Neil Young recently sat down for an interview in a documentary called Bachman, where he discusses Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive and his influence. Long ago before the two were even heard of, they were two teenagers just trying to make it big in their local music scene of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Bachman found his first bit of success when his group The Silvertones (which would soon turn into The Guess Who) became a huge impact on the music scene. At the same time, Neil Young’s band, The Squires, didn’t make nearly as much of an impact. Instead of presuming jealousy, Young actually looked up to Bachman for that and says he learned a lot from him during that time.
“He was my guitar-playing hero,” Young said about his friend, Bachman, “He had a big influence. The best player in town.”
Young continues on in the exclusive interview, saying, “They were the best band in town. They were the best and the biggest and there was a good reason for it. Everyone else was doing what they did. There were a lot of interesting bands around town, but the real good ones were the Silvertones.”
The documentary Bachman details the rise of Bachman’s success from his earliest days in the local music scene, up to The Guess Who and into the Bachman-Turner Overdrive days, and even into some of his solo work. What’s even more interesting is the press release about the documentary.
“Randy bucked the common rock star lifestyle of booze, drugs and sex and converted to Mormonism for the woman he loved,” the press release statement read, “For the first time ever, Bachman reveals how Randy’s lifestyle choices led to tension in both bands and the ultimate break-ups of the Guess Who and BTO.”
Bachman is slated for a March 26th, 2019 release and is available for preorder now. The performer is still working as hard as ever, as he just released a George Harrison tribute album called By George by Bachman and he’s also on tour opening up for Lynyrd Skynyrd in Canada.
His setlist allegedly features some of his greatest hits such as “American Woman” and “Takin’ Care of Business”. Can we hope for a U.S. tour soon?
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