I have been waiting for years for Burton Cummings to return to the U.S. and my wish finally came true! I kept checking his website to see if he would be near Las Vegas but his shows were only in Canada. So when I heard the legendary singer from Guess Who was coming to Laughlin, Nevada I immediately went into action contacting his reps for an interview. After much persistence, Burton’s team said he doesn’t do interviews while he was on tour but they were kind enough to invite me to the show with a ticket and a pass to meet Burton after the show. I was set! To me, Burton Cummings has one of the most distinct legendary voices of his era. From a young age destiny took over meeting Randy Bachman (Bachman Turner Overdrive) and they wrote some of the best songs in music history. Their first Gold Record was for “These Eyes”. Burton told the story during the concert that he was still living at home when Randy came to his house and they pulled out a small piano in the corner and wrote the iconic song. I read somewhere that a record company executive told them to write another song like that and they would never have to work a day in their life and struggle like he had done. So the story goes with that advice Randy and Burton went to the tour bus and wrote “Laughing”. Burton said during the show that he and Randy wrote the song on the tour bus which leads me to believe the story was true.
And if you think that Burton just sat at the piano and sang love songs for the show you are wrong! Burton and his band sang and rocked with such energy that I thought the venue was shaking! These dudes were rockin’ it!
One thing I never knew was what a great sense of humor Burton had. He was so funny all during his show with special stories and songs throughout the show. He also shared a story that his girlfriend left him for a lawyer and he sat down at the Piano and wrote “Stand Tall”. Burton always gave credit to Randy Bachman before singing a song they wrote together which was really cool. I also liked how he introduced the band telling funny stories about them. But the iconic songs of Guess Who were such a treat for a big fan like me.“American Woman”, “No Time”, “No Sugar Tonight”, “Hand Me Down World” and so many more being sung by the original singer of such a great band was a highlight for me that I had waited most of my life to see and hear!
Burton mentioned onstage about a lawsuit being settled with a “Fake Cover Band” and now he could tour the United States. Burton’s team gave me a backstage pass to come and meet him after the show and the first thing I said was ask him if that Cover band was why he wasn’t coming to the United States to perform and he said “Yes”. I personally saw that band twice and the drummer was the original member of Guess Who but I didn’t like the band because it was not the Guess Who. I told Burton they were kind of like a metal version of Guess Who and I felt like they were pushing their own original music which was a different identity all together for people like me who came to hear the Guess Who. They were all very talented good musicians but again – Were NOT The Guess Who! And if they were the reason Burton could not tour the U.S. I was ecstatic Burton won the law suit! Burton kept asking me if I enjoyed the show and I kept telling him I did tremendously and that I didn’t realize what a great entertainer he was with such a funny humorous sense of humor. I look forward to seeing Burton Cummings and his band again now that he is back on tour for his millions of fans over the past 60 years to enjoy his great songs!
See you soon Burton and don’t forget my interview when you get off tour!
Special thanks to David Levine, Burton’s tour manager Erin Roblin and Burton’s Team for inviting me to the show and making it possible to meet him.
Sally Steele