rehearsals already, and we're going to rehearse for two or three more days before the actual show. The band is pretty tight right now, and it's a rocking band. In the old days, there was just Randy. When it was a four-piece Guess Who, it was just Randy. Now, we have Randy leading a guitar army. We have three lead guitar players. It's never been this powerful. The Guess Who in the old days was never this powerful. So, it's very exciting.

Randy is excited, too, and the whole band. It's a great unit. We're rocking right now. It's just great.

WATCH:

Q: There's literally 100 questions I can ask you, and all of the questions really involve the word “how.” The first “how” is – now that we're a few days away from the show – to have the name, to be able to go back on the road like this, how do you feel about this first show?

Burton Cummings: Well, we're not that nervous. I've done a few interviews leading up to this, and everybody says, “Are you nervous? Are you nervous?” It's not nervous in the natural sense. Randy and I – I was just telling somebody the other day – I've known Randy now for over 60 years. I've known Randy since I was about 16, and I'm 78. So, the nervousness, I think, disappeared a long time ago. It's anticipation more than anything, and we're very excited.

The stuff sounds great. We've got five guys singing. The vocals have never been this powerful. Three guitar players, five singers, and a whole host of hit songs to do. I think everybody's going to like this. I've got a feeling this is going to go over very well.

Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman photo credit: Mike Hough // provided by 2b Entertainment.

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Q: Now, is it true that it's going to be a combination of songs that you guys did together, but also songs that you have done in separate side projects?

Burton Cummings: Yeah, I think we can't ignore BTO completely; and we can't ignore my solo stuff completely; but we have focused mainly on The Guess Who, the big Guess Who stuff that everybody knows so well. Randy wasn't on “Hand Me Down World,” but we're definitely going to be playing “Hand Me Down World” because it was such a monstrous hit record.

And those lyrics that Kurt Winter wrote decades ago, I think they make more sense today than they ever did. “Don't give me no hand me down world, I've got one already.” What a great line that is, you know, and that was over 50 years ago on the radio.

We don't ignore the stuff that came after Randy. Randy will be playing “Clap For the Wolfman,” too, but he wasn't there at that time. What we want to do is go out and honor the music. The music has been played by a fake band for years that was pretending they were the guys. That's over with. The fake Guess Who is finished. And we're going out to honor the music and do the best versions we can of the most famous songs.

It's very exciting. Of course, it's exciting because there's a huge anticipation. I've gotten hundreds and hundreds of messages on Facebook about this, so I know that people are genuinely excited.

So, maybe a little bit – not really nervous; I wouldn't say nervous, but certainly anticipatory. That's a better word. We’re looking forward to it very much.

WATCH:

Q: I chatted with Randy two years ago and, at that time, he was doing some shows with BTO for the first time in a while. He happened to mention that, if you called him up to say, “I want to do 10 songs at such and such a location,” that he'd be there, and that the show would just work. Regardless of how long it had been since you guys were together, or if you had time to rehearse, that it would just work. How would you describe your relationship with him, and why do the two of you work so well together?

Burton Cummings: We came up with the same songs on the radio. We both lived in Winnipeg. We both were fed the same music on great radio in Winnipeg. The radio was tremendous in Winnipeg in the early ’60s. It was the rock ’n’ roll capital of Canada. We had three major radio stations all competing for the audience. And at that time, I don't think Winnipeg had more than about 300,000 or 400,000 people. So, that was a major thing to have three stations.

Randy and I came up listening to the same stuff – CKY in Winnipeg, especially; they were 50,000 watts clear channel. Sunday morning, we would get up early, and they would have “Hits Around the World with Dennis Corrie.” We would get up on Sunday mornings and hear what was going on in Australia and England and Germany. I think that's why Randy and I became songwriters together. We heard so much stuff from around the world that the rest of Canada was just not hearing, and we were lucky to be where we were when we were.

Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman photo credit: Winnipeg 150 // provided by 2b Entertainment.

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Q: In this market, we're fortunate: We have a lot of really good touring opportunities that come our way, and we've had some of your contemporaries. They're not all performing at the same level or with the same skill that you and your partner are performing. For you, in particular, how is it that your voice has held up this amazingly well for all these years?

Burton Cummings: (Laughs) You know, I've been asked that a million times; and David Crosby was asked that all the time, too, before he passed away.

I'll tell you what I've done. I've never had any vocal training, but I did sing in the church choir, the Anglican Church in Winnipeg, St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Sang in the church choir for three years and, in high school, I had the tenor lead in “H.M.S. Pinafore,” and “Trial by Jury,” the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. So, that was quite a bit of training, actually, locally. But I've never had vocal training.

I think the best thing any singer can do is sing, a lot, and so through the years – through the decades now, not just years, but decades – I have always sung along with the radio, no matter who it is: if it was Robert Plant or Paul McCartney or Jesse Colin Young or John Fogerty. All these great singers that I loved, I tried to sing along with them in the car, and I guess that helped my range.

I didn't exactly live the life of a Buddhist monk back in the ’60s, but I always sang a lot, and I think that's probably what preserves a singer's voice is to use it all the time. I think it's the best thing a singer can do is sing as much as he can.

The Guess Who perform Saturday in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Click HERE for more information.