Randy Bachman Overdrive wasn't a strong recipe for success and nobody wants BO. No, the rock gods were always calling out for Fred Turner. He was the T in BTO and the Turner in Bachman Turner Overdrive. And when Canadian music icon Randy Bachman faced the next chapter in his epic career, he knew just who to call.
Winnipeg has always played a central role in all these interwoven storylines. Winnipeg in the 1960s and '70s was much like Seattle during the grunge movement of the late '80s and early '90s. There was something in the Red River water, and from it came a flood of world-class rock. The Guess Who was the first guitar group to hit the charts that Canada ever produced, which meant the international charts because there were no measurements of our own at the time. American Woman and These Eyes were huge hits on both sides of the border and that all came out of the Manitoba capital. Bachman was one of the frontmen of The Guess Who, along with Burton Cummings..
Alongside him in Winnipeg but not in the band was another name that stormed the international scene. Neil Young was a good friend and likeminded rocker. When The Guess Who started coming apart, it was Young who knew of a gravel-growling vocalist and bass player from the hometown who might be a good fit for Bachman.
Once Turner and Bachman got together, The two of them, and their colleagues in the new band Bachman Turner Overdrive (primarily Blair Thornton and Robin Bachman) went even deeper down the chart roads than The Guess Who did, with monster hits like Takin' Care of Business and You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.
Those two songs have the odd honour, according to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, of being used by the presidential candidates of both parties in the last four U.S. elections.
And there were other hits too, like Let It Ride and Roll On Down The Highway with Turner on lead vocals, as well as Bachman's turn at the mic for Hey You and Lookin' Out For Number One.
All good things come to an end. Afther the breakup of Bachman Turner Overdrive, there was Bachman's solo material and Turner's efforts to keep going under the band name BTO (a longtime member of this unit was Prince George's Randy Murray). Eventually, those differing projects had their own arcs of success, but faded with time.
Turner said he was just enjoying a semi-retirement living in Winnipeg, hanging out at his neighbourhood Tim Hortons a few times a week with some buddies, when he got a call from Bachman. He was passing through town. He wanted to get together and just visit. The end of that visit ended up in a question. Do you want to work together again?
Turner had been retired for years, but his old compadre convinced him of something. "You retire when you don't like what you're doing," Turner said, and he put the rumours of old rifts to bed by saying yes.
"We are getting along together better than we ever have. We've always had our moments, but not so much Randy and I as others in the band. I always understood where Randy was coming from. Randy is a workaholic dynamo. He's never satisfied with just one thing, he's got to be working on something all the time. When you have band members, it can be threatening. Hard feelings happen. But Randy and I have never had too much problem with that. But being in a band is like a marriage - with four guys. They haven't legalized four yet."
This group seems to have the right combination. With a crack team of accompanying musicians (they work together as Cease and Desist and sometimes as Atlantic Crossing when not with Bachman and Turner) and a track record of major rock shows in New Zealand, England, Sweden, the USA (check out their You Tube video with special guest Paul Shaffer on keyboards, live in New York) and Canada. Vocally they sound rejuvenated, and the instrument chops are sharp.
The last time Turner was in the vicinity of Prince George was when BTO, sans Bachman but avec Murray, performed at the now defunct Vanderhoof Rockfest in the late 1990s or early 2000s. He started asking his own questions like how the town was doing lately? Very well. How is CN Centre to perform in? Great reputation with rock acts. How is Randy Murray's family doing? Nephew Jon Russell just guested with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra on vocals and sister Judy Russell recently brought the house down with Les Miserables and ongoing dance productions. Turner was pleased and even more interested in the upcoming event.
Bachman and Turner perform all their combined hits at CN Centre on June 2. Special guest star Barney Bentall opens the night. Tickets are on sale now at CN Centre box office, Studio 2880, and online via Ticketmaster.
