60 Seconds with...
Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Randy Bachman
A minute’s enough time to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped in his limo for the airport, we grabbed a quick chat and chucked a dozen questions at Randy. GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar?
RB: Chet Atkins, whom I discovered by listening to Lenny Breau. I couldn’t believe all those fingerpicking parts could be played at once.
GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after?
RB: A Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120, which is what Lenny Breau, Chet and Duane Eddy played.
GT: What was the best gig you ever did?
RB: Seattle Pop Festival, 1969. I was with The Guess Who and the three-day line-up was mindboggling. Led Zep, Bo Diddley, The Byrds, Ike & Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Chicago Transit Authority, Santana, 10 Years After, Flying Burrito Brothers, Tim Buckley, Youngbloods, Charles Lloyd, Albert Collins, Lonnie Mack, Spirit, Vanilla Fudge…
GT: And your worst playing nightmare?
RB: It was at an outside gig in West Canada, when a windstorm came up and blew all the lighting and sound rigging down onto the stage.
GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?
RB: To let the soloing breathe. Space is as important as note choice; and also to play something you and others can sing, not a blur of scales.
GT: Do you still practise?
RB: Yes, several hours a day.
GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?
RB: No.
GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who
Space is as important as note choice. Play something you and others can sing, not a blur of scales.
would the other players be (dead or alive)?
John Bonham – drums; Sting – bass; Robert Plant – vocals; Joe Bonamassa – guitar; (German boogie-woogie prodigy) Michael Kaeshammer – piano.
GT: Who’s the single greatest guitarist that’s ever lived?
RB: Probably Lenny Breau.
GT: Is there a solo you really wish you had played?
RB: Yes, Clapton: Live Crossroads, from Wheels Of Fire.
GT: What’s the solo or song of your own, of which you’re most proud?
RB: American Woman.
GT: What would you most like to be remembered for?
RB: For writing good songs and being a nice guy!
GT: And what are you up to at the moment?
RB: Touring with Fred Turner as Bachman-Turner, doing solo gigs with my band, and preparing charts for a series of gigs.