My wife and I are big fans of Burton Cummings and though it’s been awhile, we have seem him several times. As I am sure you can all attest you gain a new perspective on artists when you see them live. With Burton his voice is so natural there is little to no difference from his records.
Burton released his first solo album in 1976, less than a year after The Guess Who disbanded. I know we say this more than we should perhaps but I truly believe he has been vastly unrated as singer/songwriter and musician. Starting with his first hit single in 1976 “Stand Tall” I will post a number of clips, obviously I don’t expect you to watch them all. What I will say is he does not disappoint. At age 76 he still tours across Canada and the US and has a loyal following, with good reason he still sounds great.
“Stand Tall”
“Your Back Yard”
“Undun” Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman reunite to sing an old The Guess Who song.
Burton in action working on a demo.
“Break it to Them Gently”
Burton with a very good Elvis.
Burton with an amazing Gordon Lightfoot as Rod Stewart imitation.
Live in a radio studio, many years after the release of the incredible song, “Glamour Boy” from The Guess Who days.
“I’m Scared” from a live concert in 1978. An amateur recording and the video has deteriorated but the audio is very good and this gives you an idea what you get at his shows. He truly is amazing.
Burton co-stared in the movie Melanie with Glynnis O’Connor in 1982, it’s an endearing story and well worth a watch if you cand find it. “You Saved My Soul” appeared in the end credits of the film.
Here is a link to a 1994 appearance on the Howard Stern show.
Burton Lorne Cummings (Dec. 31, 1947) was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father left the family when he was an infant and he lived with his mother and her parents. He began piano lessons at age five and showing promise he would take vocal lessons as well. As a teen he would develop much of his talent on own. In 1964 he would leave High School before graduating to join a band.
By 1966, as a keyboard player and vocalist he had joined the successful regional band Chad Allan & The Expressions who previously had a #1 song in Canada with a cover of Johnny Kidd‘s “Shakin’ All Over” (1965). Soon after Cummings joined, Chad damaged his voice and left the band. This would leave Cummings as the sole lead vocalist. Randy Bachman was the lead guitarist and together they would morph into The Guess Who?. The name came about after a publicity stunt put “Guess Who?” instead of the bands name on a promo single release and DJ’s introduced them that way and the name stuck, they would drop the question mark before their breakthrough single, “These Eyes” released in 1968.
Having seen Burton play several times I feel his piano/organ playing has been very much overlooked. I will get into his solo career later but if you listen to any of these clips, you will hear he is a superb vocalist. He plays several other instruments and in particular the guitar and flute quite proficiently.
There are really three distinct phases for The Guess Who. As we are discussing now, The Bachman/Cummings Years up to 1970, The Burton Cummings Years up to 1975 when the group disbanded. They would later reform and this is the Post Cummings/who the ‘F’ really cares after he left years. On that note, there is currently a legal battle being fought with Bachman/Cummings on one side and the current The Guess Who on the other. It’s all very unfortunate, and I will leave that story for another day.
Randy Bachman who would leave The Guess Who in 1970 and go on to incredible success with Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) was the amazing guitar player and co-writer of some of the biggest hits. Burton Cummings would stay until 1975 and he was the other co-writer and lead singer on virtually all the hits, while there were no more #1 songs, several well charting songs came after Bachman left. But these two artists were The Guess Who’s heart, soul and talent. Evidence by being the only band members to go on to great success after they left The Guess Who.
Here are the songs from when Bachman and Cummings were together.
Their first release as The Guess Who was the 1968 (1969 in the US) album Wheatfield Soul that contained the hit single “These Eyes” written by the lead guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings. In 1969 it reached #7 in Canada and #6 on the Hot 100 and it was their first Gold Record (million selling) in the US. The above video is from after Bachman left, so it shows only Burton Cummings.
This is the original recording of “American Woman” the intro of just over one minute was cut for the single release in the US. While it’s him playing guitar on the record, this video does not include Randy Bachman.
They would release four successful singles before reaching #1 on the Hot 100 with “American Woman” in 1970, it would finish the year as the #3 ranked song on Billboard and was their third Gold Record. It was released as double A side as “American Woman/No Sugar Tonight”. To complicate things “No Sugar Tonight” was a medley titled “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature” (Cummings/Bachman), it reached #39 on Billboard.
‘No Sugar Tonight”
“Laughing” (Bachman/Cummings) hit #1 in Canada and #5 on the Hot 100 and the bands second Gold Record in the US.
“Undun” (Bachman) charted #22 in Canada and #23 in the US.
A clip from one of the reunions of Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings.
“No Time” (Bachman/Cummings) charted #1 in Canada and #5 in the US.
In 1990 Lenny Kravitz would cover “American Woman” for the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The song charted #49 on the Hot 100 and #26 in Canada.
I am working on a post talking about The Guess Who/The Burton Cummings Years up to 1975 and another for the Burton Cummings Solo years.. Also, I will be posting on Randy Bachman/BTO and the Cummings/Bachman Reunions.
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