SHILLELAGH MUSIC
BURTON CUMMINGS
Burton Cummings is having a few good moments.
Over the past several months, he won back the rights to the name of his famous band from the classic rock era, The Guess Who, after a grinding legal battle; released his first album in 16 years; and launched an ambitious 30-date tour of the United States (which includes shows this month in Morristown, Red Bank and Atlantic City).
Not surprisingly, this series of events has Cummings, 77, feeling upbeat and confident. “The title song of my new album, which is ‘A Few Good Moments,’ sums up the feelings. It’s gotten good reviews,” he said. “And we’ve got a lot of shows booked in the States. We’ve playing almost constantly since early September and so far, the reaction has been tremendous.” (listen to title track below)
Indeed, the muscular-voiced piano player and guitarist, who wrote or co-wrote radio staples such as “American Woman,” “No Time” and “These Eyes,” has returned with an arresting batch of melodic songs that veer from ballads to fast-paced rockers. And his voice has largely retained its range and trademark expressiveness, a boast that some of his contemporaries can no longer make.
A standout on the new album is “My Rhythm and My Rhyme” (listen below), a wistful, somewhat autobiographical ode to both the passing of time and an uncertain determination to somehow move forward. “It’s some of my best lyrics in years; it’s particularly honest,” he said, although he has yet to play it on the current trek, which is billed as his 60th Anniversary Hits Tour.
The cover of Burton Cummings’ album, “A Few Good Moments.”
He sings on this song:
I guess that hell has frozen over
‘Cause The Eagles took the stage,
But as the sunlight hits my scrapbooks
I still can’t act my age
In the limousine outside the door
The driver looks so young,
But somewhere in the after hours
The last song isn’t sung,
And filling in my calendar
I see that I’ve a busy time,
Hunting for my rhythm and my rhyme
Before the jets and passports
The power was in the song
But now it seems the vision
Is never meant to last that long
Should the days remain amusing
Much beyond the naked eye
Suppose it all depends on point of view,
How hard I wanna try,
Pasting in these 8-by-10s
Has never been a crime,
Hunting for my rhythm and my rhyme
Interestingly, the tour is also a celebration that marks the end of a long-running legal battle that Cummings and Randy Bachman, the guitarist and co-songwriter in The Guess Who, waged over the rights to its name and trademark. This is a chapter that Cummings no longer prefers to discuss because the litigation was ugly, time-consuming and expensive.
The Guess Who’s best-selling album was 1970’s “American Woman.”
The Guess Who, arguably Canada’s most famous rock band, began splintering in the early 1970s, with Bachman going on to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive. In the mid-1980s, former bassist Jim Kale obtained the trademark rights. Later, Kale assembled a new band — which sometimes included original Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson — and toured under the famous moniker.
The move infuriated Cummings and Bachman, who eventually filed a lawsuit over their frustration that the band was unfairly trading on the name even though the primary movers behind the original sound were not involved. As far as Cummings was concerned, fans were getting the wrong impression when they would buy tickets thinking they would see the original band.
“These guys were running around pretending to be the real Guess Who,” he said. “They would actually sign the real records for fans in order to promote their fake shows. It was just a disgrace.”
He also pointed out that promotional ads for the band would sometimes include videos in which he sang Guess Who hits. “I’m glad I don’t have to think about it anymore,” he said.
It is worth noting that last April, Cummings took an unusual and drastic move by cancelling his agreements with performance rights organizations, which allow concert venues to host live shows where songs are played. Since he owns the publishing rights to the Guess Who hits, this meant the “fake” band could not perform Guess Who songs at concerts.
This step effectively shut them down, but it was not an easy decision, because it also meant that Cummings had to forfeit potential royalties. Until the litigation was settled in September, he stood to lose payments for live performances, radio play and TV advertising placements, among other things. This applied not just to recordings on which Cummings played, but recordings of any songs he wrote.
With this episode in the rearview mirror, Cummings now feels free to focus on the here and now. He is proud of the band behind him — some of the musicians have been with him for nearly 20 years — and he continues to write songs. Although there are no specific plans, he says he may start working on yet another album soon.
MAUREEN LILLA
Burton Cummings with guitarist Tom Bovaconti.
For those who wonder, though, whether the two key driving forces in The Guess Who will reunite and tour using their famous name … well, that seems unclear. They have performed together at times in recent years, but they seem to be content doing their own things. Bachman, for instance, has been touring under the Bachman-Turner Overdrive name with help from his son, Tal, who is also a guitarist.
“I really don’t know” about such a reunion, Cummings said. “Randy is out doing BTO and I’m out doing my solo stuff with my great band. It’s not like I talk to Randy every day. I can’t tell you much more than that … But I’m still hitting my notes and singing like the same guy. The thing is I’m back in the States singing my own songs. It’s like a welcome-back. It’s nice to be playing here again. It’s all I care about.”
Burton Cummings will perform at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, March 12 at 7:30 p.m.; Ovation Hall at The Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, March 14 at 9 p.m.; and The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. For more about him, visit burtoncummings.com.
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