Events

[ROCK] One of classic rock’s less-sung heroes, guitarist Randy Bachman hails from up in Winnipeg, where he eventually formed The Guess Who with a guy named Chad Allen. Allen left, and celebrated vocalist Burton Cummings joined the fold. Bachman co-wrote “These Eyes” and the lion’s share of the band’s material up until “American Woman,” in 1970. Oft-misunderstood, the song was actually meant as a metaphor for the US’s meddling in foreign affairs—a particularly relevant concern during the Vietnam War. But at the height of their popularity, Bachman left the group, citing exhaustion and lifestyle conflicts with his then-Mormon faith. Returning with Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1973, he amassed a series of hit singles that are still in heavy rotation at classic and oldies format radio stations, but by late in the decade he’d gone his own way. Since then, there have been reunions and solo recordings—and a popular CBC radio show entitled Vinyl Tap, which Bachman hosts, playing pop, rock, and jazz selections and infusing them with a mix of industry lore and his own anecdotes. His son, Tal Bachman, does much of the research behind the show. Bachman (which, incidentally, is pronounced ‘back,’ not the assumed Bach, like the composer) tends to perform a mix of tunes from his Guess Who tenure and the big BTO hits with a couple Beatles covers thrown in, which will likely be the case for his Casino gig at the Seneca Niagara Events Center on Friday, May 25.