Burton Cummings

BIOGRAPHY

The Deverons 

Born and raised in Winnipeg’s ethnically and culturally diverse North End, Burton Cummings’ gift for music emerged early. “I started piano lessons at age four,” he recalls. “I loved rock ‘n’ roll. I didn’t much care for classical piano, but the minute I found out I could play Diana by Paul Anka, that was it.” 

At St. John’s High School, Burton starred in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, but it was a neighborhood group of novice rock ‘n’ rollers that piqued his interest. At fourteen, Burton Cummings joined The Deverons. 

“After I joined the band, music was the only thing in my life,” he asserts. Its members still in their teens, The Deverons released two singles on the REO label featuring Burton’s own compositions. By 1965, the group was in the top echelon of popular local groups on the burgeoning community club circuit. In December of that year, Burton was approached to join The Guess Who. “Right on the spot, I said yes,” he recalls, “They were the biggest band in the country. Gift horses are rare animals; you shouldn’t look them in the mouth.”

The Guess Who 

By the time Burton joined their ranks at the beginning of 1966, Winnipeg’s Guess Who had just changed their name from Chad Allan and the Expressions and was already enjoying a level of success with their cover of “Shakin’ All Over”. The quintet’s recording career had begun in 1962 under the name of Chad Allan & the Reflections, made up of Chad Allan (Allan Kowbel), Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, and Bob Ashley. The group released a half-dozen singles before their cover of the hit “Shakin’ All Over” originally by UK rockers Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. By 1965, that hit cover had catapulted the prairie band to #1 across Canada. Not yet called, The Guess Who, the group became Canada’s first nationally recognized rock stars. “Shakin’ all Over” reached #22 on the coveted Billboard charts, and the band found itself touring and recording in the United States. 

Follow-up singles failed to maintain initial momentum, and keyboard player Bob Ashley bowed out in the fall of 1965. Taking note of Burton’s scene-stealing antics and abundant talent on display in The Deverons, the remaining Guess Who members asked him to join them on keyboards. The first album officially released under The Guess Who name was “It’s Time” in 1966 with lead vocals being shared by Chad Allan and Burton Cummings. Singer Chad Allan left the group six months later, and the Guess Who lineup solidified with Burton on lead vocals and keyboards, with guitar and flute to come. Chad had left the group by the time the album “It’s Time” was launched. 

During the next three years, The Guess Who released singles and relentlessly toured Canada. “We played twenty-eight nights in a row, four sixty-minute sets each night, in twenty-eight different Saskatchewan towns, for $400 per night, and we had to cover all of our own expenses,” marvels Burton. “It was physically exhausting. I don’t know how my throat put up with singing all night, every night.” 

In February of 1967, after their single “His Girl” made it to #45 on the UK pop charts, the group flew to London, England. Despite a huge send-off at Winnipeg airport, on arrive in London, the four discovered that they had no concert bookings. Returning home two weeks later with tails between legs, broke and $25,000 in debt after the ill-fated venture, the Guess Who, nonetheless, persevered. 

Landing a hosting gig on CBC TV’s Winnipeg edition of Let’s Go, the band turned the good fortune into a two-year stint on the nationally-televised teen show that returned them to financial stability and gave them a platform to build on. “That CBC show saved our necks,” Burton admits. Let’s Go producer Larry Brown also encouraged Burton and guitarist Randy Bachman to write songs, inspiring what would become Canada’s most successful songwriting partnership. 

“Randy and I wanted to be songwriters even more than band members,” Burton reveals, “He would write half-finished songs, and I would write half-finished songs, we’d put them together, and nine times out of ten, they’d work.” Meeting every Saturday morning at Burton’s mother’s house on Winnipeg’s Bannerman Avenue, notebooks in hand, the two budding songwriters would pool ideas they’d jotted down throughout the week. The pair enjoyed a unique creative chemistry. “We had so many shared references from our younger years that one of us only needed to say a couple of words, and the other knew exactly the reference,” Burton explains. “It’s something I share with nobody else. We both grew up in the same part of the city listening to the same music, so we had a kind of ‘musical shorthand’ that almost no one else understands. It was an intuitive, expedient means of communication -- a pipeline to each others’ brain.” 

Witnessing their songwriting talents on Let’s Go, Toronto-based music producer Jack Richardson took a gamble on The Guess Who, signing them to his Nimbus 9 production company and mortgaging his house to finance recording sessions in New York. “There was a tremendous amount of latent talent there,” noted Jack, “and I felt that Burton had a charismatic quality that seemed ready to explode. Burton was the distinctive feature in that band.” On the strength of Burton’s voice and the songwriting talents of Bachman and Cummings, Jack secured a U.S. contract for them with RCA Records. From those recording sessions emerged the album Wheatfield Soul and “These Eyes,” the first of several million-selling singles that emerged from Burton and Randy’s collaboration. Writing in 2010’s The Top 100 Canadian Singles, Bob Mersereau dubbed “These Eyes” as “the Big Bang moment of the modern Canadian music industry.” He added, “The Guess Who proved a Canadian group could join the big international music world without having to move to the States.” 

After scoring three soft-rock hits with “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” and “Undun,” Bachman and Cummings broke the mold with “No Time.” Burton explains “No Time” as “probably my favourite Guess Who song because it proved that we could rock, and it gained us a whole new respect and credibility.” The single peaked at #5 on the Billboard charts, earning the band its third million-seller. 

In May 1970, with “American Woman,” the Guess Who held the #1 position on Billboard charts for three consecutive weeks. That year, according to Billboard magazine, the group sold more singles than any other artists. “American Woman” had caught the anti-Vietnam-War mood among American youth and become an anthem and rallying cry. “’American Woman’ was never meant to be a political tune,” counters Burton. “People read their own meanings into that song.” Nonetheless, it resonated on both sides of the border. Bob Mersereau’s book The Top 100 Canadian Singles ranks “American Woman” as the greatest Canadian single of all time, as voted by both the music industry and the public. The group achieved a milestone with the first-ever Canadian-produced platinum album and routinely took home gold album awards. “We had hit records when it wasn’t fashionable to have hit records,” muses Burton. Twenty-nine years after “American Woman” first topped the charts, Lenny Kravitz propelled it back on top in 1999. 

Between 1969 and 1975, The Guess Who notched up an impressive run of Top 10 hit singles including “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “Undun,” “No Time,” “American Woman,” “No Sugar Tonight,” “New Mother Nature”, “Share The Land,” “Hand Me Down World,” “Albert Flasher,” “Star Baby,” “Clap For The Wolfman,” and “Dancin’ Fool.” During that period, they out-sold contemporaries including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Three Dog Night, and even the Beatles. By 1970, up to that point, the Guess Who had sold more records than the entire Canadian music industry combined. And they’d done it without forsaking their hometown and roots. “The odds of making it from Winnipeg were incredible back then,” Burton points out. “Everyone else left Canada, but we stayed and still made it. We were proud to be from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.” 

Writing in Rolling Stone magazine, journalist, archivist, and punk rock pioneer Lenny Kaye noted the Guess Who’s knack for crafting hit singles. “Their songs all contain the one thing that any hit single needs to make it a hit single,” he decrees, adding, “Once you’ve heard it, you never stop hearing it, a little soundtrack that sets itself to everything and anything. It’s all amazingly accessible, a bit familiar, nearly an entire history of post-Beatles rock ‘n’ roll. The touch, as those little gold disks always prove, of genius.” 

Legendary rock journalism guru and visionary Lester Bangs was an unabashed Guess Who fan. “The Guess Who managed to catch the essence of American rock ‘n’ roll,” he gushed. “They are reflective of a peculiarly viable spirit which is purely Canadian because it refracts the American experience in an ironic, not to say distorted, light -- a graph of the confused Canadian fascination with America.” In Cameron Crowe’s autobiographical hit feature film Almost Famous, Lester Bangs’ character, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, sports an authentic Guess Who smiling beaver t-shirt and proclaims, “Give me the Guess Who!” 

The group played all the major arenas and concert halls worldwide including the Fillmores (West and East), Winterland, the LA Forum, Seattle Pop Festival, Japan’s fabled Budokan. They even played the White House. On television, The Guess Who appeared on American Bandstand where host Dick Clark presented them with their first gold record. They were featured on the Midnight Special with Burton as host as well as on popular shows In Concert and Upbeat. The Guess Who’s legacy, however, is often underestimated in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll. Their true impact is far greater than merely an accounting of record sales or chart positions. Among their legions of fans, Burton and band can count celebrities Howard Stern, the late Wolfman Jack, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, Neil Young, Lenny Kravitz, Steve Cropper, Julian Cope, Steve Vai, members of Steely Dan, the Eagles, Rush, the Who, Buffalo Springfield, Van Halen, and others. After a half-century, Guess Who songs have transcended pop charts. Their music is featured in hit films including Almost Famous, Cable Guy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Jackie Brown and Academy Award winner American Beauty as well as on popular television shows. The group’s music remains a rich and vital touchstone to an era, the soundtrack to lives. Their recordings continue to be released and to remain steady sellers as well as staples of classic rock and oldies radio. 

“There really wasn’t another group on a national level in Canada like The Guess Who,” notes Billboard magazine Canadian bureau chief Larry LeBlanc. “’American Woman’ is like a Canadian rock anthem because that’s where modern-day Canadian rock music began. It started with The Guess Who.” For five years in a row between 1966 and 1970, the group won the Canadian RPM award (pre-Junos) for Best Vocal and Instrumental Group. In the early 1970s, they were the vanguard of a much-touted Canadian Invasion of American pop charts. The Guess Who gave birth to the Canadian music industry and legitimacy to Canadian music around the world. “When ‘American Woman’ reached number one on Billboard,” asserts Burton, “the stigma of Canada being inferior died forever. Someone had to do it first, and I’m proud that it was us.” 

Despite The Guess Who personnel changes before the band broke up in 1975, Burton’s rich and distinctive voice and songwriting talents remained the unwavering and greatest strength in the Guess Who’s mighty arsenal. Lester Bangs once declared in Creem magazine that “Burton Cummings is the rightful and unquestionable heir to Jim Morrison’s spiritual mantle.” With the departure of Randy Bachman, Burton took the reins to lead the group. Written solely by Burton in 1970, “Share the Land” became the band’s highest selling album, proving he was more than capable of shouldering the bulk of songwriting duties. 

The year 1974 saw The Guess Who storming the pop charts once again, first with “Star Baby,” then “Clap for The Wolfman,” and later, “Dancin’ Fool.” Burton rode The Guess Who roller coaster through the lean years of the latter ‘60s as well as the salad days of the early ‘70s, emerging as one of the most respected vocalists and songwriters in the music business. However, in fall of 1975, ten years after joining the Guess Who, the band broke up and Burton Cummings moved on to pursue a long-anticipated solo career. At the time, he explained, “I just came to the realization that I wanted to do something new.”

Burton Cummings Solo Career 

Anticipation of a major solo career ran high for Burton Cummings. He was the first artist signed to Portrait Records in the US, a division of CBS Records. His self-titled debut solo album was a product of renowned record producer Richard Perry. Released in 1976, the recording featured the million-selling single “Stand Tall.” A poignant, autobiographical ballad with lush orchestration by Elton John’s arranger Paul Buckmaster, the single confirmed Burton’s star power. “Sometimes when you leave a well-known band it’s almost immediate death,” Burton mused in 1976. “I’m pleased there are still people who like me or my songs. It’s amazing to me that I’m still some people’s favourite singer.” 

He need not have doubted. His debut album spawned hits “Stand Tall”, “I’m Scared” and “Your Backyard.” The album My Own Way to Rock followed in 1977, also produced by Richard Perry and boasting several more Canadian hits including the title track and “Timeless Love.” One track from the album, Burton’s own “Never Had a Lady Before,” became a hit for Tom Jones. During that time, Burton starred in his first national television special for CBC, beginning a five-year run of several top-rated specials including Burton Cummings West, My Own Way to Rock, Going for Gold, and Burton Cummings: Portage and Main, the latter featuring a Deverons reunion at St. John’s High School. 

In 1977, at Canada’s own version of the U.S. Grammys, the Juno Awards, Burton won Male Vocalist of the Year and Best New Male Vocalist for his debut album. He returned to the Juno podium as host in 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983. In 1979, he was honored with Best Selling Album for his third solo album, Dream of A Child, and in 1980, brought home another Best Male Vocalist award. Produced by Burton himself, Dream of A Child was the first Canadian album to reach quadruple-platinum status, with hit singles, “Break It to Them Gently” and the elegant “I Will Play a Rhapsody.” 

As the ‘80s decade unfolded, there appeared to be no stopping Burton. His album Woman Love, another platinum-seller, boasted the hit single “Fine State of Affairs.” In 1980, Burton starred in the big screen feature film Melanie beside Paul Sorvino, Glynnis O’Connor, and Miami Vice star Don Johnson. Burton wrote all songs for the soundtrack and earned the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar, a Genie award, for Best Original Song. His album, Sweet Sweet, is basically a soundtrack to the movie. Released on Epic in Canada in 1981, the album was well-received and, again, Burton found his way to the top of the charts with one of his finest compositions, the anthem “You Saved My Soul.” Continuing to tour Canada to sold-out houses and appearing on several more television shows, Burton had become Canada’s most recognizable and eminent stars. After Portrait Records released The Best of Burton Cummings in 1980, that album, too, became a platinum seller. 

A three-year recording hiatus ended in 1984 with the album Heart. Preceding the album’s release was a highly anticipated Guess Who reunion tour across Canada. The series of concerts once again demonstrated the immense drawing power of Burton and the group. He later teamed up with Randy Bachman for a successful 1987 tour highlighted by eight new songs from the two songwriters recorded and later released as The Thunderbird Trax. 

The year 1990 marked Burton’s return with a new album, Plus Signs, a new label, Capital Records, and a nation-wide tour that resulted in the top–rated televised concert special, MuchMusic. Earning Burton another gold album, Plus Signs found the singer/songwriter ruminating on getting older. “I wouldn’t have written those songs when I was in my 20s or even my 30s,” he revealed. “Turning 40 was a milestone.” The single and video “Take One Away” remained in heavy rotation across the country for several months. In 1992, Burton realized a teenage fantasy by joining Beatles drummer Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band for a world tour, bringing down the house each night with “American Woman.” 

Always a commanding showman, Burton found a winning formula in 1995 when he launched his Up Close and Alone tour. The format featured the singer alone onstage at his keyboard, telling the stories behind many of his best-known songs and sharing personal recollections from his life and career. The tour proved so successful that he extended the theme over four years, releasing a live album for MCA Canada that was named after the tour. The concept was a hit with his legion of fans. “One of the most gratifying things has been touring under my own name,” he mused. “I don’t take that for granted. I’m living a kind of charmed life. Not all artists are lucky enough to have that kind of staying power.” 

In 1999, the four original The Guess Who members were invited by the Premier of Manitoba to reunite for the closing ceremony of the Pan American Games, held in home-town Winnipeg. Their four-song set was a momentous occasion in Canadian music history, viewed by millions and the catalyst for a highly acclaimed four-year reunion tour across Canada and the United States. A year later, a live double CD and DVD captured the reunited Guess Who at their peak, performing a sold-out outdoor concert in Winnipeg.

The group was among the featured performers at the SARS concert in Toronto in 2003, appearing along with the Rolling Stones and AC/DC before a live audience numbering half a million in addition to a television audience estimated in excess of ten million. Burton and his former Guess Who partner Randy Bachman emerged from the long shadows of both The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 2005 to establish their own brand, Bachman Cummings. The duo became one of Canada’s most popular live acts. Between the two, they had more than enough hits to fill a three-hour concert. “Randy and I realized that we still had an audience that wanted to hear the songs done by the two original guys who wrote them,” Burton elaborated, “We found the response from the audience was even more than we could have hoped for.” 

The pair starred in the highly rated 2005 CBC special First Time Around and released the platinum-selling The Bachman-Cummings Songbook, the first album to include hits from the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive as well as Burton’s solo career. The following year, they recorded a personal project, Jukebox, covering favourite songs from their youth. 

Released in 2008, his album Above the Ground marked Burton’s return to solo recording and, despite a career spanning more than forty years, emerged as his first album to contain only his own, original songs. “When I looked at the back cover and saw ‘All songs by Burton Cummings,’ I thought, ‘Aaaw, isn’t that nice’ After thirty-three releases, that’s a first. There was nobody telling me, ‘Do this, don’t do that!’ I really made the album I wanted to make.” Reviews from fans and critics, alike, glow with superlatives, praising the album as one of his best works. 

More recently, Burton has been on the road with his band for the last 23 years who touring North American. After again sharing the stage with Randy Bachman in 2022 for a series of Bachman-Cummings live performances. Still writing songs, he has a new album in the works set to be released in the fall of 2024.

Few artists have achieved the degree of public success and critical acclaim that Burton Cummings enjoys from his dazzling career now spanning more than half a century. Even fewer Canadian recording artists have amassed more hits. “The magic thing about making hit records,” Burton muses, “is that you can transport people back in time. They remember who they were going out with or what they were doing when your song was on the radio. Those three minutes in their head are yours forever. That’s pretty amazing.”

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