Forgotten Hits Interviews Burton Cummings

In September of 2013 I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my all-time favorite singers, Mr. Burton Cummings.  The occasion was Burton's upcoming show at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, IL.  Please remember that all dates (and free ticket offers) are now past and null and void.  But join us for this excellent visit with a true music legend ... and one of the greatest voices ever in rock and roll ... Burton Cummings! 

 

KENT KOTAL / FORGOTTEN HITS:  Burton Cummings!  In Los Angeles?!?!   

BURTON CUMMINGS:  Yes, in L.A. ... I live here now ... I still have a place on Vancouver Island ... but I'm here most of the time ... in Los Angeles.  

 

We kicked around a couple of ideas as to how to do the interview ... either by phone or via email ... and, when all was said and done, we did a little bit of both.  Turns out Burton is a bit of a "blogger" himself and regularly updates his own website and Facebook page with first-hand, hand-written news!  (He's also a bit of a night owl ... so he spends a fair amount of time online.)    

Click here: Burton Cummings 

Click here: Burton Cummings | Facebook

 

BC:  Yeah, I do some of that ... I'm an insomniac ... I don't sleep ... so I spend some time online ... actually, I do a lot of that.

kk:  I recently interviewed Al Kooper and he told me that he only sleeps about three hours a night ... and that's all he CAN sleep ... so the rest of the time he's up workin' on stuff, lookin' for something to do.

BC:  Well, they say that short naps are better ... I wish that I could go to sleep like some people ... it's eleven thirty at night or eleven o'clock and night and they say "Well, I think I'll go to sleep" and then they just lay down and go to sleep!  But I've NEVER been able to do that ... even when I was a little kid, I couldn't do that!

kk:  And I'm sure it's very different when you're up playing music all night, too ... I mean you're on such a high once the show is over that you're really not READY to just lay down and go to sleep.  There's got to be some time to unwind after a big show.

BC:  And that's really it ... I mean since really very early on ... even as a teenager ... I was in a band ... and that's where that whole cycle began.  You play at eight o'clock at night and, now that I'm older, sometimes even later ... now we have shows where I don't even go on until ten o'clock at night ... so by midnight or twelve thirty, you're really not ready to go to sleep ... so you end up ... really ... upside down from being in show business.  Because your work night starts at about eight or nine or ten at night and then you're upside down.  

kk:  You've been doing both solo shows ("Up Close and Alone" with just you at the piano) as well as shows with a full band.  (We'll get to see Burton backed by The Carpet Frogs at The Arcada Theatre on September 27th).  Obviously, you have to prepare differently for each of these kinds of settings.  Even the material presented has to change based on the musical back-up and surroundings.  What are the personal joys for you as a performer in each of these environments?  
BC:  We have a lot of shows coming up ... some are one man shows and some are with the band.  The band is tremendous ... we've been playing together for over ten years now with the same core of guys so it's pretty tight ... and they all sing well ... and you know, I've always been a stickler for that ... so we're doing justice to the records I think.  But you're right ... I do shows both ways now, some with the band and some with just me up on stage all alone with a piano.  I did a couple of solo shows recently right in Manhattan and I was a little nervous, all by myself you know, but the reception was tremendous.  It's a COMPLETELY different show than with the band ... you can't be sitting alone at a piano singing "American Woman", you know ... it's not that kind of a deal ... so the one man show is completely different ... it's just me at the piano and I did a hundred minutes in New York and it seemed to work ... everybody was quite pleased.  

kk:  It definitely did ... I've seen some of the clips on YouTube and, of course, I have the CD from a couple of years ago ... and it's a very entertaining show.  
Click here: Amazon.com: Up Close & Alone: Music

... a MUST for any music collection

kk:  I think it's great that you can DO both types of shows and, fortunately, you've got the depth of a catalog that allows you to do that sort of thing.  
BC:  Yeah, you know my manager ragged on me for YEARS to do that one man show and I fought him on it 'cause for a long time, I just really didn't want to do it ... and finally in the '90's, we did it and I did some corporate shows, you know, meaning private functions more for parties and events, not with tickets for the public but I always kind of found it a little bit shallow ... more boring ... not I guess "boring" but shallow, but I've come to realize over the years that that's what people LIKE about it ... is the "bareness" ... just a guy, sitting alone, and when I explain the situation ... I mean I do some pretty famous songs, like "These Eyes" and "Laughing" and even "Share The Land" ... and I do those alone at the piano and I kind of explain to people that this is how they sounded at home when they were being written, you know, before they became records ... and what went into writing some of these songs ... and in many instances ... in MOST cases ... I'm finding that that's enough for most people ... so that's thrilling for me to know.  If I can hold people's attention all alone with just a piano, it's thrilling for me know at this stage of my life.  

kk:  Well, it's gotta be thrilling for you to get that sort of reaction with just the piano and the voice, but one thing that I've learned over the years is that when you can strip the song to just the bare elements, the "nakedness" of it all, it shows how strong the material is ... now it's just you and the song, no special "sweetening" in the studio ... and it shows you just how good a song it really is.  
BC:  Yes, I think when we first clicked, Randy and I, we faithfully tried to write songs ... we faithfully set aside song-writing sessions as such, when we weren't touring.  Man, it was SO long ago that I was still living at home with my mother and my grandmother and every Saturday morning he would come over with a guitar and we would sit at my mom's piano and that's where we banged out "These Eyes", you know, and a lot of those early songs that really clicked ... "No Sugar Tonight" and stuff that we refined in the very early days ... that was all stuff that was done just sitting at home on my mom's piano.  It was so easy working with Randy that it was never like work.   

kk:  You have often thanked your Mother for forcing you to take piano lessons as a child.  I know you lost your Mother recently and I've heard that she was a very big part of your life.  How did she react to your success and your musical dreams?  Obviously she encouraged you ... but early on were there also moments of "I didn't pay for all of these damn piano lessons so you could bang out boogie-woogie rock and roll"?!?!?

BC:  My Mother forced me to take piano lessons. A lot of times I remember hearing all the neighborhood guys out on the street playing soccer or baseball, and I had to sit and practice piano. I didn't like it at first. At about age ten or so, I started to be able to pound out some of the hit records of the day on the radio, and suddenly I had different status at school. I'd play a bit of "Bumble Boogie" or "Runaway" at Luxton School and kids thought it was pretty cool. My mother didn't really react too badly when I dropped out of school. She was pretty good about my thinking about show business.    

kk:  So prior to hooking up with Randy had you already been writing some stuff on your own or no?  
BC:  Oh yeah, I had a band called the Deverons in Winnipeg and we had achieved a pretty good level of stardom on a local level in our home town ... we were thought of as one of the better bands in town.  And there were a lot of bands in Winnipeg ... there were well over a hundred bands, all functioning and playing ... and for a city of half a million people, that's an awful lot, ya know.  But part of the thing was the drinking age was still 21 ... so you could have these functions at schools and community clubs and even churches that had dance halls ... you could have those functions all the time without alcohol because the 18 and 19 year olds would still come.  Now that the age is down to 18 all that has disappeared.   

kk:  The story I've always heard is that you were making quite a bit of noise with your group The Deverons and Randy Bachman happened to hear tell of this wild man who was doing all kinds of crazy and obscene things with his piano ... he came to check you out ... was bowled over ... and then asked you to join The Guess Who.  (Of course I also heard that at first you jokingly turned him down, saying that you had just received an offer to join The Beatles!  lol)  The Guess Who had enjoyed quite a bit of local fame with their recording of "Shakin' All Over" with Chad Allan on lead vocals.  Were you already a fan of theirs by this point?  Had you been out to see them (or were you too busy with your own band?)  Did you know any of the guys?

BC:  The Deverons were becoming more and more popular in Winnipeg, and by 1965 we were playing pretty well every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.  There were rumors that Chad Allan was going to leave the Guess Who, even though he'd sung their hit "Shakin' All Over" … he was going back to University. One night, both the Guess Who and the Deverons played on the big show at the old Winnipeg Arena with Gerry and the Pacemakers … it was 1965 and Beatlemania was in full swing. That night the older guys in the Guess Who watched our band, and I guess they liked me as a singer. I was a harder singer than Chad and I was doing stuff like Eric Burdon, which Chad never did. Weeks after that show, I left high school, and when they heard that, they asked me to join their band. The day of that meeting I was still seventeen.   

By now I'm sure that we've all heard the story about how the record company changed the band's name from Chad Allan and the Expressions to The Guess Who when "Shakin' All Over" first came out as a single in the hopes that a disc jockey or program director might be curious enough to give that record a spin instead of throwing it in the reject pile.  The song had already been a big hit in England for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and Chad Allan's version definitely had a British feel to it.    Perhaps thinking that the ambiguous prospect that this MIGHT be a brand new, as-yet-undiscovered British band, the record company gambled and changed the band's name on the record label to read "Guess Who" ... and, before you knew it, "Shakin' All Over" became a huge Canadian Hit ... and then three other records followed it into The Canadian Top 40.  It crossed over to become a Top 20 Hit here in The States, too.)

 

When Burton first joined the band, it was as the keyboard player, as Chad Allan was still onboard as the lead singer.  After a while, Allan elected to leave the band and Burton Cummings took over the lead vocals, a role he never relinquished for the next ten years.  During that time, The Guess Who placed an incredible 24 hits on the U.S. Charts, including six Top Ten Hits and one #1 Single.  (You'll find the complete Guess Who / Burton Cummings Hit List at the end of our interview.)

 

Before making it on their own, The Guess Who became the featured "house band" on a Canadian television show called "Let's Go", recreating hits by other artists every week ... including (coincidently enough!) "Time Of The Season"  by The Zombies, the band who will be opening for Burton Cummings at The Arcada Theatre on the 27th!

 

Randy Bachman has stated that working on this show really developed the band's song-writing skills, as they now had a spotlight forum every week to showcase their own material ... and out of that opportunity came "These Eyes", their first experience at international fame.

Although we all know that it doesn't really happen this way, once "These Eyes" became a hit, The Guess Who became an "overnight success".  (Forget the fact that by this point they had already been playing for literally THOUSANDS of hours trying to nail down the sound that would make them stand apart from the rest.)  However, corny as it sounds, there is no denying the fact that their lives changed literally overnight. 

In true Canadian form, it all "snowballed" from there ... the hits just kept on coming.  Without question, The Guess Who were TRULY in the zone at this point ... 12 US Top 40 Hits spread out over the next 3 1/2 years.  Plus 12 that went into The Top Ten in Canada during that same stretch.  In fact, there was a period there of about three or four years where The Guess Who outsold ALL of the other Canadian recording acts COMBINED!!!  That had to be some pretty heady stuff at the time. 

And then, right at the peak of this success, with "American Woman" sitting on top of both the album and singles chart,
Randy Bachman quit the band to do other things, eventually forming Bachman-Turner Overdrive and carving out his own niche in rock and roll history.  (In fact, he and Fred Turner have been touring together recently, recreating some of those great songs again.)  

 

Since then, Cummings and Bachman seem to have had an on-again, off-again relationship over the past couple of decades.  I was fortunate enough to see a few of their reunion shows and there is no denying that a genuine, mutual love and respect for one another comes across during those shows.  

kk:  There was some hope  a few years back of better things to come when the Bachman-Cummings Band recordings came out.  Have you guys actually tried to write together again after all these years?  One cannot help but wonder what kind of magic that might generate.

BC:  Randy and I don't really have a burning desire to write together again. For one thing, all the stuff we did years later after the Guess Who was gone, was always measured up against These Eyes and American Woman and stuff … you can't live in that kind of a shadow and not have it affect you when you try new songs … but we did some good ones together in 1987 for the Thunderbird Trax disc.    

kk:  After Randy left, The Guess Who soldiered on ... and continued to amass a great string of hits.  Did you go through a period of time where you thought, "OK, this is it ... the dream is over?" and actually considered throwing in the towel?  Obviously, this put a lot of extra pressure on you at the time, not only as a performer but as a songwriter now saddled with having to carry the band.  
BC:  After Randy's departure, we immediately got Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw who were both very good players. For the first time, the Guess Who had two lead guitar players. The band got tougher by the time we did  the Share the Land Album. We toured more, too. And Kurt and I became co writers almost instantly. He brought Hand Me Down World and Bus Rider to the first practices he attended, and I knew immediately that fate had led me to another writing partner.   
kk:  It's funny in a way because the focus has always been on the song-writing dynamic of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman ... and I don't mean to diminish that magic in anyway ... but my two personal favorite Guess Who albums remain to this day to be "Share The Land" and "Rockin'" ... and Randy was long gone by this point.

 

kk:  I would imagine that Chicago holds some special memories for you ... most of The Guess Who's early hit material was recorded here, correct?  

BC:  Chicago is VERY special to us ... we recorded "American Woman" there and we recorded "Share The Land" there and some of the biggest records we did ... "No Sugar Tonight" ... these were hits all over the world and these were all recorded right there in Chicago.  Right on North Wacker Drive, right downtown, across the street from The Opera House, there used to be a building and RCA had the 12th and 13th floor and way up 13 floors high, there was a recording studio ... and we lived in that studio for about two years.  There was a LOT of time spent in there.   

kk:  Why Chicago?  Certainly there were studios in Canada ... was this more of a Jack Richardson thing (EDITOR'S NOTE:  Richardson produced all of the band's early hits) or what?  
BC:  Honestly, it was RCA ... I mean, we were contracted to RCA and part of the contractual obligation was that we record in their studios.  And we didn't like the ones in New York because they were old ... and the microphones were old ... and the engineers were outdated ... and they had worked with Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman and guys like that ... but they hadn't kept up with the times, whereas Chicago and L.A. back then, say '69 and '70, back then RCA Chicago and RCA L.A. had much hipper guys and better studios ... they had advanced more than the old New York studios.  So, once we did a couple of albums in New York ... particularly an album called "Canned Wheat" ... it didn't sound that great to us ... so we moved from there to the Chicago studios and we did a lot of recording there.  We spent a lot of time in your city ... we would stay at a hotel called The Executive House and it was right by the river, right downtown, and we would walk along that river, right where those big Marina Towers are ... those twin towers ... and walk along the river and then turn left on Wacker and then there we were!  Every day for weeks and weeks.  I know that area very well.   

kk:  So this is a little bit of a "homecoming" for you to come back here now and do this show at The Arcada.  
BC:  Well, it is ... and I still have a lot of friends in Chicago, too ... and we spent those days ... I mean THOSE days were the absolute zenith point of The Guess Who's career.  Those best days were spent there in Chicago because we were recording those records and we thought we were in pretty good with the guys at RCA.  In fact the guys from New York RCA used to fly into Chicago to hear how our sessions were going ... so it was a pretty good time for us in Chicago.  

kk:  And ironically, during that same era The Buckinghams were recording in New York instead of in Chicago!  (EDITOR'S NOTE:  Ironically Burton brought up The Buckinghams later in our interview, having just done some shows with them.)  
BC:  Well, you know what ... it all depends on where you're comfortable ... what studio you get comfortable with ... and I think we were VERY comfortable in Chicago.  And you know the climate was the same for us (lol) because we came from Winnipeg ... so we knew all about cold winters!  And mind you, it's much colder in Winnipeg than it is Chicago, but we know about winter and snow and ice and that so we felt very at home in Chicago.   

kk:  Were you a bit of a studio hound back then ... spending a lot of time in the studio, analyzing every note, nit-picking this or that?  Kind of a real "hands on" artist?  
BC:  I was the most, I think ... what would the word be ... fastidious ... of us during the sessions ... and I always stayed till the very end of the mixes ... although I wasn't really credited as a co-producer, I sorta was, I guess, because I was the lead voice, so I always was concerned with the mixes.  And most of this material was stuff that I wrote or co-wrote ... so I always hung around until the very end of the mixes ... and 98% of the time, I was the only guy.  Peterson, our drummer ... he never bothered with the mixes too much ... I think he figured that I would be there speaking up for the band but there's no way I was going to just turn it over to Richardson and Brian Christian, the engineer, so I stayed right till the end always so yeah, I guess I was a bit of a studio hound ... I always loved seeing how it was done, how the mixing was done and then the EQ, all of which led me later to produce my own records.  That's how you learn.   

kk:  I remember when you did your first solo album, you were VERY complimentary to your producer Richard Perry, who is considered one of the geniuses in the studio of that time.  
BC:  Oh, he was terrific ... absolutely terrific ... you know, he had had SO many hit records so I kinda felt lucky to have my first solo record being done by a master like that.  He had already done records like "You're So Vain", which was a #1 Record all over the world. He had done a LOT of stuff ... a lot of different stuff ... everything from Tiny Tim to Barbra Streisand to that group Night from England (they were tremendous) ... Richard worked with SO many big people.  I always thought "You're So Vain" was a classic, classic record, you know ... just one of those records that stands out in your memory.  And here's a bit of trivia that a lot of people might not know ... but I think a lot of people DO know ... that the harmony on "You're So Vain" is Mick Jagger ... you can hear it if you listen to it carefully enough ... you can hear him singing along with Carly Simon.   

At this point I had to smile a little bit because I think the whole WORLD knows by now that that was Mick Jagger singing in the background on "You're So Vain" ... and most of us probably knew this the week the song was first released back in 1972!  Funnily enough, when Cummings first mentioned sharing a little piece of "You're So Vain" trivia, I half expected him to say that he bet I thought this song was about him ... so I had to kid him about it later ...  

kk:  Oh ... and see, I thought you were going to reveal that she wrote it about YOU ... after all those years of people wondering who the song was actually about ... I thought maybe it was YOU and you were finally ready to tell the world, right here in Forgotten Hits!  (lol)  
BC:  No, no, no ... (laughing) ... I hear it's about Warren Beatty ... but I don't know for sure ... but that's the rumor that I heard in Hollywood ... that it was Warren Beatty ... but who knows, man.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Carly Simon has NEVER officially revealed the source of inspiration ... but Beatty was a leading contender for years ... as was (ironically enough) Mick Jagger, who then would have been singing about HIMSELF when he harmonized with Simon!  The most recent speculation pins it on record mogul David Geffen although DOZENS of names have been thrown in the hat over the past four decades.  Apparently, however, Burton Cummings was NOT one of them!  (lol)

BC:  I gotta tell you, though, GREAT song, GREAT hook ... and, on Richard's part, a great record.  And then Richard did all those big Pointer Sisters records and he worked with SO many people ... he worked with The Manhattan Transfer ... SO many big people ... he really has cut some GREAT records through the years.    
kk:  Well, he did Ringo's biggest album, too ... and then years later you found yourself performing as part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band.  
BC:  Yeah, Richard did all of Ringo's solo hit records like "You're Sixteen" and "Only You" ... stuff like that ... he's very, very good in the studio.  I think he's semi-retired now ... lives with Jane Fonda.

kk:  Is that right?  I did not know that!
BC:  Oh yeah, they've been together quite a while.  
kk:  Wow ... well that's interesting!

The at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois, on Friday, September 27th will be a music lover's dream ... the warm-up act that night will be The Zombies, one of those GREAT bands that first touched our hearts during The British Invasion. 

kk:  This show at The Arcada Theatre is going to be one hell of a double bill -- Burton Cummings ... with The Zombies as the warm-up act?!?!  That's a dream come true for a music fan.  Have you ever worked with these guys before?  
BC:  No, I'm looking forward to that.  I hear that it's still the lead singer Colin Blunstone and it's still Rod Argent, the keyboard player ... and that's enough for me ... 'cause those are the two guys that really made the sound of that band.  The Zombies were GREAT ... they were really something!  I don't know how the harmonies will be because the other guys aren't there ... and I believe one of them died ... Paul White I think is gone ... but I know that Colin Blunstone was the lead singer with the very distinguishable voice ... he had a VERY distinctive voice and Argent was the one with the great keyboard parts.  So yes, I'm looking forward to hearing them, too.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The bass player was actually Chris White, who is still alive and well but no longer performing with the band.  It was guitarist Paul Atkinson who died a few years ago (2004).  The group has a new album out and are booked solidly for the next year, playing all over the world to rave reviews.  The current line (besides Blunstone and Argent) consists of Jim Rodford on bass guitar, Steve Rodford on drums and Tom Toomey on guitar. 

You can check out their website here:  Click here: The Zombies : Official Website  

kk:  You're going to really enjoy this theater ... it's a very intimate setting and seats maybe 900 or 1000 people but it's a GREAT place to see a concert.  (More Arcada Theatre information here: Click here: Arcada Theatre | Oshows ... good seats ... hey, they're ALL good seats ... are still available!)

BC:  Hey, that's FINE with me ... I don't worry about the size of the crowd ... as long as they're into what we're doing.

kk:  Oh, you're going to have a VERY receptive crowd to this show ... my understanding is that this is a VERY hot ticket and that's one heck of a line-up.

BC:  Good, good ... that's excellent.  I just did a show with The Buckinghams ... and I don't know how many of the original guys are still with them ... I think it's two of the original singers ... but it sounded like the records and that was really cool ... that was great to hear those songs again ... so this will be a good night.

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  Forgotten Hits Readers already know that Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna are continuing on with The Buckinghams' name.  While they do faithful renditions of all of their hits ... plus numerous other hit songs from this era ... performing to a very large and loyal following ... the original lead singer of The Buckinghams was Dennis Tufano, who is now performing as a solo artist.)

BC:  And we've been playing a lot so the show will be tight.  And we do all of the famous records. I'm not trying to shove a lot of new material down people's throats ... I really don't subscribe to that ... to that way of thinking.  I've always thought that man, it's hard enough to HAVE a hit record ... why not be satisfied to sing them for the rest of your life.

kk:  Well, the fans love 'em, that's for sure ... and this music has NEVER gone out of favor ... in all these years, your stuff has NEVER been off the radio.  The Guess Who are one of those fortunate bands that still get a ton of airplay and a good chunk of your catalog is well represented on radio.  This isn't the case with many of the artists of that era ... some are lucky to get one or two of their hits played on the radio today and MOST artists don't even get that ... but The Guess Who's material still holds up very well and gets a lot of airplay ... certainly here in Chicago anyway.

BC:  Well, here's the thing ... I'm 65 now ... I'm going to be 66 in December on New Year's Eve ... and I've said this a million times in interviews and it's SO true ... every time I can go out there and still sound like the records, it's SO special to the audience ... because they've had THEIR changes in their lives, too ... they may have sometimes lost a child or lost a partner or they've moved or been divorced or something joyous has come along ... we've all been through so many changes ... and EVERYBODY's life changes in a year ... every year when I go out and sing these songs one more time it is that much more special because the fans are growing older with me and their lives are longer and it just makes it more special.  Every year I find younger people in the audience again ... people that weren't born until LONG after these records were cut, and they're mouthing every word when I'm singing ... and that's really VERY flattering to me because I WROTE most of the stuff, ya know!  I know classic radio has been very kind to me and to my songs and my voice ... I mean, I hear the stuff all the time.

 

kk:  The concert line-up of The Zombies and Burton Cummings is one heck of a double-bill ... but we've also seen some odd pairings in the past.  A couple of years ago we went to a show that featured America and Jethro Tull ... two acts that would seem to be at opposite ends of the musical spectrum.  But I'll never forget one of the STRANGEST pairings I've ever seen ... and that was seeing a show that YOU did back in the day during the early solo years where Burton Cummings opened up for Alice Cooper!!!  How weird did THAT have to be for you?  (Especially after the whole "Glamour Boy" thing!!!)

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  "Glamour Boy", while not a big hit here in The States, was a #11 Hit back home in Canada.  In it, Burton takes a musical swipe at some of the Glam-Rock / Theater Rock that was going on at the time ... more specifically artists like David Bowie, The New York Dolls and ... well ... Alice Cooper ... although never actually mentioning ANY of them by name.)

BC:  Opening for Alice Cooper was an exercise in professionalism. The first few rows were always painted up like Alice, some of them carrying tomahawks and axes, and I'm out there singing "Stand Tall" … but eventually the band I had won over a lot of audiences.

 

kk:  As I mentioned earlier, I saw several of your solo shows in the '70's ... and "Stand Tall" still ranks as one of my all-time favorite songs.  You continued to record and release some GREAT solo albums but many of these never seemed to make it beyond the Canadian market.  US fans had to settle for a couple of "Greatest Hits" collections to get any idea as to the type of new music you were making.  Some of your music is completely out of print now ... we can't even get it.  I like to consider myself as having a pretty complete collection yet I'm still missing things that I would love to get my hands on.  In fact, in preparation for this interview, I just recently picked up the Live at "Massey Hall" release and the "Above The Ground" CD.  These aren't things that have been heavily promoted here in The States ... and it's apparently already too late to pick up something like "Sweet Sweet" and "Heart".  Do you have any new material coming out that we should know about?   
BC:  Well, both of these albums are currently planned to be re-mastered and re-released so hopefully they'll be available again relatively soon.  I've also got a brand new DVD series called "Ruff" ... R-U-F-F ... and Volume One is just about ready to go.  (Here it comes, folks … it'll be out in a few weeks, well ahead of Christmas.) It's even better than I'd hoped. It's volume one of what could be a dozen or so volumes. We have almost 13 years of digital video. We graduated from tape years ago, and now it's endless hard drives.  Lillian Sarafian, my videographer, has followed me with a camera for over a decade ... about the last thirteen years ... so much so, that we started calling her the "life capturer" … and capture she has … ALL this great stuff ... back stage, on the plane, on stage, off stage, in hotel rooms, in tour buses ... tremendous stuff.  From multi camera shoots at Massey Hall to the streets of New York City, to the streets of my home town of Winnipeg, to rehearsals and sound checks at the beginning of the century to a glimpse into so very personal events and places in my life. Soul is bared several times in Volume One. Pretty strong viewing in spots … pretty strong … beautifully assembled and edited by Lillian Sarafian, and all our post production audio was done at Blue Moon Studios, in Agoura Hills, California. The main sound engineer was Joe Vannelli, brother of Gino Vannelli, a fellow Canadian singer.  So, if you can imagine, now we've got thirteen years of archives, including rehearsals and sound checks ... stuff that fans never get to see.  Real "fly on the wall" stuff.  So we're putting all of that ... plus a lot of the stuff from Massey Hall, which was shot with eight cameras and edited ... together into one place.  It's called "Ruff" and volume one is coming ... it's wonderful.  We're planning a whole series of these and she's done a wonderful job and I'm kind of co-producing it with her.  

Also, my book of poetry ("The Writings of B.L. Cummings") is almost ready to go ... and that's going to have about the first fifty poems in it ... it'll be a very nice package on that.  But I have yet to make a dummy copy … run a real one and assemble it and hold it in my hand to see how it affects me. It has to be absolutely perfect. I don't take the poetry lightly. I'm not really overly concerned whether people like it or hate it, or say loudly that they "just don't get it" … don't write the poetry to impress ... I write it to make myself smile … or think. Period.

And I'm probably going to do another album with the same band.  You know, I have more than enough songs for this and I've REALLY picked the songs carefully for this so it's not like I'm scrambling to do an album ... I have MORE than enough songs so we'll see what happens.  
Right now we're focusing on the book of poetry and "Ruff" and I'm flying to Toronto tomorrow to take part in a very special thing this weekend ... it's a big march in Aide of The Women's Cancer Foundation" and the big hospital downtown ... I think it's the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in downtown Toronto has put together a very nice fund-raising event and the women ... I don't know HOW many thousands of women are marching ... ten miles or something ... and after the ten mile march, they're coming to the big center where myself, I'll be performing along with another performer ... it's a big, nice event this weekend in Toronto so I've been busy all summer.

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  The concert Burton is talking about took place on September 7th and, from what I understand, was a great success.  He performed with Johnny Reid and got great reviews ... and raised quite a bit of money for Women's Cancer Research.)

BC:  And then, of course, we're coming to your area and we're playing all around there and then a few more one-man shows including another one in Philadelphia ... so it's been a very busy time for me.  Ya know, I'm a pretty busy guy for 65!  

kk:  And all of this was probably a whole lot easier when you were 25 or 35 as opposed to 65, right?  (lol)  
BC:  It was a WHOLE lot easier when I was 21 'cause I had never even thought about running out of energy but I still love the two hours on spent stage ... it's just that the other 22 hours get a little bit tougher when you're 65.  But you know, people tell me that I still sound the same and that's the most important thing ... they're still saying I sound the same ... and as long as I hear that, I'm gonna keep going for a while.    

kk:  You really do ... I've watched a lot of the youTube clips and we've run some of these on the website ... and I've got to say that you still really look and sound great.  
BC:  We did a show with Steve Miller last year and he's over 70 ... and he's out there rockin' and there's 14 and 15 year old kids out there singing along with every word ... they could be his GRAND kids ... but they're rocking along with him ... so I see new evidence of older entertainers.  Gordon Lightfoot ... well into his 70's now ... and he's still out there.  Tony Bennett ... 900 years old and HE'S still out there ... what is he, 87 or something? ... and he still does a hundred shows a year.  So I think of myself right now as I've still got a long way to go yet.   

kk:  Seriously, who would have ever thought ... I remember when we were growing up and it was that whole "Don't trust anybody over 30" thing.  I remember back in the mid-'60's when The Beatles were all the thing and then all of a sudden Frank Sinatra had a #1 Record with "Strangers In The Night" and we all thought "What's HE doing on the charts?!?!?  He's ANCIENT!!!"  And he was like FORTY at the time!  (EDITOR'S NOTE:  Actually, he was 51)  But to us, he was ANCIENT!!!  Seriously, as a kid of 21, who EVER thought that you'd still be doing this at 65 ... and that there'd still be an audience for it!  And now you've got somebody like McCartney going out and still doing two-and-a-half and three hour shows to sell-out audiences all around the world!
BC:  Well, McCartney did The Hollywood Bowl and apparently sang 37 songs!  Holy God!!!  I do TWENTY and I'm pattin' myself on the back!  And he's got five or six years on me!  I'll tell you, it's not so much the age as keeping yourself in shape to hit the notes.  And I sing a lot at home, pick up a guitar or I'll sit at the piano and I'll sing a bunch of songs and I think that's the main thing ... I still keep doing it, ya know.  Hopefully for another long time yet!   

kk:  And it's great to hear that you're still writing, too ... still coming up with new material.  A lot of artists give up on that so it's nice to hear that you're still writing new material, too.  
BC:  Yeah, I still write songs all the time.  I don't schlep them together ... if they come together quick, that's fine and if not, I move on to something else.  I haven't change my mode of operation too much since the early days ... since the '60's and '70's ... haven't really changed the way I create songs very much at all.  It's just that the world around me has changed.  I'm still a musician first and foremost ... I still spend ungodly amounts working on my library.  I've got almost a terabyte of music now ... almost 180,000 MP3's ... so I've built a world-class library of music and I spend a LOT of time doing that. Mostly listening to classic stuff.     

kk:  So who do you listen to?  Do you mostly listen to the older stuff or do you keep up with the current trends?  
BC:  I listen to EVERYTHING, really and truly ... I just finished compiling ALL of the stuff by David Crosby from when he was with The Byrds and without The Byrds ... I still listen to a lot of Fats Domino 'cause that really inspires me ... he was a huge influence when I was first starting out ... I just found a new remastering of "The Wall" ... the entire thing with a third bonus disc ... I'm listening to a lot of classic jazz.  I just watched that AMAZING documentary on Ginger Baker called "Beware Of Mr. Baker" ... phenomenal!  And that spurred me into going out and finding EVERYTHING by Cream ... everything that Cream had ever done.  I'm listening to Stan Getz, Val Waldren, to Paul Chambers and John Coltrane and David "Fathead" Newman ... a lot of jazz stuff ... a lot of early Ray Charles, before he was a star ... I listen to everything ... absolutely everything.  Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans ... just TONS of stuff ... I really am a music junkie.   

kk:  I've heard that you're quite a Bobby Darin fan.  We once did a month-long series on Bobby for the website that picked up the endorsement of his family and his fan club ... and doing that turned ME into quite a Bobby Darin fan, too.  I discovered so many things that he did beyond the hits that I was never fully aware of.  
BC:  HUGE Bobby Darin fan ... and he left us so young ... he was only 37 and look at the legacy he left.  He made about twenty five movies and God knows how many albums ... tremendous ... tremendous piano player, tremendous writer ... I mean he really knew how to swing with an orchestra.  He was incredible   And I listen to a lot of Georgie Fame, too. I like Georgie Fame very, very much. And he's still going ... and he rocks!  So I like a lot of the survivors ... the guys who are still going and have kept it going after all this while.   

kk:  And quite honestly this depth of variety and openness to exploring different musical styles has to have influenced you as a songwriter and a performer ... your library of songs, your writing style has taken on SO many different genres over the years that, as a listener, I love the fact that you kept yourself open to so many different influences because we as listeners were able to reap the benefit from that.  
BC:  I was lucky, VERY lucky to have been able to get with a guy like Bachman ... in '66 and '67 ... before we had the hit records, we were playing each other EVERYTHING.  Randy was the first one that turned me on to Georgie Fame and I got him more than mildly interested in The Doors.  We were "ying and yang" to each other ... ya know, he was religious and he had a wife and kids already ... and I was out doing acid with the crowd ... and yet we fed each others opposites ... and I think that's why it worked so well ... for a while anyway.  We were listening to everything and between the two of us, we had such eclectic tastes ... and he turned me on to a lot of early Bo Diddley stuff and I was listening to the west coast experimental band put together by Frank Zappa and then we kept playing each other all this stuff that each other hadn't heard and it was GREAT learning with a guy like Randy and that's why our stuff has stood up, I think, because it was influenced by so many different areas.  EVERY kind of music.  I was just at Amoeba Music the other day, the one in Hollywood, which was recently, by the way, voted online as the #1 Record Store in the World ... on Planet Earth ... and I was just there the other day and I found all kinds of imports from Japan with the OBI strips still on the sleeve and I'm finding stuff there all the time that I don't have in my collection, so it's still a matter of learning for me.  Still to this day, at age 65.   

kk:  And let's face it, there aren't that many record stores left these days!  
BC:  No, there really aren't ... and that's one of the things that makes Amoeba so great, because it's really got the LA market cornered now and you can find ANYTHING there.  If it's been released, you can pretty much find it there.  It's a great place for a collector.  I know a lot of traveling musicians that come to LA only a couple of times a year and the first place they go, if they're any kind of a collector, is to Amoeba Music.
Click here: Amoeba Music | The World's Largest Independent Record Store  

 

(photo by Brad Joblin)

 

kk:  To go back to a point you made earlier, I've always thought, as a listener, that the "Jukebox" CD you did with Randy Bachman must have been what it was like for you guys way back when, when you were just learning how to work together at your craft, sharing your different musical tastes with one another ... he'd show you something he liked and then you'd turn around and shoot one back at him ... a whole evolution process, if you will, as you learned to write songs together.  The songs on the "Jukebox" CD would almost seem to me to be the kind of stuff you used to play to each other as you were learning your craft.  
BC:  Yeah, the "Jukebox" CD ... that's a VERY good example ... the "Jukebox" CD was TREMENDOUS fun for us.  He picked things he liked and I picked things that I liked and there was no pressure for song writing ... there was no pressure on creating.  All we did was do our own version ... kind of put our stamp on those old songs.  He did a GREAT job on The Beatles and "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", almost a jazzy ... almost like a different song ... and I think that we did a really cool job of "Judy In Disguise" ... instead of the horn line that John Fred and the Playboy Band did, we did all those horn lines with guitars.  And I loved singing the Sam Cooke song and I loved doing the Edwin Starr "Double-O-Soul" song.  We had a lot of fun doing that, man ... that was REALLY fun doing that album. 

kk:  My favorite song on there is the Cliff Richard song ... which I'd never heard before.  That song wasn't a hit here in America so I discovered that song through YOU, not through the original Cliff Richard recording.  
BC:  Oh, "Don't Talk To Him", yeah ... you know, I think fanwise ... I have a bunch of fans that follow me online, they're called "The Faithful", and I think that was voted the favorite song on "Jukebox" ... everybody LOVED the Cliff Richard song.

 

kk:  And it was NEW to me which goes back to the point you were making earlier about still discovering new music today at this age ... I discovered that song ... even though technically it's 45 year old music ... I first discovered that track through YOU GUYS, not through Cliff Richard, 'cause that didn't get played here when that song was out and was a hit.  
BC:  Yeah, that was a pretty well-played thing in Winnipeg.  We were very fortunate in Winnipeg in that we got to hear some of the British stuff that Americans didn't get to hear ... some Georgie Fame and some Gerry and the Pacemakers that really didn't get off the ground in the States ... Billy J. Kramer was another one.  The British Invasion was very, very extensive in Canada, I guess probably because we were part of the Commonwealth.  and Canadian Capitol Records, they had just about everybody ... from The Beatles and Dave Clark on down ... Hollies, Animals, Ciff Richard and the Shadows ... EVERYTHING was on Capitol.  It was a very cool time in Canada.  We took that British Invasion square in the face.  

kk:  That's actually what we're covering right now on The Forgotten Hits Website ... we're doing a whole series on the hundred biggest hits of the British Invasion ... and the response is just phenomenal ... it's just amazing how many people relate to this part of their lives.  
BC:  Oh, I imagine it would be ... and The Beatles would score VERY heavy in there ... Wow!  What would be the #1 Song of the British Invasion?  My God!  Well, you know what, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" would have to be right up there near the top.

 

kk: That's a GREAT song.  
BC:  Although they didn't have a string of records, Procol Harum, but "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was as big as any Beatles record.  And I remember when that it, it was #1 forever.  That was a big, big record. 
I think The Beatles would be right up there ... I think "A Hard Day's Night" would have to be one of them ... that record hit like a ton of bricks.  "A Hard Day's Night" and "Can't Buy Me Love" ... those two hard rockers, they hit like a ton of bricks in the '60's.   

kk:  OK, well here, that's a good segue into this next question ... I was BLOWN AWAY by the fact that The Guess Who never really had a major hit record in England.  How the heck can that be?!?!  Seriously, what's the deal with that???  Like most bands of the day, The Guess Who were heavily influenced by the sounds coming out of England at that time.  Untold THOUSANDS of kids picked up a guitar or a bass or a drum kit ... (or, in your case, a piano!) ... searching for rock and roll success ... and you guys were no different.  How is it even REMOTELY possible that The Guess Who had exactly ONE Top 40 Hit in Great Britain?  And that one ... "American Woman" ... only peaked at #19.

BC:  No, not so much.  "American Woman" did okay but RCA in England never really worked that hard on us.  I actually did better with CBS with "My Own Way To Rock" many years later.  But we didn't really happen that much in England.  I don't know why.  It's just one of those things.  I mean there's a lot of Canadian acts that are HUGE in Canada that never had any success in the States.  Sometimes I guess it just doesn't translate well across borders ... I don't know ... we were pretty lucky.  We had a lot of success in Australia, too.  But as I look back, I think we were pretty lucky, especially considering where we came from, which was this little dot on the map in the middle of snow!   

kk:  Did you guys ever tour England in the day?  
BC:  We did a promotional tour in 1970 ... it was just very brief ... very, very brief ... we were only there about five or six days ... nah, never really worked on it much.  We were too busy touring the States!  We toured the States ENDLESSLY!    

kk:  And I would go see The Guess Who faithfully when you guys would come to Chicago ... and, of course, a lot of the solo shows, too, when "Stand Tall" became a hit. 
BC:  I remember The Arie Crown ... The Arie Crown was always a favorite place to play.  And we played a lot in Texas.  We played a lot in El Paso ... and then we would go across and drink tequila in Juarez ... I'll tell you one thing, man, you wouldn't be doin' that today!  It's not the same as it was in 1970!  Look at that, 43 years later ... it's not the same!  We used to cross the border regularly and drink tequila till five in the morning and sometimes I'd even shoot the worm ... but we wouldn't be doin' that now!  I can tell you that!  (lol)  Times have changed!  
kk:  (Laughing)  Hey, you don't have to tell me ... I watch that TV show "The Bridge"!  You go across the border today and you may not be coming back!  

kk:  We can't do an interview like this and not bring up this question so please, grit your teeth and bare with me one more time.  
It is no secret that it has been a real point of contention for you that, as the driving force and focal point of The Guess Who, you do not have the legal rights to use the name ... that it is instead owned by the former drummer and bass player whose names 99.9% of the world, with all the money on the line, couldn't come up with on a "phone a friend" segment of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire".  
In 25 Swear Words Or Less, tell us a little more about this situation so that the fans out there can better understand why even when you and Randy Bachman have appeared together, you cannot use "The Guess Who" name.

BC:  At this point I honestly don't know who owns it overall … maybe Kale and Peterson, maybe more … I don't know for sure. To me personally, it's a shame that now sometimes there are five people on stage calling themselves "The Guess Who" and once or twice, not one of the five was on any of the records. I guess it's like "The Platters" or "The Temptations". You can go and see these acts but it's not the people who made the records. To me it always seemed like owning a McDonald's franchise or a Dairy Queen … nothing to do with the magic of the records … the true followers know who made the recordings … and the recordings will live forever.   

BEGIN SOAPBOX MOMENT:  
Here's my take on this whole Guess Who thing ...
What seems to bother Burton the most is the fact that you've got this "fake band" running around, using the real records to draw people into the concerts.  Simply put, it's misleading and deceptive to the fans.  Of course the REAL fans know better 'cause they've been around it and have heard all the stories ... but the casual fan who sees or hears this ad and thinks, "Hey, that's a show I might like to see ... The Guess Who had a lot of great hits" is potentially going to buy a ticket to that concert and not get to see the people who recorded all those hits.  
Burton feels very fortunate that after he joined the band, he was the one to have written and sung EVERY hit The Guess Who ever had ... and yet this OTHER band, who have the legal right to the use of the name are using HIS voice on those records in order to sell tickets to their shows with a completely different singer who's trying his best to SOUND like Cummings ... and that's taking advantage of the fan base as well as tarnishing the memory of those great records when they're sung by somebody else, misrepresenting themselves as "The Guess Who".  
Burton mentioned SEVERAL times during our interview that he is VERY proud of the fact that he can still sing those songs and sound like the records ... all in the original keys and with all the original arrangements ... fans are constantly coming up or writing in, telling him how good he still sounds ... and, at this stage of his career, that really means a lot.

 

We've been over this point time and time again in Forgotten Hits ... and sadly it really has become a case of "Buyer Beware".  It's the Rock And Roll World we live in today.  SO many acts have continued on, trying to earn a living playing the music that got them there in the first place ... and we would never deny them this ... after all, in most cases, some of THESE guys were on those hit records, too ... but there needs to be a certain "honesty" in representing what you're putting up there on the stage.  Perhaps the best parallel example I can think of is Creedence Clearwater Revisited.  Now don't get me wrong ... I was one of the biggest CCR fans on the planet when these guys were out making hit records ... and there is absolutely NO doubt that the rhythm section of Doug Clifford on Drums and Stu Cook on bass contributed GREATLY to the sound and success of those records ... but the guy who wrote and sang every hit they ever had is nowhere to be found.  Instead, they're trying to mimic the sound of these records with a sound-alike singer, much the way Jim Kale and Garry Peterson are doing with their version of The Guess Who.  There's a version of The Grass Roots out touring right now without a SINGLE member of the original band ... they're just using the name.  They're faithfully recreating all of the group's biggest hits ... but they're NOT The Grass Roots!  At best, they should bill themselves as "A Tribute To The Grass Roots" and leave it at that.  You still get the same music ... the same vibe ... but without the misleading moniker.  Peter Noone, who was the voice of Herman's Hermits throughout the '60's, competes with a British version of Herman's Hermits led by their original drummer, who never sang a note and didn't play on half of their recordings in the studio!  Paul Revere INSISTS that absolutely NO original recordings can be used when promoting his upcoming concerts because he doesn't want ANYBODY buying a ticket thinking that they're going to get to see Mark Lindsay up there singing the hits that night.  In fact, he supplies the promoters and radio stations and advertisers with clips of five songs done by the current band, live in concert, to more accurately present what you're going to see and hear if you buy a ticket to their show.  And the truth is that, thanks to Paul's insistence on this matter, they're contractually obligated to do so and abide by this method of "truth in advertising".  And I'll tell you what, it's still one HELL of a show ... but he's not trying to FOOL anybody into seeing it.  (Burton may be surprised to hear that although the previously-mentioned Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna are long-time members of The Buckinghams and were there for all of the hit records, they played bass and guitar on those records and never sang a single hit.  The vocals on those hits belong to Dennis Tufano, no longer with the band and now working as a solo act.)

 

Now in all fairness, some of these artists have chosen to walk away from these musical institutions at some point in their careers, only to try and reclaim their rightful spot years later, by which time the remaining members who kept things going have already re-established themselves as the "current" make-up of the band and, in many cases, built a new and loyal following in the process.  The recent "Truth In Music" laws require that at least ONE original member be part of the hit group selling tickets to the public and, by this definition, groups like The Buckinghams, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Guess Who, Creedence Clearwater Revisited and Britain's version of Herman's Hermits qualify ... but as we have seen SO many times here over the years, it is always best to do your research FIRST before buying your tickets to some of these shows.  If you just want to hear the hits played well, faithfully honoring and respecting the music you love, then every one of these bands will give you your money's worth.  But if you want to see the guys who wrote and/or sang those hits, then you'll want to catch Burton Cummings, Mark Lindsay, Dennis Tufano, Peter Noone and John Fogerty ... 'cause there ain't ANYBODY out there who are going to do these songs any better!!!    
END SOAPBOX MOMENT  

kk:  Last year you released a live CD of your performance at Massey Hall, which I'm told is the equivalent of performing at America's Carnegie Hall. 

CD available here:   Click here: Amazon.com: burton cummings massey hall: Music

kk:  Clearly a number of honors have been bestowed upon you back home in Canada ... you're a member of Canada's Walk Of Fame not once, but TWICE ... as both a member of The Guess Who and as a solo artist.  What do these accolades mean to you in the scheme of things?   
BC:  After a certain point all these awards started coming my way. I'm particularly happy that my Mother lived long enough to see me inducted into the Order of Canada. That's the highest honour that Canada bestows upon a civilian.  

kk:  In addition to all of these honors bestowed on you of late, there's even a THEATER named after you in Winnipeg now!  
BC:  (Laughing) It's still a pleasure and honor to have the old Odeon Theatre named after me in my hometown of Winnipeg. It's a beautiful old building with the ghosts of decades and decades lurking in the wings.  I used to go and see movies there for years. My Mother and Dad even went to the movies there before they were married. I love seeing my name on the building, and love hearing it referred to as "the Burt"!  (laughing)

 

kk:  (laughing) Which begs, of course, the most obvious question ... 
With all these accolades being bestowed in your honor, there still seems to be one TREMENDOUS oversight in the music world that truly is nothing short of unjust and unthinkable in light of the music you guys created.  For the past two decades we have campaigned for The Guess Who to be inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.  It is a COMPLETE injustice that this hasn't happened yet.  What would this mean to you at this point in your career ... or does it mean nothing at all after all this time?  That is to say, would any recognition now be diminished by the sheer stupidity of the oversight and snub for so many years?  And, if you WERE inducted now, would you feel any differently?  And finally, in light of the somewhat "strained" circumstances between some of the former members of the band, who would you bring up to accept the award and perform???  
BC:  The Hall of Fame hasn't seen fit to name the Guess Who before now, and at this point in time, the name doesn't mean what it once did. I honestly don't think I could stand up there and be inducted and then watch those "other people" go right back out on the road calling themselves "The Guess Who". What so many of us feel nowadays is that the name means very little, but the memories and the recordings are the real treasure. Remember what happened with Axl … enough said.    

kk:  Burton, we can't wait to see the show.  There are still a few seats available to see The Burton Cummings band LIVE at The Arcada Theatre (with The Zombies!!!) on Friday, September 27th. (Hey, they're ALL good seats at The Arcada!!!)  Go to www.oshows.com for more ticket information.  Great to talk with you!  

BC:  Hey, thank you, my man ... it was good talking to you ... and we'll see you at the show.

 

  

VERY special thanks to Burton Cummings, Sam Boyd and Lorne Saifer for helping us put together this AWESOME interview ... I sincerely appreciate it ... and I think we did ya proud!!!

Check out Burton's website here:

www.burtoncummings.com

 

*****

 

THE GUESS WHO /

BURTON CUMMINGS HIT LIST

Here is a recap of the chart history of The Guess Who ... as well as Burton Cummings as a solo artist.  

Peak positions shown for are for the US Charts, the Chicago Charts and the Canadian Chart.  (Their British Chart peak position is shown for the only two Guess Who singles that charted there, a fact that STILL completely blows my mind!)

BBC  (Before Burton Cummings)
In fact, this group is actually Chad Allan and the Expressions ... their record company put "Guess Who" on the label, thinking that curious disc jockeys and program directors might play it just to see what it was.  The name stuck ... and they've been The Guess Who ever since.

Their first chart hit was a remake of the 1960, #1 British Pop Hit "Shakin' All Over" originally done by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates ... Great Britain ignored it ... as they did ALL of The Guess Who singles (with the exception of two!!!)   

1965 - Shakin' All Over  (US - #13 / Chicago - #10 / Canada - #4)
1965 - Tossin' And Turnin'  (only charted in Canada - #35)
1965 - Hey Ho, What You Do To Me  (US - #125 / Chicago - #39 / Canada - #33)
1966 - And She's Mine  (only charted in Canada - #33)

In 1967, Burton Cummings joined the band and the group scored it's first British Hit.  Incredibly, they would only chart in Great Britain one more time.  ("American Woman" hit #19 in 1970)  Perhaps even MORE incredible is the fact that this GREAT, little known gem didn't chart ANYWHERE else ... not even back home in Canada! 
 
Reminiscent of The Dave Clark Five's ballad "Come Home" (especially the intro), the group was heavily influenced by what was coming out of England at the time.  Nearly fifty years later Burton Cummings would resurrect the old Cliff Richard hit "Don't Talk To Him" for his "Jukebox" reunion album with Randy Bachman ... another FINE example of early, pre-Beatles British pop music.

THE GUESS WHO:
1967 - His Girl  (UK - #45 ... this record did not chart in the US, Canada or Chicago)
1969 - These Eyes  (US - #3 / Chicago - #2 / Canada - #1)
This is the record that broke thru for the band ... things were never the same after this!
1969 - Laughing  (US - #5 / Chicago - #10 / Canada - #9)
1969 - Undun  (US - #22 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #3)
1970 - No Time  (US - #3 / Chicago - #1 / Canada - #9)
1970 - American Woman  (US - #1 / Chicago - #1 / Canada - #1 / Great Britain - #19 ... their ONLY other chart hit in the UK)
1970 - No Sugar Tonight  (US - #1 as a tag-along B-Side / Chicago - #1 as a tag-along B-Side / Canada - #1 as a tag-along B-Side)  Also charted at #39 on its own in Cash Box Magazine here in The States
1970 - Hand Me Down World  (US - #13 / Chicago - #7 / Canada - #3)
1970 - Share The Land  (US - #5 / Chicago - #3 / Canada - #3)
(They played the heck out of the B-Side of this record ... "Bus Rider" ... here in Chicago ... but it never officially charted)
1971 - Hang On To Your Life  (US - #22 / Chicago - #4 / Canada - xx)
1971 - Broken  (US - #51 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)
1971 - Albert Flasher  (US - #22 / Chicago - #31 / Canada - #5)
1971 - Rain Dance (US - #11 / Chicago - #24 / Canada - #3)
1972 - Sour Suite  (US - #41 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #7)
1972 - Heartbroken Bopper  (US - #26 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)
1972 - Guns Guns Guns  (US - #66 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)
1972 - Runnin' Back To Saskatoon (Live)  US - #74 / Chicago - xx / Canada - 5)
1973 - Follow Your Daughter Home  (US - #61 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #12)
1973 - Orly  (Only charted in Canada, peaking at #19)
1973 - Glamour Boy  (US - #83 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #11)
1974 - Star Baby  (US - #30 / Chicago - #3 / Canada - #14)
1974 - Clap For The Wolfman  (US - #6 / Chicago - #11 / Canada - #3)
1975 - Dancin' Fool  (US - #24 / Chicago - #14 / Canada - #13)
1975 - Seems Like I Can't Live With You, But I Can't Live Without You  (US - #88 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)
1975 - Roseanne  (US - #105 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)
1975 - When The Band Was Singin' 'Shakin' All Over'  (US - #102 / did not chart in Chicago or Canada)

BURTON CUMMINGS  (solo artist)
1977 - Stand Tall  (US - #5 / Chicago - #3 / Canada - #2)
1977 - I'm Scared  (US - #61 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #11)
1977 - My Own Way To Rock (US - #74 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #16)
1977 - Your Back Yard  (only charted in Canada, peaking at #21)
1978 - Break It To Me Gently  (US - #81 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #4)
NOTE:  In 1979, "Takes A Fool To Love A Fool" charted on Billboard's Country Chart (#33) ... but nowhere else.  
1980 - Fine State Of Affairs  (only charted in Canada, peaking at #11)
1981 - You Saved My Soul  (US - #32 / Chicago - xx / Canada - #13)

The response to our interview was phenomenal ... and the emails poured in ... far more than we could ever print here. We have, however, selected some of our favorites ...

Just finished your Burton Cummings interview ... it's awesome! Great job!  (Let's give away a couple of tickets!)
Ron Onesti, President / CEO
Onesti Entertainment Corporation
The Historic Arcada Theatre
www.oshows.com
And that we will!  Thanks, Ron ... 
Readers ... get your emails in to me as soon as possible ... 
We'll collect them all week long ... and then next Friday, the 20th ... exactly ONE WEEK BEFORE THE SHOW, we'll pick our winner ... a pair of free tickets to see Burton Cummings LIVE at The Arcada Theatre on Friday, September 27th, courtesy of Ron Onesti and Onesti Entertainment.  You MUST be able to attend in order to enter.  It's an EXCELLENT opportunity to see one of the greatest voices in rock and roll history ... a true living legend, live in concert ... so don't delay ... email me TODAY!!!  (kk) 
forgottenhits@aol.com
   
Best. Interview. Ever. Seriously, kk, you blew the doors off with this one.  I'd say it belongs in Rolling Stone so that the whole world can read and enjoy it -- but forgotten hits has become WAY cooler than Rolling Stone!  Thank you so much for sharing this with us.  Forgotten Hits just keeps getting better and better.
Janice  
Thank you, Janice ... and whereas normally a compliment like that would mean so much more, we all have to remember that the idiot running Rolling Stone ALSO heads up The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... and he has yet to find The Guess Who even worthy of a nomination, much less induction into his hallowed Hall. Here's the thing about Jann Wenner, a guy who has obliterated ANY sense of respect he ever had in the music industry ... his cocky, arrogant, know-it-all, "I know rock and roll and you don't" attitude has rendered his opinion and organization useless to virtually all of the rock and roll world.  He has been SO off the mark with his decisions about who gets in and who doesn't that the status that SHOULD be associated with Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction means absolutely nothing anymore.  Meanwhile, he continues to use and exploit artists that he would otherwise ignore as "not worthy" to help sell his magazine and drive folks to his website.  

Case in point:  The Monkees.  No how, no way are these guys EVER going to be taken seriously enough to be inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... they weren't even a "real" band ... they were a pre-fab, television concoction created to sell records and appeal to a teeny-bop audience ... and Jann Wenner would be the first to tell you so.  Yet when Davy Jones died, Rolling Stone did a full-blown spread on his career.  When the other three reunited to tour again, it was big, front-page news in Rolling Stone, down to "exclusive interviews" with Michael Nesmith ... ANYTHING to help sell magazines, all the while blatantly laughing and snubbing their noses behind their backs.  

The Guess Who remain the biggest rock and roll act to EVER come out of Canada.  The fact that they've never even been CONSIDERED for Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction is EXACTLY what renders that organization useless and meaningless in the mind of the world.  Truth is, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has virtually ignored Canadian artists all together ... save Neil Young and (last year) Rush, you won't find ANYBODY else "worthy" enough of induction.  Randy Bachman went so far as to publicly call them "prejudiced against Canadians" last year.  There's enough evidence here to support that theory.   

So while I thank you again for your compliment ... I, too, think this is one of the best pieces we've ever done on the site ... the thought of seeing it run in Rolling Stone (who, by the way, doesn't accept outside manuscripts ... again, Wenner's a complete control freak!) just doesn't hold the same appeal that it might have thirty years ago when Rolling Stone Magazine was still considered "relevant".  But thank you just the same ... and I appreciate the kudos! (kk)  

Hi Kent!
Love Burton Cummings!!
I saw him in the early 80's. He opened for Alice Cooper. I thought that was such a strange combo at the time. Ask him what he thought of it? I thought his show was better than Alice's, as well :)
I love reading your stuff.  
Debe  
As you know by now, we've already talked to Burton about this strange pairing.  (I had seen him not six months before that Alice Cooper show warming up for Melissa Manchester ... how's THAT for musical diversity?!?!?)  kk 

Check out this clip ... Burton talks about some of the acts The Guess Who opened for in the early years ...

In fact, you'll find an entire Burton Cummings Channel on YouTube, featured videos posted by Burton himself.  (Some GREAT stuff here, most of which was filmed by Burton's videographer Lillian Sarafian, who has been capturing Cummings on tape for over thirteen years now.  (Much of this will soon see the light of day in a brand new video series called "Ruff", which Burton mentioned in our interview.) kk    

When you talk to Burton Cummings (a big comic book collector) ask him about his comic book collection ... and the age old question D.C. ... or Marvel?  
See you there on the 27th!!

Mike DeMartino

President of the Lovejoy Music Club

Hey Burton, which is it?!?!?  (I was always a DC fan myself growing up ... some day I'll have to tell you about my life-scaring comic books moment ... even all these years later it's one of my life's most emotional memories!!!) 

We've heard from a number of readers who picked up tickets to the Arcada show after reading our interview.  There are still a few seats left ... but you'd better hurry.  Complete information here:

Click here: Arcada Theatre | Oshows

Hey Kent,
Great interview with the awesome voice, Burton Cummings!!!!!  Now you have to interview Dave Clark of the Dave Clark 5 and, if you do, you could ask him why it took so long to release his stuff and is he hiding any more songs he hasn`t released yet???  I hear he has more stuff but hasn't released them, but I could be wrong.   
Joe Wojdan
Keep up the good work!!!! 

ilovethedc5@aol.com

Great and enjoyable interview Kent. I immediately checked my inventory of Guess Who and Burton Cummings songs on my computer and found holes in my Guess Who material and went on Amazon and purchased the Guess Who Ultimate Collection, even though I had many of the songs. Now I only have to convert a somewhat bizarre song of theirs from vinyl called "Your Nashville Sneakers" that I always liked to complete my favorites of theirs.
It's a travesty that Jann Wenner has kept this great group that epitomized rock and roll out of "HIS" hall of fame.
Danny Guilfoyle
"Your Nashville Sneakers" is one of MY obscure favorites, too ... in fact, we featured it as part of the series!  Thanks for the kind words, Danny ... much appreciated.  (kk)   

Hi Kent,  
I am loving reading the Burton Cummings interview.  
I got to see The Guess Who on their Share the Land tour, and saw one of their reunion shows as well. 

My home in North Dakota wasn't far from theirs so I think we always felt like they were a local band.

We even heard songs like His Girl on our local radio stations. 

He always seems like he really likes to talk about music not just making it, but the songs that were big influences on him. I wish he was coming to the Twin Cities. 

Bill 

"His Girl" is a GREAT early effort. Incredibly THAT one charted in England ... #45 in 1967 ... but didn't chart HERE or in Canada!!!  (Maybe it's because it has that real Dave Clark Five / "Come Home" feeling at the beginning???)  Great song 'though ... and I'll bet most of our readers are unfamiliar with it ... so that's a good one to run today.  I think "His Girl" would have been a GREAT "break-through" hit for The Guess Who here in The States had it been given the chance ... but in reality, it wouldn't have had the MASSIVE impact that "These Eyes" did ... so in the end, things probably worked out for the best just the way they did.  Even so, I don't think "His Girl" should fall into the "completely forgotten" category ... it's a damn good record!  (kk)

Hey Kent,

Good Burton Cummings interview! The Guess Who was one hell of a band! Under rated in a lot of respects. Bus Rider is one of my favs!!

Mike

One of mine, too ... and they played the hell out of it here in Chicago.  I always felt this deserved to be a Two-Sided Hit as this was a KILLER B-Side ... but I have always maintained that it was the use of "God-Damn Glad" in the lyrics (circa 1970) that knocked it out of the box.  (Apparently a lot of folks agree ... in our Top 200 All-Time Favorite, Forgotten B-Sides Survey a few years back "Bus Rider" came in at #51!)  The A-Side was "Share The Land", a Top Ten Hit in its own right.  (kk)

The Burton Cummings interview is one of the best you've done, Kent. Thanks to Burton and all who assisted. Fun reading!

David Lewis  
I pushed hard for this one as this music has meant so much to me for so many years.  I found Burton to be very supportive, forthcoming and cooperative.  And again I have to thank Road Manager Sam Boyd for setting this whole thing up for me ... as well as Burton's business manger Lorne Saifer, who worked behind the scenes to help this whole thing happen.  I believe the end result is one of our best efforts ever ... with a MAJOR music superstar.  (kk)   

Kent,  
I just mentioned the cool Burton Cummings interview on StumbleUpon, Twitter, and Reddit. I applaud your fine work in tracking down the songwriters, producers, musicians, and artists responsible for so much of my favorite music.  

All the best,

Jeremy

Thank you, Jeremy!  Readers, please help us to spread the word ... this was a GOOD one!!!  (kk)   

Kent,  

Please enter me in the drawing for Burton Cummings concert tickets. 

I was very fortunate to see Burton AND Randy Bachmann with the Guess Who a few weeks after the 9/11 events in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. I’m not sure of the circumstances of the re-uniting of the group but it was a short-lived reunion. They appeared at the Milwaukee Auditorium, with Joe Cocker opening. After an opening of Shakin’ All Over (with Burton doing a fabulous job on vocals and keyboards - sounding exactly like the original recording) Burton gave a short but stirring salute to the spirit of the American people, ending with a promise to the terrorists, “You have no idea what you are going to receive in return for this” (sic). I’ve always felt fortunate to have seen this performance and would love to see Burton perform on the 27th.

I’ve also seen the Zombies twice in the past three years and they do a great job. Colin Blunstone has kept his outstanding voice and Rod Argent is not only a gifted organist but possibly the coolest senior citizen on the planet. 

Keep up the great work and please pick my name for the tickets.

Bob Verbos, 

New Berlin WI. 

P.S.  My wife and I saw .38 Special last week at the Utah State Fair.  This is the third time I’ve seen them, and they always put on a great show.  They also have a Chicago connection, since Jim Peterik co-wrote several of their hits, including their biggest, “Hold On Loosely.”   

lol ... oh, if it was ONLY that easy!!! (lol)

We saw .38 Special a few years ago ... and Peterik showed up to play with the band during their encore ... great show.

We also saw that Guess Who reunion show, too ... right after 9/11 ... at The Rosemont Theater.  GREAT show with Joe Cocker as the opening act.  We had second row balcony seats as it was a complete sell-out.  I remember that we were supposed to meet some friends who had main floor seats downstairs but with the heightened security, the ushers wouldn't let us in to say hello, even during the break between acts.  I was totally bummed as ONE of those friends was going to introduce us to Burton after the show.  Sadly that never happened and we still haven't had the pleasure.  (Hopefully that'll change at the show at the Arcada.)

Anyway, consider yourself entered ... but as I type this you're one of 37 people (and there's only ONE pair of tickets to be given away).  But you can certainly BUY tickets for this show ... so please be sure to visit the OShows Website after Friday if it turns out you're not the lucky winner!  (kk)

Kent, 

A couple of things on the Burton Cummings interview.  I wish you'd have asked about the great B sides the Guess Who had.  SOOOOO many of the B sides got lots of airplay, even if not charted.  "Bus Rider", "Do You Miss Me Darling" and the ones that eventually became A sides on their own as well!  Also, the story behind one of the band's Canadian hits that came JUST before the breakthrough with "These Eyes" called "When Friends Fall Out."  That song seems to have been what happened to the group in the end, not in the (hit) beginnings!  GREAT song with "Moonlight Bay" influences.  Glad he mentioned "My Own Way to Rock" because I loved that one.  Another one I would love to have known more about was the sawn song "When the Band Was Playing Shakin All Over."  Got airplay around here (along with "Rosanne") and was a cool epitaph of sorts.  Their performance on Midnight Special in 76 (?) was great when they sand "Dirty" (lyrics switched around from LP version) and "Diggin Yourself," which I loved getting on tape back then off TV.  Made me believe there was no reason to think the Guess Who were about done.  
As for the Guess Who going around now without lead vocalist, it was a bit like that when Burton took over from Chad Allen and had to sing "Shakin All Over" without Chad, no??  
Clark Besch  
The memory of The Guess Who HOSTING The Midnight Special (right around the time of their "Artificial Paradise" album ... 1973 maybe?) is exceptionally vivid for me ... after hearing "Bye Bye Babe" (another song that absolutely should have been an A-Side ... and a HUGE hit), "Orly" and "Those Show Biz Shoes", I ran out and bought the album the very next day.  I did ask a few more questions about the transition from Chad Allan, lead singer, to Burton Cummings, lead singer, but unfortunately these fell into the "unaswered" category" by press time.  And I would have liked to have spent more time on some of the solo material as I have a whole list of favorites from this era as well ... but we simply ran out of time.  (I was able to feature a few of my favorite solo tracks during the interview, however.)  kk    

Hello kk!  
When the 45 version of "American Woman" was released in early 1970, there was a rumor that the last phrase sung was "Goodbye American shit!" In the Charlotte, North Carolina, area the radio stations always spoke over the ending so it became a conspiracy thing and all the kids were buying the 45 and some would swear he said it. It did not hurt the phenomena either that some 45 record versions excluded that last line! Did you experience that phenomena in Chicago?   
Here is the last line (turn it up):  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8uANfdxRt0  
Here's an excluded UK version ...  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4wTnYt8s-c

I read once where Burton Cummings stated he was saying "chick" and it cleared it up for me. So that had to have been an issue! It certainly spawned a lot of sells of the 45 record in the Piedmont area of North Carolina! 

Also ... I don't think that The Guess Who gets proper credit in the category of FUZZ!  

The Guess Who's tune "No Time" from "Canned Wheat" set my fields on fire with that gift and made me really happy more of that style of guitar driven fuzz (twin guitar fuzz) that Davie Allan made famous was coming and coupled with Burton Cummings vocals made that song timeless (no pun intended)! A lot of fuzz songs were just harsh fuzz being true psychedelic ditties but there are some melodic well done tunes that had that special formula! "No Time" in both versions are standing proof as were several LPs from The Guess Who. These ears stand tall with that tune as well as others they played!

Loved reading that interview! 

Vibeman

I always heard it as "chick" ... so I guess I never really questioned it.  I don't remember there being any controversy on this at the time.

However, I DO remember something about The Guess Who being invited to perform at The White House ... and that some of the nation was shocked by this decision as "American Woman" was not considered very complimentary to the US (and women in particular) at the time.  I probably should have asked him about this (but had forgotten all about it until I read your email.)  Burton, if you happen to be reading this, what say you?  (kk) 

Hi Kent, 
Great job on the BC interview. 
It was some of your best work. 
Thank you 
Steve Sarley

Please enter my name in the free concert ticket give-away.  The Guess Who are one of my all-time favorites and I would love to see this show.
Doug
Like I said, we're only able to pick one winner ... but you can always visit the Arcada Theatre website and secure your tickets now before they're all gone.  I have a feeling this is going to be a VERY hot ticket ... especially based on the response we've received for our interview.  (In fact, I believe we had something like 1800 brand new readers ... all from Canada!!! ... who discovered Forgotten Hits as a result of this great word of mouth!  Awesome!  (kk) 

    

Kent,  
Just read the first installment of your Burton Cummings interview -- EXCELLENT -- so looking forward to the next two installments.  I find Forgotten Hits more in touch and more relevant than any other music publication -- THANK-YOU for all of your expertise and hard work -- it is greatly appreciated.   

For a real kick Google:  Blackbird Guess Who Pandora -- and listen to Burton Cummings' spot-on version of the Beatles song (after you click on hit PLAY SAMPLE).  It's on the Guess Who's album:  "Let's Go - The CBC Years" -- I think you will find it very impressive!
Best Regards,
Tim Kiley

Thanks for the kind words Tim.  I was listening to the "Let's Go" CD last week as a matter of fact.  In fact, that's where their version of "Time Of The Season" came from that I posted in Part One of our interview.  Interesting to hear the band as the were right on the cusp of hitting the big-time themselves.   Still playing songs by other artists on the TV show while their own first hit single "These Eyes" was beginning to climb the charts.  (kk) 

And then ...

Hi Kent,
Just finished "Burton Cummings Part 2" -- really EXCELLENT interview -- Glamour Boy, one of your all-time GREAT Burton Cummings' songs.  Really loved that you brought up the fact that his music covers so many genres.  Another tune of his in the jazzy category is "Sing Shiny Stockings" off the Dream Of A Child CD and another stellar tune of his is "Heavenly Blue" off the Woman Love CD, but I am sure you have heard them all.  Loved the song you featured of his in the Country genre ... I had not heard that one before.  I am sure you are getting a ton of feedback on your interview with Burton -- GREAT stuff -- looking forward to the final installment tomorrow.  That's a helluva double-bill, The Zombies and Burton Cummings -- now there's an artist line-up that would have no trouble playing until breakfast -- love that song by the Zombies, "You Make Me Feel Good!"  Have a GREAT weekend!
Thanks Again,
Tim Kiley   

More!!!

Hi Kent,
Again, GREAT interview with Burton Cummings ... I really enjoyed it.  Also thanks for featuring "Albert Flasher" in Forgotten Hits today, certainly one of the Guess Who's most durable hits -- it has almost a little history like Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll", a song that only charted at #28 in Billboard but when "Old Time Rock & Roll" was featured in the movie "Risky Business" it went on to become a classic (much the same with the Righteous Brother's "Unchained Melody" in the movie "Ghost").  "Albert Flasher" only charted at number #29 in the U.S. but was featured in the movie "Almost Famous" and when you hear Burton sing it, watch the crowd and you'll see why this song has had the longevity it has -- when you hear Albert Flasher you know that Burton has tapped into a vein of gold in timeless magic rock n' roll much the same as a Fats Domino, Little Richard, or a Jerry Lee Lewis song.  Listen to the song "Lucille" by Little Richard, absolutely timeless -- it's the same with Albert Flasher, just like a good Canadian whiskey, it just gets better with age.
When Burton Cummings joined the Guess Who in January of 1966, shortly thereafter the first song he recorded in the studio that he did lead vocals on with the Guess Who was a song that Neil Young wrote (as you know, Neil spent his junior high and high school years in Winnipeg) called "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong" that spent time on the Canadian charts -- give a listen to it, and you'll see it sounds even better than the version recorded by Neil Young's Buffalo Springfield with Richie Furay on lead vocals.  It'll give you an idea of how the Guess Who sounded right before the collaboration of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took their music in the direction that they became even more famous for.  You take the talent of Burton Cummings, and you stir in the Winnipeg music scene, and add a bit of British Invasion with a sprinkle of youth and dreams and you come up with a whole lot of great music, happy record companies, and loyal fans -- fame was only a by-product.  I think Burton would be the first to tell you that his career wasn't about the gravy, it was about the potatoes, music always was his mistress -- though the Guess Who brought him fame and creature comforts, I think to this day the band that remains a soft spot in his heart is the Deverons -- whereas the Guess Who meant the business of music, the Deverons meant the fun of music -- and when you see him perform, you'll see he still is having fun -- and when you go to the show you will, too.  I think to him music always had the feel of "Mom, look what I colored in school today!"  He has never forgotten the person that made it all possible for him.  You are in for one helluva show.
Peace,
Tim Kiley      
No doubt about it, Burton has a soft spot for The Deverons ... that's really when it all started for him.  But if The Deverons were the vehicle that got him into show business, then The Guess Who became the express train that took him to the top.  We've heard from a few readers over the years who remember seeing Cummings with The Deverons and being able to tell very early on that this guy had something special ... and was going to make it big.  He probably would have ended up being a star either way.
"Albert Flasher" has always been one of my favorites ... it almost feels like Burton wrote this one as a piano warm-up exercise!  He is ALL over the keyboard ... and I've always felt that this should have been a MUCH bigger hit.  (I think part of the problem was the flip-side, "Broken", split the vote and, as such, NEITHER track became as big as they deserved to be.
Having seen The Guess Who, Burton Cummings and/or Randy Bachman close to fifteen times now, you don't have to tell me how entertaining this show is going to be ... I can't WAIT to see him again!  (kk)    

Kent,
This is a wonderful interview.  Congratulations!
Best,
Bob Rush

Your Burton Cummings Interview was a home run -- no wait, I take that back -- a GRAND SLAM! 

I have read many articles and interviews on Cummings and the Guess Who in the past but nothing ever as in-depth as your piece.  You guys covered it all.  Kudos on a job well done.

John 

Great job on the Burton Cummings interview, Kent.  I never had the opportunity to talk with him during my radio heyday, so I was pleased to see that he's a great guy and still has the enthusiasm of a youngster with regard to music -- his and others' as well.
And you're right -- Cummings and Bachman's version of "Don't Talk to Him" is terrific. 
Oh, the broadcasting and format myths we could bust if someone would just give us a little radio station at the end of the dial ...
Scott Paton      

What an excellent job, and what a thrill it was to learn about Burton and learn about him beyond the records.  I loved the Cliff Richards cover, and that take on You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet was wild!  Jealous of you getting to go see him on stage.  

CW Martin

I can't wait ... but it IS a real kick to be able to take another Chicago-area Forgotten Hits Reader to the show, thanks to Arcada Theatre head-honcho Ron Onesti!  Meanwhile, there are still a few good seats available:

www.oshows.com.  (kk)  
Two other great Guess Who tracks I wondered if you knew (I'm sure you do) that weren’t hits but shoulda been are A Wednesday In Your Garden and Flying On The Ground (Written, I’m told, by Neil Young).
CW
You'll find BOTH of these tracks mentioned elsewhere in today's comments page ... obviously fan favorites!  (kk)  

Really, really enjoyed the Burton Cummings interview.

Loved all their classic-hit songs ... was great to re-think about those songs again, especially "Share The Land" (which I had forgotten about!) ... great, great track.

Bravo! 

David Salidor

 

It sounds like some of our Forgotten Hits Readers having been telling Burton about our publication ...  

Very cool ... so he finally figured out that your operation's pretty rockin' (you've really picked up steam since you first got going) ... Definitely will let the Guess Who fans in our group know about it. 

I've yet to read today's second piece, but the first was brilliant, dude - and I have posted the link in a couple places and gotten FB likes and comments about what a great interview this is.  I'm sure Burton was impressed at how well-informed you are.

Dan    

I have him as a friend on Facebook and have dropped him a couple of notes about the site as he had appeared on there a few times recently and that he should check it out as it would be a good read if nothing else, but that you do a great job interviewing people and it has a large following. Next thing I know ... you have this coming up! LOL  Dunno if the extra push did any good, but I am glad you finally got the interview from him. He personally writes a lot on his FB page about stuff in the past, so this one should be good!

doc 

Over the past several years at least four or five people on the list have mentioned that they thought they could hook us up for an interview ... but it never happened.  Honestly, it looked like this one might fall through a couple of times, too, but with the show coming up in a couple of weeks, I really pushed to keep this on track.  Fortunately, Burton's road manager, Sam Boyd, is a long-time Forgotten Hits Reader and really enjoys what we do here ... so he helped to set the whole thing up.  Burton called me at an appointed time and we talked for about 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, I had emailed him DOZENS of questions both before and after our phone conversation ... and then he began emailing me back responses to cover some of the topics we missed during the first go 'round.  (Even at that, there were still several more questions that ultimately got dropped from the website interview simply because we never got around to them.)  Incredibly we were still talking late Tuesday Night / Wednesday Morning ... so I had a rather frantic Thursday trying to get enough edited in time to still hit my self-imposed deadline of Part One going up on the site on Friday ... certainly the most pressure I've ever put on myself to do so (I've probably got 15 hours in Part One alone!) ... but it was important to me to have this run two weeks before the show so that fans would still have the time to get a ticket.

I've heard from several people that he can be difficult at times ... but I saw absolutely no evidence of that.  In fact, most of the interview felt like two old friends, talking about their shared love of music ... as Burton Cummings is, himself, a FAN ... and, as he told us, quite the collector.  Many of those same people (along with quite a few others) wrote in to say that they were amazed at how much I got out of him ... but we haven't even scratched the surface yet ... as this was after Part One ran on the site.  I've still got two more days to go and the best, as they say, is yet to come. 

I found him to be COMPLETELY behind me on this (and I've heard he's been quite complimentary of the results so far) ... very cooperative, very forthcoming and very appreciative of my wanting to get the facts down and help push the concert ... so time will tell if we do more ... who knows, maybe he'll become a regular Forgotten Hits reader and contributor, too.  But I've gotta tell you ... as a life-long fan, this was an INCREDIBLY cool thing for me to do!!!  (kk)

kk -

You raised the bar when it comes to rock interviews with your piece on Burton Cummings.  (Thanks a lot, ya bastard!)  I guess I can cross him off my bucket list ... you covered it all ... there's nothing left to ask him!

All kidding aside, you did a GREAT job with this and with, from what I understand, a sometimes difficult interview subject.  You two seemed to definitely have hit it off and it shows in the final outcome.

Sincere compliments on a job well done ... Forgotten Hits just continues to grow and I, for one, am very happy to be part of the forgotten hits family.

Chuck

This one meant a lot to me ... no question.  Burton mentioned an online group of fans of his called "the faithful" and I would be remiss not to do the same.  Just about a year ago, I was sitting here computer-less with no financial means to solve this problem.  For all intents and purposes, I was struggling with the very real possibility that, after nearly fourteen years, this might be the end of Forgotten Hits.  But a group of devoted readers got together and raised donations to get us back in the game.  Were it not for them, this interview might never have happened ... so once I again I thank MY "faithful".  Tell you what ... scroll back and look at the work we've done here in the past year ... the idea that NONE of this would have happened is literally unthinkable to me.  SO many new opportunities have presented themselves in the past year and, thankfully, I was around to take advantage of the majority of them.  So thank you again, the Forgotten Hits Faithful, who have stuck with us for all these years ... and are encouraging me to keep it going for at least another sixty!!! (I'm not sure THAT'LL happen ... lol ... but hey, right now I'm feelin' pretty good about what we've accomplished here!)  kk 

If you are a fan, join our group on Facebook.  Burton drops by from time to time.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BurtonsFaithful/

We will be playing the September 7th concert on www.fenx.us on Sunday if you would like to listen.

In fact, I will be running a series of Burton Concerts from this year and last.    
The Guess Who at the Cresentwood Centre 1966 with Chad Allan and Burton Cummings 
The Guess Who reunion at the Cresentwood Center in Winnipeg in 2000 with the 4 originals including Jim Kale Burton Cummings in Cornwall 2012 
Burton Cummings at the Red Robinson Vancouver 2012 Burton Cummings Live at the Imperial Room Toronto 1982 Burton Cummings Solo Live at the Red Robinson  
Tuesdays, Burton's long time Album designer has a show.  Ernie Celafu from Pacific Eye and Ear, which runs at 8 pm Eastern. 
And thank you for running (and crediting!) my photo of Burton and the band on your website ... you'll see one of photos included in inner sleeve of the "Massey Hall" CD, too.

Kevin Suter

Awesome interview ... Burton emailed me that he had a great talk with you.
Thanks for doing it and if you need anything else let me know.
Cheers.
Sam Boyd
Tour Manager

Kent ...
Enjoyed your Burton Cummings interview.  
According to Ron Smith's Book "Eight Days A Week," 9/17/1975 - " Guess Who Day " is declared in Winnipeg.
Frank B.
Well, that would be TODAY!!!  So Happy Guess Who Day everybody!  (kk) 

 

Just got through reading the interview on your web site about Burton Cummings. Awesome job!! I have been a life long fan and was fortunate enough to have seen the Guess Who a couple of times back in the day. I just moved back to the Chicago area and would love to be able to go to the show at the Arcada Theatre (which is only 20 minutes from my home) to see Burton once again - especially along with the Zombies!! Are you freakin' kidding me!!!! Just saw Tower of Power there a while back - what an awesome theatre.  My son (16) plays piano and loves it when I put on my Burton Cummings solo piano CD. Even he, at 16, is influenced by the classic rock masters!! 
Best Wishes, 
Randy Diehl 
Bartlett, IL.  
The Arcada Theatre is a GREAT place to see a show ... and this is gonna be a good one!!!  Hope to see you out there!  (kk)  

Kent, 
Like you, I've seen the Guess Who multiple times, once without Burton and once without Bachman and with Bachman billed as the Guess Who and just as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman. I, too, was at that Rosemont show. Dunno how I missed you that nite. Sadly, there's no way I can make that show on the 27th, so that's one less entry the eventual winner has to compete with. However for those of you who can't decide, let me say one thing: GO!!!! You will not be disappointed. Not that Burton needs my official Rock And Roll Never Forgets endorsement, but he has it anyways.  
Jack 

Just finished your Burton Cummings interview ... what a masterpiece!  I saw the mini Guess Who reunion show in 2001 at The Rosemont Theater, too ... what a show!  Would love to see Burton in concert again.  Throw my hat in the ring ... but either way, I'm going!  If I don't win tickets on Friday, I'll be buying them Friday Night! 
Bob  

YES, Kent!
Love the interviews!
Deb  

Have never heard Burton Cummings live, but I congratulate the ticket winner as I know it will be the time of their lives.  More great music. 
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano    

I'm applying to win the two free tickets to see Burton Cummings!   The world's best voice (according to some guy named John Lennon.)  
Thanks, 
Maureen Lilla 

Loved your discussion with Burton Cummings.  Please add me to any of your lists so I receive any email from you guys.  Have a great day and all stay well.

Shawn Riley

Welcome to Forgotten Hits, Shawn ... I think you're gonna like it here!  (kk)    

Some corrections are in order with regards to your Guess Who article. 
If you check, you will find the original name of the band was "Chad Allan and the Reflections" ... The name "Reflections" was taken by another band and thus the change to "Expressions".

Also, I believe (99 percent certain) that Burton Cummings joined the Guess Who in 1966 not 1967.

Lastly you might want to check on the song "Timeless Love" that I think charted on the US C/W charts.

I just want to keep your site correct ... Would appreciate feedback.

Richard Stonely

Well, I think at best we're talking about "technicalities" here. 
Chad Allan's band may have started out as "The Reflections" in 1962 ... but at the time they recorded "Shakin' All Over", they were already known as Chad Allan and the Expressions ... soon to be re-christened The Guess Who (technically just "Guess Who?" ... the "The" was added later ... and the question mark was dropped) when that record was released.  They've been The Guess Who ever since. 
My research says that when Michigan's Reflections scored a hit with "(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet", Allan's group released their next single ("A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues") as Chad Allan and the Original Reflections.  However, since BOTH groups were recording for the Quality Record Label, they quickly became Chad Allan and the Expressions ... prior to recording their cover of "Shakin' All Over". 
Burton's first charted record with the band came in 1967 as stated ("His Girl") ... he first joined the band in the Summer of 1965 as their keyboard player ... but he didn't move to the forefront until then, by which time Chad Allan had moved on.  And finally, "Timeless Love" did NOT chart on Billboard's Country Chart ... so overall I think we did okay!!!  (kk) 
However, while digging deeper I did discover a few things I didn't know ...  
It was Pirate Radio in the UK that broke their single "His Girl" (which failed to chart back home in Canada or here in The States).

And, on their 1966 LP "Hey Ho, What You Do To Me", the band recorded "Hurting Each Other", a song that would become a huge #1 Hit for The Carpenters six years later. (Jeez, who DIDN'T record this song?!?!)  Yet EVERY early version failed to make an impact on the charts!  (Burton, I love you guys ... but this is a God-Awful rendition of this song!!!! lol)  kk

Kent -

The Burton Cummings interview was a fantastic read. You covered plenty of new ground and somehow kept it from becoming a rant about the imposter band who owns the name. 
BTW - Richard Perry says "You're So Vain" is about a composite of men, but mostly Warren Beatty.  
Be Well,  
Carl Wiser  
www.songfacts.com

I had always heard it was a conglomerate, too ... with Warren Beatty being the lead character ... and (as mentioned in the interview) Mick Jagger being a player as well.  Knowing Mick, he probably got a real kick out of singing about himself as a possible candidate!  (kk)

 

I am writing to join your many fans in congratulating you on a job well done with the Burton Cummings interview.  He was one of my bucket list interviews and I got the chance around 20 years ago when Rhino released the Best Of Burton Cummings.  It was one of my favorite on-air moments.  Your interview and special features brought back a lot of good memories.  The song Star Baby got a great deal of play on WLS but was only #39 in Billboard.  I remember them on the Midnight Special singing Clap For the Wolfman with Wolfman Jack joining them on stage.  I enjoy all of their A and B sides.  When Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw joined the group,  the two-guitar attack made for some great tracks.  The Burton Cummings song You Saved My Soul was the track my girl friend and I called our song.  I have now been married to my girl friend for 26 years!  The song was from the movie Melanie which I have not seen since the early 80s on HBO.  Thanks for bringing back the memories! 
Phil - WRCO 

"Star Baby" was HUGE here in Chicago (it peaked at #3) ... we used to play that one in OUR band, too!  I will never forget seeing The Guess Who perform "Clap For The Wolfman" WITH Wolfman Jack on "The Midnight Special" ... Wolfman had become SO associated with the show as its host ... "American Graffiti" may have introduced him to a national audience but "The Midnight Special" put him over the top.  I've never seen "Melanie", Burton's shot as an actor but it gets a pretty favorable review on imdb ...  
Click here: Melanie (1982) - IMDb ... in fact, it looks like it even won a few awards!  (LOVE the song "You Saved My Soul" ... been playing it a lot here this past week!)  Thanks for the kind words, Phil ... now I wanna hear YOUR interview with him!!!  (kk)

I've been crazily busy lately, but never too busy to read Forgotten Hits. I've meant to comment on your interview with Burton, which was fantastic.   

His Girl got lots of airplay back in 1967 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and we had the single around the house. The flip was It's My Pride, which has found its way on to the Nugget series, I think. 

The other thing that your interview did was to get me off my butt and finish buying the Guess Who and Burton solo stuff that I want on CD. You should get a kickback from Amazon. <grin>

Thanks again for all the great info.

Bill

I have been a BIG Guess Who fan and BC fan for 40 years. I simply loved that interview!

Keep up the great work! I DIG IT!

Jeff Lamb

Hi Kent,
Congratulations on all of the well-deserved accolades you have received in the presentation of the superlative Burton Cummings interview in Forgotten Hits ... as with a song, you can tell when it's a hit! 

I'm sure Burton Cummings, his Manager Lorne Saifer, and Tour-Manager Sam Boyd must be very pleased with the results and its content.  What a great preface to what I'm sure will be one of the best music shows to hit Chicago this year!  Burton Cummings' voice and compositions and their longevity speak for themselves. 

Great interview again Kent, love Forgotten Hits -- continued growth and success!
Best Regards,
Tim Kiley

Keep up the good work. Would love to see Burton Cummings, especially after your piece.

Ken Voss

 

Kent ...

Your interview with Burton Cummings was SPOT ON!!!!!  What a cool dude ... I'm glad to see that he is still passionate about all of those old great songs ... shame he and Randy can't reconcile their differences 'cause a Guess Who Reunion would be KILLER!!!!!! 

As always, keep up the great work you do, because all us oldies fans and old time radio folks sure as hell appreciate it!!!!!!! 

Rock On!               

Pete G

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(Note:  This article was first published in Forgotten Hits in 2013)