Review: Bachman & Turner

When Randy Bachman decided to record a solo album with guest singers, one of his first calls was to his old Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) partner C.F. (call me Fred) Turner. The two got together and recorded Rock and Roll is the Only Way Out. The results so pleased them that Bachman shelved the solo album and BTO was reborn. Except, Robbie Bachman and - how was this allowed to happen? - Blair Thornton objected to the use of the name and sued (Thornton is often erroneously referred to in media reports of this as “an original member“). So Bachman & Turner was born.

“…people are saying this album sounds like it was supposed to be released in 1977,” Bachman has said of Bachman & Turner, the new album that was released Tuesday. “That’s what I was trying for. People… don’t want… Fred doing a rap/hip-hop kind of thing.”

There’s a lot in that statement, not the least is that the album sounds like 1977, when BTO was on the down side, instead of 1974, the middle year of their three best albums. In 1973 BTO released their very good, but rough debut album, followed the same year by their breakthrough Bachman-Turner Overdrive II. In that one year Blue Collar, Takin’ Care of Business and Let it Ride were written, recorded and released. The next year they replaced the third Bachman, Tim, with Thornton and released Not Fragile. Roll On Down the Highway, You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet and Rock is My Life were on that album. In 1975, it was Four Wheel Drive, and Head On, adding the title track, Hey You, Take it Like a Man and Lookin’ Out for #1 to the canon. Other than the 1976 single, Down to the Line, that was pretty much BTO. Saying Bachman-Turner sounds like 1977, then, is a back-handed compliment.

Yet it’s also accurate. After Four Wheel Drive, something changed in the BTO sound. They approached melody different, the guitar took on a new tone. The difference was there, hard to define, but they weren’t the same band that recorded Takin’ Care of Business. So it is with the new album. It is loaded with good songs, bereft of great ones.

The album is often hard rocking as Can’t Go Back to Memphis, I’ve Seen The Light and the above mentioned Rock and Roll is the Only Way Out remind one of that old BTO adage, “you ask do we play heavy music, well are thunderheads just another cloud?”

Can’t Go Back to Memphis, however, suffers from vocals that are run through what sounds like an old blues harp microphone. I’ve Seen the Light as well as Moonlight Rider and Rollin’ Along all benefit from Turner dropping his Fred persona and singing like C.F. Turner of old. So much so that Moonlight Rider and Rollin’ Along are the albums best songs.

Rollin’ Aling, was in fact pre-released as a single. It is the albums signature piece and, as Fred Turner said of it, the continuation of Roll On Down the Highway. That’s a fair description and it is as enjoyable a song.

Moonlight Rider, on the other hand, is Turning Japanese meets The Letter. The opening is reminiscent of Turning Japanese‘s signature lick, but the song melodically is The Letter to a tee. The two combine to make a great rock and roll song.

According to a CTV report, “an early listener… told Bachman… Find Some Love, was ‘the greatest Led Zeppelin song since Led Zeppelin.’” It’s true too, it is eerily familiar to when Zeppelin covered Harlequin’s I Did it For Love… No, wait, that can’t be right. Find Some Love doesn’t bear superficial comparison to Led Zeppelin, but again, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad song. It is a hard rockin’ guitar song with the soul of a pop song, very reminiscent of fellow CanCon rockers Harlequin. Slave to the Rhythm is in a similar vein, a pop song dressed up as a rocker.

BTO wasn’t one for ballads, at least not in the traditional sense. When they slowed it down, Bachman’s jazz sensibilities emerged, and some real gems that combined a jazz feel and harmonic structure with a slow rock beat produced some of BTO’s best songs. On this disc the role falls to Traffic Jam. As nice harmonically as Blue Collar or Lookin’ Out for #1, melodically it is not as consistent, and because of this doesn’t work as well as the those earlier pieces.

While there is much good in the new Bachman-Turner album, it is not flawless. If you wrote a 70’s sitcom called That’s What It Is, then Bachman & Turner have a theme song for you. That’s What It Is is bad disco, done by guys who obviously don’t get disco. Try the Theme from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now) meets the barf bucket and your close. Repo Man is of another category of bad: boring and dumb. Waiting Game features a lousy vocal performance by Bachman, and Neutral Zone is just that, blasé and neutral. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but when was the last time you listened to “that song that didn’t bother you that much?”

Bachman-Turner is a good, not great album by a couple of guys well past their prime who have found a way to tap into that prime and come close. By 1977 standards, it’s an OK rock album. But today’s, it’s far above average.




Tracklist:

1. Rollin' Along
2. That's What It Is
3.Moonlight Rider
4. Find Some Love
5. Slave To The Rhythm
6. Waiting Game
7. I've Seen The Light
8. Can't Go Back To Memphis
9. Rock 'N' Roll Is The Only Way Out
10. Neutral Zone
11. Traffic Jam
12.Repo Man

CD Review: Bachman-Cummings Jukebox

Bachman Cummings new CD, Jukebox, hit the stores yesterday morning. The CD is a collection of older material, "a new album of old songs," songs that Messrs Bachman and Cummings would have heard on the jukeboxes in their youth. This is the music these two legends began their career playing, and the album pays homage to the songs they loved.

The concern when producing such an album is to pick the right songs, the songs that work best for your voice and band. Rush did an excellent job of this in their 2005 collection Feedback. It is also where Jukebox falls down.

Opening track , The Equals Baby Come Back, starts promising enough, with Bachman establishing a solid groove. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, Bachman also takes vocal duties. It is a weak effort, that Cummings almost certainly could have done much better. The song needed it.

Who do You Love fares better. Bachman's vocals are better suited, drummer Sean Fitzsimons takes the classic Bo Diddley rhythm to new heights, and the insertion of Bo Diddley and Don't Fade Away into the song is effective and fun.

Here's a quote from the liner notes:

To go through the Beatles songs and try to find one that hasn't been done and done adn done by eveybody was really hard.

Be that as it may, some songs stay Undone for a reason, and based on this jazzed up arrangement I'm Happy Just to dance With You, is one of them.

Whenever I hear a cover, whether a CD's worth or a single song, I'm looking for the band to own the song. Jimmy McCracklin's The Walk, is the first song on Jukebox that Bachman Cummings own. Not coincidentally, it's the first Cummings vocal vehicle. This version could be an original Burton Cummings song, which is what I'm looking for. The boys capture a great groove, and Cummings sings the song note perfect. Great rock and roll.

The same applies to Cliff Richard's Don't Talk to Him. A great rockabilly piece that, again, could be a Cummings original. In the liner notes Cummings writes that this is a tough song to sing and he was sweating it, but he did a great job, and it's a great piece.

The Shadows were Cliff Richards back up band, but they also had a string of instrumental hits on their own, and became highly influential in guitarist circles. Thankfully, their bad surf movie guitar songs went out of style 45 years ago. Sadly, Bachman resurrects "Man of Mystery" thus showing this style as worthy of going out of style.

Fats Domino's Ain't That just Like A Woman on the other hand sounds fresh and great. Cummings boogie-woogie piano and vocals make this sound fresh and new. And kudos to Bachman quoting Glenn Miller's Chatanooga Choo-Choo in his short solo.

If they were worried about using an overdone Beatles song, Chuck Berry's Little Queenie is a curious choice, considering how often it's been done, and better. Both Bob Seger and REO Speedwagon have live versions of this song that are great, giving new energy and life to Chuck Berry's classic boogie/blues playing. This version goes back to the Chuck Berry version, and suffers from a lack of that power and energy that others have found there.

Sam Cooke's Good Times is a great song that suffers, this time from Cummings vocal performance. Some songs just don't suit some singers, this is one that Cummings should have left off this album for that reason. Nicely done, just doesn't work here.

The surprise of the album is probably the downright punkish/Wild Thing version of Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, with Randy Bachman's best vocal performance of the album and a Neil Youngish solo.

John Fred and the Playboys' Judy in Diguise (With Glasses), is a classic R&B tune that here sounds great. Huey "Piano" Smith's Boogie Woogie Don't You Just Know It, is one of those 50's childish style tings, like Charlie Brown or See You Later Alligator. It sounds OK, but it should have stayed in the50's.

Georgie Fame's Yeh, Yeh is just a good old Rock and Roll song as is Edwin Starr's Agent Double-O Soul. Both songs sound good and are carried well.

The Box Tops' classic The Letter is given a BTO style rock up and works very well, as should be expected when Randy Bachman BTO's a song. IN fact, BTO demoed this song in 1971 , and released itin 1993 Anthology CD, and this version sounds more like BTO than the early BTO version did. Kudos again to drummer Sean Fitzsimons who gave some Robbie Bachman like tom-tom work to drive this song forward.

What a collection of 50's and 60's rock and roll songs would be without some Elvis, I don't know and fortunately, I don't have to find out quite yet. Ain't That loving You Baby is the kind of thing you expect on a tribute album by some guys who profess deep love for the music their doing - a song they sound like their having real fun playing. You can almost hear the swing in Burton Cummings hips, and Bachman gives some great rockabilly licks throughout. This is a real treat, sounding honestly like Elvis while giving a fresh modern sound.

The CD finishes with a cover of a song written by some guys called Bachman and Cummings. American Woman 2007 isn't really new, as this re-working was done for their last tour, and can be heard on the last years DVD "First Time Around." As well there is an acoustic version of the same arrangement floating around. None the less, this is a good work up of the song, it sounds great on Bachman's 57 Les Paul and it is interesting and new without hurting the original song. A great finish to a very good CD.

Overall, some performances here lacked, and some song choices where suspect, but this is a good CD. If you are a fan of Bachman Cummings, or of the old rock and roll, you probably want it.

4 out of 5

Bachman Cummings Jukebox Cover

Here's the cover for tomorrows Bachman Cummings CD, Jukebox.

New Bachman Cummings

For those who find their way here looking for information on the new Bachman-Cummings album of cover songs, Jukebox, here's what I have:

The release date is apparently June 12th (next Tuesday). There will be a regular CD, and a deluxe CD/DVD. Here's a track listing:

1. Baby Come Back
2. Who Do You Love
3. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
4. The Walk
5. Don't Talk To Him
6. Man Of Mystery
7. Ain't That Just Like A Woman
8. Little Queenie
9. Good Times
10. Like A Rolling Stone
11. Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)
12. Don't You Just Know It
13. Yeh, Yeh
14. Agent Double-O Soul
15. The Letter
16. Ain't That Loving You Baby
17. American Woman 2007

I will offer a review at the first available opportunity. If the folks at Sony want to send me a copy, I will happily review it ahead of release, otherwise, you may have to wait a few days.