Randy Bachman picks favourite Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive covers

TORONTO – Randy Bachman looks at ranking cover versions of his songs the way others might regard picking a favourite birthday gift.

“When you write a song, whoever covers it is your favourite artist at the moment,” he said recently. “It’s the ones that sell that are buying Corn Flakes and putting gas in your car, but there’s the ones that a ton of people haven’t heard that are still great.”

Nevertheless, with Bachman set to receive a lifetime achievement honour at the SOCAN Awards, the 71-year-old agreed to look back on some memorable covers of his hits.

“A Wednesday In Your Garden,” The Guess Who (1968)

Though not one of the band’s best-known tunes, Bachman loves the version R&B group the Staple Sisters recorded in 1970.

When he met Mavis Staples in February 2014 after her show at Toronto’s Koerner Hall, the always-affable Bachman approached her backstage and asked if she’d remembered covering the song.

“She said: ‘Sit right here,’” he recalled. “I sat down and she sang me the whole song.

“I was in tears. I couldn’t believe it. She remembered all the words and everything.”

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“These Eyes,” The Guess Who (1968)

The band’s first major U.S. hit, co-written by Bachman and Burton Cummings, quickly found fans in Junior Walker and the All-Stars.

The Motown fixtures took the song to No. 3 on the R&B chart and the 16th spot on the pop chart.

“That was a huge thrill for a couple white punks from Winnipeg,” Bachman said.

“And then we did shows with Junior Walker and he actually did the song in the show.

“It was amazing. We were just sitting there stunned.”

“These Eyes” was later interpreted by Lawrence Gowan, Jacksoul, Michael Bolton, Maestro and — as Bachman puts it — a “whole bunch of reggae guys,” including Alton Ellis and Stranger Cole.

“But they never did the hard part in the middle,” Bachman notes, “where it modulates up a whole tone.”

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“Undun,” The Guess Who (1969)

The swinging ’69 single has understandably become a magnet for jazz musicians, including Sophie Milman, Ranee Lee, Phil Dwyer and Kurt Elling, who once invited Bachman onstage to play it with him at the Toronto Jazz Festival.

“I couldn’t even play it,” Bachman lamented. “He and his piano player invented it in some 11/4 time or some bizarre thing.

“I didn’t know when to change chords and I didn’t know the chords they were playing.”

Eventually, Elling gave Bachman 24 bars in the middle to strut his fretboard stuff.

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“American Woman,” The Guess Who (1970)

Although many have taken on the Guess Who’s signature song and its southward howl — including Ringo Starr and Krokus — Lenny Kravitz recorded the definitive revision.

His version, originally made for “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” won Kravitz a Grammy and found prime position on his “Greatest Hits” collection.

“That song was an amazing thing for him and us,” Bachman said.

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“Takin’ Care of Business,” Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)

As far as Bachman is concerned, Vancouver punk heroes D.O.A. breathed new life into this hard-hat rock song.

Bachman calls their version a “punk anthem.”

“I thought the song was kind of over, and suddenly … it’s like all over the world,” he said.

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“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)

Bachman had parted ways with Cummings by the time he was stuttering his way to the top spot on the U.S. chart, but that didn’t stop Cummings from including his own version on his first solo album.

Bachman calls the interpretation a “real tribute.”

Now, when Bachman performs with symphonies, he adopts Cummings’ lounge-y approach to the tune — so it’s Bachman covering Cummings covering Bachman.

“I always say: think Michael Buble,” Bachman said.

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