Rocker to share songs from tribute to Beatle at Kelowna music festival
Songs from album for George Harrison will be on set list when former Guess Who member performs at Rock the Lake next weekend in Kelowna
Randy Bachman feels a close to connection to George Harrison. “George was always my favourite Beatle,” said Bachman, a former member of The Guess Who and BTO and now a solo artist, who will bring his band to Rock the Lake Friday night in Kelowna.
“I was the quiet guy in The Guess Who. He was the quiet Beatle. I wrote a song, ‘Between Two Mountains,’ because on this side you had Mount Lennon, on the other side you had Mount McCartney. George patiently waited his turn to do his own song and grew to be his own mountain.”
Bachman’s “Between Two Mountains,” from his newly released CD “By George By Bachman,” is one of his favourite compositions of the past decade. It opens the tribute album and there’s a reprise at the end. (Think of “Sgt. Pepper.”)
In between, he reworks such numbers as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Think for Yourself,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and “Handle With Care,” from Harrison’s days with The Traveling Wilburys.
Bachman, who hosts his own classicrock radio show on CBC, never met Harrison. He spoke to him by phone only once, following the breakup of The Guess Who. He wanted advice from a musician who also experienced a famous breakup. Bachman’s recollection of the conversation was both Harrison and his wife asking if Winnie the Pooh was from his hometown of Winnipeg.
The closest Bachman got to The Beatles was in 1992, when he was included in Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, along with Billy Preston, John Entwistle, Mark Farmer and Felix Cavaliere.
“It was a wonderful time in my life, to play not only with Ringo but Billy Preston and all those other guys,” he said. “I stood where George did, playing lead guitar on ‘With a Little Help From My Friends,’ ‘Boys,’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’ I was George for Ringo for a year.”
Among those giving the album “By George By Bachman” a thumbs-up are the most-demanding rock critics in the world — Beatles’ fans.
“I can’t do ‘Taxman’ any better than it has already been done. So I made it a fast Texas shuffle. I made it almost unrecognizable. When we used to do Beatles’ songs when I was with The Guess Who, Burton Cummings always sang John and Paul songs. I got to sing all the George songs. Every band has that designation. The drummer gets to sing ‘Yellow Submarine.’”
Bachman didn’t feel pressure paying tribute to an iconic musician. He’s done it before, even asking to sing the signature songs. On a Thin Lizzy tribute, he “pompously” asked to do “The Boys Are Back in Town.” On a tribute to Del Shannon, he chose “Runaway.”
Reversing the scenario, Bachman is uncertain as to his favourite remake of a Randy Bachman song.
“I heard Kelly Clarkson the other night do ‘American Woman’ and that was stunning. There was Aretha Franklin and Lenny Kravitz; they were both amazing. Even heavy metal bands like Led Zeppelin would do a few bars during sound checks. There was also the great Kurt Elling, who did ‘She’s Come Undone’ and made it a jazz standard. Junior Walker did ‘These Eyes’ — our song being done by a Motown guy.”
During his set at Rock the Lake, Bachman will include the mandatory songs from his new album, along with a cross-section of BTO and Guess Who hits. His son Tal is with the band and they will feature his song “She’s So High,” a global top-10 smash in 1999.
“That song is still played all over the world. I heard it in an elevator recently. Elevator music ain’t what it used to be — it’s now rock ’n’ roll, not Henry Mancini,” the proud father said, prefacing that he admires Mancini’s music.
Of the songs he’s famous for, Bachman never tires of “Takin’ Care of Business.”
The song happened by accident, he said. It was kicking around for years dating back to The Guess Who era. (“Burton Cummings gagged when he first heard it.”) At that point, it was known as “White Collar Worker,” and the title was frequently yelled out in the style of “Paperback Writer.”
“We were performing with BTO and Fred Turner had lost his voice. I didn’t know what to sing. I told the band, play these three chords — C, B flat and F — over and over. I started to sing my lyrics and it fit. It was magical. Today, we only have to play a few chords and it’s like the angels. You have 10-yearolds and 80-year-olds grooving to it.”
Rock the Lake is set for Aug. 10-12 outside Prospera Place. Tickets are available online, through the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.