Bachman-Turner Overdrive - I & II (1973)

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - I & II (1973)

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive:

Ben Davies called Bachman-Turner Overdrive's first album a "fusion of Lynyrd Skynyrd-style Southern/trucker rock and ZZ Top's anthemic arena rock," and with their logo imprinted in a big metallic gear which looks like it inspired James Cameron's Terminator trademark, Randy Bachman, his brothers Tim and Robbie, and C.F. Turner dish out a methodical mix of plodding hard dirges. They took the Brave Belt beginnings and followed them to the harder extremes, a focus on blue-collar working men's music without the swagger of Michigan's Grand Funk Railroad. Taking a cue from Leslie West's Great Fatsby persona, much like the Guess Who at this point in time, Bachman-Turner Overdrive let it all hang out, choosing a sloppy "everyman" image for their stage look. It wasn't a pretty sight, nor is the music enhanced with any decorations; the discipline of Jack Richardson, who clearly had his hands full with Burton Cummings' control of Randy Bachman's previous group, was forsaken for Bachman's vision, for better or for worse. Like the 1984 reunion/finale on Compleat/Polygram, also entitled Bachman-Turner Overdrive, this is a very consistent set with no hits and a focus on bottom-heavy sounds. Not heavy metal, more like molten metal, oozing and dripping without the high-energy ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin injected into their driving numbers. Bachman-Turner Overdrive is rocking here in the sitting position even on an up-tempo opener, "Gimme Your Money Please," one of C.F. Turner's best contributions to the Bachman-Turner Overdrive catalog. But Tim Bachman's "Down and out Man" does have the seeds of "Takin' Care of Business," and it is the cleverness of journeyman brother Randy that crafted this enterprise, continually shaping it. The gatefold's side-view mirror images of the band in an automobile junkyard sums up what the music is all about. Fans of both Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who had good reason to complain. Had Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman pooled their efforts, the Guess Who would have been a North American powerhouse. Three decades after this music's release, the reconstituted Guess Who plays hits from both bands, but the worst excesses of these artists were put on public display, with some of the klunkers recorded by both Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who. Four of the eight tunes on this debut are from Randy Bachman's pen, and though there is nothing as dynamic as their first hit, "Let It Ride," on this debut, there are none of the bad tracks found on future discs which hit the proverbial brick wall. C.F. Turner's "Blue Collar" is a harbinger of "Looking out for #1" from 1975's Head On, and this debut sets the tone for the success that would follow.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive II:

Released when Mercury Records was still located in Chicago, IL, back in 1973, the second album from Bachman-Turner Overdrive was the first to break through in a big way. First the hit single "Let It Ride" went Top 25 circa March of 1974, then the anthem "Taking Care of Business" went Top 15 the summer of that year. By October they would top the charts with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" from the follow-up LP, 1974's Not Fragile, but their seven chart songs were all made possible by this album and these two songs, "Let It Ride" and "Takin' Care of Business," in particular. "Let It Ride" features one of C.F. Turner's best vocals; keeping that gargle-with-Draino diesel sound down to a minimum, the song has two major guitar riffs, one a strum, the other from Led Zeppelin's 1970 "Immigrant Song," an inverted mutation of Randy Bachman's own "American Woman" riff which also hit in 1970. That "Takin' Care of Business," which was written solely by Randy Bachman and contains his vocals, as well as the Turner/Bachman co-write "Let It Ride" are light years ahead of the other six songs on this album is an understatement. Putting their minds to it and crafting hooky, radio-friendly music was something Bachman and Turner were quite capable of, but Tim Bachman's voice and writing on "Blown" and "I Don't Have to Hide" leave much to be desired. Randy Bachman sings on "Tramp," co-written with drummer Robbie Bachman, and "Welcome Home," both songs having the merit that he always cleverly injects, while "Stonegates" and "Give It Time" are total C.F. Turner singing his heavy essays. By the time Randy Bachman departed for 1978's Street Action and 1979's Rock N' Roll Nights, Turner's music was really all that was left, and it never progressed from these sludgy workouts. What is most fascinating about Bachman-Turner Overdrive II and the Guess Who's #10 is that both Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings were showing their propensity for self-indulgence. Without the balance each provided the other, Bachman's "Tramp" and Cummings' "Glamour Boy" failed to climb the charts substantially. Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Bachman-less Guess Who both got seven songs each onto the Top 40 (with the Guess Who actually accruing six additional songs which should have got onto mainstream radio), all found on The Best of the Guess Who, Vol. 2. Still, Randy Bachman's work and musical intuition cannot be denied, and when he chose to chart, he did so in a big way. The two hits on this album and their follow-up, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," are staples on classic rock radio. The Guess Who went further into a light, poppy direction while Randy Bachman and company descended into heavy depths, the schizophrenia so obvious when listening to a disc like Bachman-Turner Overdrive II.

by Joe Viglione, AMG

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - I & II (1973)

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - I & II (1973)

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - I & II (1973)

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