Bachman–Cummings Reunite For Walk of Fame Fundraiser Concert

By David Farrell

A divisive rift that separated the once inseparable driving force behind the Guess Who is put to rest when its two decorated performers appear together for the first time in over a decade at a charity fundraiser for Canada’s Walk of Fame next month.

Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, the two Winnipeg-born musicians who were the creative force in the Guess Who between 1966 and 1970, are set to reunite for a charity fundraising event for Canada’s Walk of Fame at Casa Loma in Toronto on July 18.

After a smashing run of US and Canadian hits, Bachman left to form Brave Belt in 1970 and later Bachman-Turner Overdrive. They reunited as the Guess Who in the early 1990s with a line-up that included drummer Gary Peterson, bassist Bill Wallace and guitarist Donnie McDougall, again for the 2000 Grey Cup in Calgary, and the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto SARS benefit concert in July 2003.

In 2006 they reunited for a CBC TV special that resulted in the release of a DVD and CD and a year later they released an album entitled Jukebox featuring cover versions of songs from the 1960s that they listened to growing up in the ‘Peg. Calling itself The Bachman-Cummings Band, they are backed on the album by Canadian band the Carpet Frogs. According to Wikipedia, their last live performance was in the summer of 2009 at a private function in Toronto at the Rebel nightclub, again backed by the Carpet Frogs.

The Casa Loma concert unites these two prolific hitmakers for a concert that will be anything but a rundown of chart-toppers, as each is expected to riff off the other in telling stories about a jukebox of classics they created–peppered with personal reminisces, the backgrounds to, and the makings of the songs as told by these two masterful chroniclers of pop history.  

The July 18 Casa Loma event is billed as Music Under the City Stars that functions as a fundraiser to support the Walk of Fame and its Foundation that underwrites national programs to develop emerging talent in Arts and Entertainment, Sports and Athletics, Science and Technology, Business and Entrepreneurship, and Philanthropy and Humanities. These programs include Community Hero, presented by MLSE and Scotiabank, Hometown Stars Presented by Cineplex, and the RBC Emerging Musician Program.

Music Under the City Stars is presented by Canada’s Walk of Fame, Walter and Maria Schneider, Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment and Liberty Entertainment Group

Both Bachman and Cummings are Walk of Fame inductees and Officers of the Order of Canada.

For further information and tickets visit: Canada’s Walk of Fame Music Under the City Stars 2019