Driving Music: Bachman-Turner Overdrive

News and such - last updated 2008

• Randy Bachman recently played in Toronto, presenting a career retrospective. He has a radio show, Vinyl Tap, on CBC and Sirius Satellite radio on Saturday nights, and released Jazz Thing II. In 2008 he toured minor arenas on his own.
• We have, with the help of A. Gosse, brought our discography up to date with new releases and re-releases.
• Buy individual tracks or whole albums here: (Randy Bachman seems to be slowly warming up to iTunes. When iTunes first appeared we corresponded with his manager, who liked the idea, and we sent over links to Apple’s tools. No way to tell if that had any effect! iTunes became a juggernaut.)
  • The BTO/Bachman tunes on iTunes have multiplied; there are five songs from Bob's Garage, both Merge and Any Road in their entirety and both quite worth getting, Jazz Thing and Every Song Tells A Story, and ten BTO albums (okay, half of them are compilations) — discount-priced below $10 in most cases! So for under $8 you can get BTO 2, Four Wheel Drive, the 1990 BTO album ("All Time Greatest Hits"), etc. - or the anthology for $20. Actual CDs are probably a better deal.
  • Click on the icon at right for Bachman-Turner Overdrive (for Randy Bachman, get to the store and then search for Randy Bachman.)
• Randy Bachman has re-released Brave Belt I and II as a single CD. The old BTO albums seem to be coming out slowly in remastered form; check our discography for new details.

Introduction to Bachman-Turner Overdrive

How many people still remember Bachman-Turner Overdrive? Okay, how about the songs "Takin' care of business," "Let it roll on down the highway," and "You ain't seen nothin' yet"? Thought so.

BTO had a bunch of gold records in a very short time, but they did not last long enough (for personal reasons) to put an indelible stamp into the world's consciousness. Worse, when they came back in the 1980s, they turned down a multimillion dollar offer from a promoter to manage their own act; the music industry snubbed them, and they ended up playing to much smaller houses than they should have. The band underwent personnel changes until half of it was new. Then, at almost the same time, the "old" band formed to play with Ringo Starr's nationwide tour. It was messy, and the names of their new records didn't help. "Bachman-Turner Overdrive" had completely different songs from the 1974 record, but the name, confusingly, was the same. Their PR sheet actually quoted from a college newspaper — at that, one which has become an adult magazine.

The band was good. Their music was more sophisticated than most would credit, partly because most never heard it in full stereo on good equipment, but mostly because they could never please critics. When they kept to a fairly uniform style (Four Wheel Drive, Not Fragile), they were called commercial and repetitive. When they deviated, they were criticized even more, and that in an era of truly pretentious bands — Jethro Tull, Styx, and the like.

Another reviewer noted BTO's blue collar attitude and emphasis, and it's certainly true that if they were auto-oriented they were also good workmen. They worked hard at their trade, and their music had a surprising polish especially when compared to contemporary hard rock bands. Most of their mid-life songs are fast and energetic. Their trademark sound was strongest and most consistent on Not Fragile and Four Wheel Drive, with traces on BTO, BTO II, and Freeways; it was completely gone by the time Rock N Roll Nights came out.

They played good music in their comeback. They had energy, they had great new songs, they had no publicity and they just couldn't do it on their own. Times had changed. Simply touring and being good weren't enough without commercial backing and bucks for the DJs. So they disappeared back into obscurity. Randy Bachman got together with Neil Young and they did a couple of solo albums, but they never really got any airplay. At least they had a little fun and we got a little good music.

Brave Belt

Brave Belt was the original name of the band that was to become Bachman-Turner Overdrive. They produced two albums which, musically, have nothing in common at all, and are in fact little related to the band's next album, Bachman-Turner Overdrive I. Part of the reason is C.F. Turner's appearance to replace Chad Allen after Brave Belt I. Brave Belt II was re-released when BTO was hot, so there are many vinyl copies around, but Brave Belt I is quite rare. Few will really miss it.

Brave Belt I was unrecognizable as the precursor to Brave Belt II. Mainly a collaboration between Chad Allen and Randy Bachman, it is more folk than rock; more Gordon Lightfoot than CCR. It's a rare album which I was fortunate enough to acquire recently, but I suspect most BTO enthusiasts, even those who like Brave Belt II, would not care much for it. In short, if you were to ask me whether it was worth the amount of time I spent searching for it over 15 years, I'd have to say it was not, except in that I am no longer curious about it, and I have finally filled the other side of my Brave Belt cassette.

With its CCR influence, Fred Turner vocals, and stronger guitars, Brave Belt II was country rock more than anything else. It is an interesting album in its variety and style; it featured multiple vocalists on most tracks, as well as the dual guitars that were to make the band famous. Its commercial lack of success was hardly surprising, though it became widely available when re-released in 1975.

Ironhorse and Union

When Randy Bachman left, or was kicked out, of BTO, he started a surprisingly good band named Ironhorse. (BTO album reviews and notes). Ironhorse was good enough for fame and heavy airplay, but by the luck of the draw, or the quality of the relationship with music company executives, the band ended up forgotten.

Union was essentially Ironhorse plus Fred Turner. Their only album, On Strike, is the best of the three, and could easily have passed for a BTO record - more so than some actual BTO records. Turner's voice was, not surprisingly, in fine form for this record.

Since those days, the band has arisen many times in many different forms, to the point where there were to BTOs playing at once some time ago - a Bachman-Turner Overdrive with Randy Bachman, who apparently owns the trademark to the full name, and a BTO with Fred Turner. The pair have come back now and then, but you never know when or how, and getting concert information is very difficult. The one web site which used to post tour dates stopped doing so in 1999. Their most recent album, Trial by Fire, doesn't have Randy Bachman - but it is quite good and we strongly recommend it. The recording quality shows the effects of 30 years of audio advances.

Some modern-day BTO sightings

"The Simpsons" - harassed by Homer to playing just their hits at a local fair.

"New Waterford Girl" - movie soundtrack

Office Depot commercials - TCB.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive links

BTO Rocks - Rob Bachman's page - many photos, some movies. The "Tour Date" page now links directly to PollStar for updated information. Good move, Robbie! (Not updated for about four years.)

Randy Bachman's autobiography concentrates on the Guess Who but there's some interesting stuff on BTO as well, including the development of the band from Brave Belt I onwards. Worth $16.

randybachman.com - this site seems to have suddenly acquired a great deal of information.

Reine's BTO site - updated in 2005!

Buy BTO albums. - and to read reviews of each album, including the ones you can't get (Ironhorse, Union, Rock n Roll Nights, Street Action, Randy Bachman Solo Record). Your purchases will help to support this site.

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