Randy Bachman (left) and Burton Cummings perform as the Guess Who in Moncton last week.Corey Kelly/Provided
Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are touring together as the Guess Who for the first time in 23 years. On stage with five backing musicians, the two core members ran through a jukebox of hit songs written and recorded by the Winnipeg native, while a mustachioed Cummings introduced his famous songs.
“You know that’s Randy and I’m Burton,” Cummings said Saturday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. “Because we’re the guys outside in the big trucks.”
These days, I’m not so sure. For years, the pseudo-Guess Who toured and recorded without Cummings and Bachman, now 78 and 82, respectively. The restored Guess Who is finally real, but the world of live music is littered with artists whose connections to the original band are questionable.
For example, classic rockers Foreigner and Canadian Trooper tour without original members. Fifties R&B crooners The Platters and the Coasters operate like a sports franchise, with younger members filling in for departing veterans over the years, as if they were the Toronto Blue Jays. Sports fans cheer on uniforms. Music fans will cheer for golden oldies songs.
Guess Who Were These Eyes (“We’re gonna play the song that changed our lives”), No Time (“I hope you guys like it, it’s Guess Who rock and roll”), Star Baby (“If it’s not your favorite Guess Who song, just two minutes Among the songs performed were American Woman (“Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay”), Share the Land (“Songs I Wrote in the 19th Century”) and Undun (“We’re Here to Stir Some Memories”).
In the background of the stage hung a psychedelic-colored banner that read “The Guess Who” written in a groovy font. It was huge and why wasn’t it? Cummings and Bachmann fought a long, hard, litigious battle to get their name back.
For decades, original bassist Jim Cale held this trademark. He and original drummer Garry Peterson toured and recorded as the US-based Guess Who with anonymous musicians. When Bachman and Cummings rejoined the band for the Running Back Through Canada tour in the early 2000s, Cale did not participate, but he did charge 20 percent of the proceeds for the use of his name.
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In 2024, Bachman and Cummings reached a legal settlement to reacquire the Guess Who trademark. Hence the name of the current series of dates in North America: “Takin’ It Back Tour.”
Bachmann called Cale’s Guess Who a “clone band” that hurt their fans. “I used to get emails from people saying, ‘I went to see you and you weren’t there. What’s going on? This is a rip-off,'” the guitarist recently told the Globe and Mail.
As for Cummings, the singer and keyboardist made a special exception for Thunder Bay-born singer Derek Sharp, who he fronted for many years as the Guess Who’s successor. “I didn’t want this young blonde clown running around thinking this was his song,” Cummings said last fall. “This is a legacy. We just wanted to stop the fake Guess Who.”
The band’s name deserves its weight on a gold record. Foreigners are selling tickets because they have a strong brand and set list. Chicago fans touring with Styx this summer are paying to hear the song, even though the song’s original singer, Peter Cetera, left the band in 1985. For many concertgoers, the lure of familiar songs outweighs the cult following of famous, recognizable performers.
“These groups have built great memories with people, and people are trying to recapture those memories,” said Sam Feldman, a Canadian music manager and former booking agent. “As long as there is a market, the brand will survive.”
But is marketing New Coke as Coca-Cola Classic an abuse of fan memory or an appropriation of nostalgia? Feldman doesn’t think so, as long as it’s clear what’s on the label. “I think artists have an obligation to let people know exactly what the show is and who’s in the band.”
Canadian hard rock trio Triumph did just that when they announced their current reunion tour. After fans expressed confusion about who would perform, the band wrote on its website that guitarist/singer Rick Emmett and drummer/singer Gil Moore would be on stage each night along with three other musicians, and that original bassist Mike Levine (who has been experiencing health issues) would be participating in some performances.
“Some of the chaos was self-inflicted,” Moore told the Globe. “A couple of years ago, I told an interviewer about the idea of a virtual Triumph show. But that’s not what we’re doing. And I think we’ve made that clear.”
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April Wine will open for Triumph on the tour. Guitarist Brian Greenway is the only remaining musician from the Roller Band’s classic lineup. Before frontman and chief songwriter Miles Goodwin died in 2023 at the age of 75, he had already retired and authorized the band to tour without him.
Similarly, when Trooper founding members Lar McGuire and Brian Smith retired from creating a little hell in 2021, they celebrated new band members continuing under the Trooper name.
In 1977, the band had a hit with “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time),” written by McGuire and Smith and produced by Bachman. Almost 50 years later, Trooper and other bands from the classic rock generation have changed their minds and decided to keep the good times going for as long as possible.
On June 27th, Canadian jazz-rock ensemble Lighthouse will perform at Toronto’s Concert Hall. This concert hall is the same venue where One Fine Morning Band first performed in 1969. Keyboardist Paul Hoffart is the only active Lighthouse musician who was on stage that night 57 years ago.
He and his band manager wife, Brenda Hoffart, had been offered the rights to the Lighthouse name over the years, but never considered taking the money because they felt they would be “sold out.” But what about now?
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I don’t blame the person who did it. And even if we go bankrupt and need money, you never know because it’s a business.”
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