Burton Cummings - piano, vocals; Michael Rowe - keyboards, vocals; Danny Weiss - guitar, vocals; Ian Gardner -bass; Jim Gordon - drums, percussion
Burton Cummings (along with his Guess Who bandmate, Randy Bachman) had long ago become a favorite son of the Canadian music buying public. After almost 10 years with The Guess Who, Cummings left in 1975 to launch a solo career. Though The Guess Who was formed by Chad Allen, Cummings took over in 1966 as that group's pianist and front person. With Cummings at the helm, he had taken them to the top of the music scene in both Canada and the US, (and later, the rest of the world), with hits like "These Eyes," "No Time," "American Woman," "Undone," and many others.
After a couple of false starts with his own solo career and post-Guess Who bands, Randy Bachman had finally gone platinum in 1973 with Bachman-Turner Overdrive. This success motivated Cummings to head out on his own. Riding the success of The Guess Who, he had a Top 10 smash hit with ballad, "Stand Tall," which encompassed Burton's strong baritone voice, even if the song was a little sappy.
This recording, done for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in 1977, was made while Burton and his solo band were promoting his second LP, My Own Way to Rock. Although he would only Top 10 score hits in his native Canada after "Stand Tall," Cummings out series of well crafted solo records on Epic's Portrait Records imprint. Because his voice was so synonymous with The Guess Who and the fact that he formed a band with the same instrumentation, much of the music he made after leaving that group seemed like the group had never really left at all.
This show includes a balance of material from his first two solo albums ("Timeless Love "My Own Way to Rock," "Framed," "Charlemagne," and the hit, "Stand Tall"), as well as a medley of the biggest hits he wrote or co-wrote with The Guess Who. He rocks particularly hard on his re-vamped version "American Woman" and "No Time." Another highlight is his solo piano arrangement of "Mack the Knife."
Cummings continues to be a massive star in Canada, and with Randy Bachman, has reformed The Guess Who for a number of tours. He also tours with Bachman as a duo.