Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories

by Randy Bachman

  Randy Bachman has been rolling out chart-topping songs his whole life—“ You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” “ These Eyes,” “ American Woman,” “ Taking Care of Business” —and, since 2005, treating fans to a lifetime of stories on his hit CBC Radio show Randy’s Vinyl Tap . His approach is always fresh—even the most hardcore music fans will be surprised by what they can learn from Randy. Writing music and lyrics, performing live and recording #1 songs, producing new music, organizing reunion tours—Randy has done it all. Music is his life, and his anecdotes put you at the centre of it all. These are his best stories. Even with all his success Randy is “still that kid from Winnipeg,” and his enthusiasm for great music is as strong as ever. Hear how after years of dreaming Randy finally got to see his musical heroes, The Shadows, play live, and then got to record a Shadows tribute song with longtime friend Neil Young. Encounters with celebrities and rock legends abound, but it is the music that is the driving force behind his extraordinary career, and what brings us back for more stories from Randy’s Vinyl Tap.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Canada, Biography, Memoir

ebook

First published August 1, 2011

Reviews

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Sto­ries is a non-fiction book by the famous rocker. Randy Bach­man, a musi­cian from Win­nipeg who was in the Guess Who, BTO and other bands tells about his career and the peo­ple he met.

This is a short book with many short sto­ries. Mr. Bach­man has sat down and wrote down great mem­o­ries from a great career, read­ing the book I felt as if he would play a song after each story.

My favorite story is one of the longer ones about Les Paul. Mr. Bach­man saw Les Paul play at his home­town in Canada where he watched through the kitchen door since he was too young to enter the premises. Mr. Paul talked a bit with the young gui­tarist and showed him how he played a song. Fast for­ward years later when, now estab­lished musi­cian Randy Bach­man was intro­duced to Les Paul who actu­ally remem­bered the-kid-from-the-restaurant and about an encounter even later when they got to play together.

Appro­pri­ately enough, but less inter­est­ing to me, the longest sec­tion in the book is the one where Bach­man talks about gui­tars and goes into details about the sound the struc­ture of them. I am not a musi­cian, never was, never will be, but I found that part inter­est­ing because my ears can­not hear those sub­tle differences.

I did enjoy the book very much and I had an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) but I do think the book need to be tighter. I enjoyed the infor­mal style which, I’m sure, works great if you know Mr. Bach­man (I don’t) or lis­ten to his radio show (never did) but for me, some of it sim­ply didn’t work. Many short anec­dotes end with sen­tences sim­i­lar to “what a great guy” and such, leav­ing the reader hang­ing in the air.

Frankly, despite the para­graph above, I wish more celebri­ties would write such books of per­sonal sto­ries. Mr. Bach­man is not only a musi­cian, but a fan and it comes across clearly in the book. I could actu­ally feel him get excited when he talks about meet­ing peo­ple he admired or being invited to play with child­hood heroes.

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[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a very informal style, written by a fan of music rather than a celebrity. I had heard many of the stories before, but still worth a read. Good for fans of Randy's work and anyone who has an interest in some stories behind the music.

[Michael Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the read very much! So much I didn’t know about him. He was more influential than I realized . Rock on Randy!!!

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randy Bachman of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO) fame has a radio show called Vinyl Tap. This book came into being after fans requested transcripts of his shows. It's a collection of memories of people, places and guitars that Randy experienced in his years in the music industry.

I'm not sure what I expected from this memoir - maybe a bit of sex, drugs and rock and roll type scandals or revelations. But while Randy is all about the rock and roll, he's not about the other two. It's funny that I say this because I couldn't tolerate Steven Adler's My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses, so I'm not sure why I was willing to read about another rock star. Perhaps it was because I grew up with Guess Who and BTO.

Towards the end of the book, I was beginning to think that it contained a lot of name dropping, but then I realized that it wasn't that at all. Randy started out in the 60's and now 40 years later, he is still a star struck kid from Winnipeg who can't quite believe his good fortune in meeting all these stars, and that they even knew who he was!

What I didn't really get too enthralled about was the indepth discussion about guitars. To me a guitar is a guitar. I can hear all the guitar players out there hitting a discordant note over that one.

What I really enjoyed was the playlist that went along with each chapter and the lists of Randy's favorites at the end of the book. One of these days, I'm going to go shopping on iTunes with the book as my guide. There are so many songs listed in the book that I loved when I was younger, and still love.

[Mike Barat · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no question that Randy Bachman's did a great job of telling some great stories about his experiences in the music industry, without making the mistake of babbling for to long which is a skill in it's self. There's some stories where I wish he would have given dates and places where they happened, I'm sure a lot of that is because I can be pretty picky, and some would say overly picky. You also got to like this book because Randy Bachman doesn't do drugs or drink, so you can trust that his stories are accurate. There's always a Danger Usually of a book similar to this turning into we wrecked hotel rooms in this city and that city and the other city, blah, blah, blah, however there's no danger of that nonsense with this book. If your old enough to remember BTO or the Guess Who read this book or if you just like hearing good stories about the music industry read this book. Also I gained a lot of respect for the Canadian country singer Tommy Hunter. Why? Read the book and find out why. One last thing. I will admit to breaking one of my rules in life. That is to never skip a chapter in a book I'm reading. There's a chapter in this book where Randy Backman writes about the history of three guitar companies and after maybe five pages my eyes began watering because I found subject so dull. Nonetheless I really enjoyed reading this book over all.

[Seann Haver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice guy and talented!

It was a pleasure reading this book as the guy doesn’t drop f bombs every few pages. A rocker that kept his shit together.
Randy is a great song writer and an amazing guitar player. I enjoyed this book.

[Alex Rivas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but it has a few interesting stories.

[Grace Burtt-Dykstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating! Couldn't put it down.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories from Randy's career.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The musical Everyman. I have been listening to Randy Bachman since I was a little girl, and I am astounded at how he’s been able to retain his down to earth personality while being a literal legend.

Every story he shares is told through that distinct Canadian charm that I know and love so deeply. That charm though is backed by a creative passion and a desire to be as authentic as possible, and as a creative person, I admire that.

I look forward to the day that he writes another book. I’m always hungry for more stories!

Also, Tune into the Tap on CBC! You won’t regret it.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just OK for me. I've been a major BTO fan my whole life as well as a Randy Bachman fan, and used to listed to Vinyl Tap on line regularly, but haven't in years as it just wasn't very interesting anymore. I think for me a lot of the problem is the generation gap. Although I'm already in my 50s many of the bands and singers Randy writes about are before my time, and unlike the hard rockin' 70's BTO sound, I still can't believe some of the stuff he'd play on Vinyl Tap and wrote about in this book. Moon River? George Michael? eek! I'm no musical prude and actually have a wide variety of musical interests (from Beethoven to Judas Priest) but some of the music Randy likes, I'm just not into.

Overall, the book is just fine. If you love Vinyl Tap, this book is a must read for you.

For me, it was a bit boring interspersed with interesting stories, or maybe the other way around: interesting stories interspersed with boring sections.

It's not written the greatest either, not that I'm some literary genius critic, because I'm not (seriously-BTO has always been my fav band which is about as basic rock and roll as they get!) but there's some unnecessary repetition (like the early London trip) and many of the stories end on a very anticlimactic note.

However, there are great plenty of little facts and interesting tidbits I didn't know, which probably would only be appealing to us hard core Randy Bachman fans.

I was surprised and happy to see he talked about his stomach operation towards the end which I'v e only heard rumors about and he obviously had done something drastic with his weight.

As I knew from the show and more so here, he knows a whole lot of musicians world wide and he's obviously very respected in the professional music world, which he should be.

I was flabbergasted reading about his huge extravagantly expensive guitar collection. Like on the show, there's plenty of pages (a chapter or two) of guitar tech talk I still don't follow, but if you're a guitar head you'll probably enjoy.

Something unlike my other recent rock reads was VERY refreshing is this book is all about the MUSIC, not drugs, booze and general debauchery like so many others are making this a much more attractive read for me and not even any swearing! This is something else I love about Mr. Bachman.

[Joe Fahey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to pick this up while looking at other books in the music section and it caught my eye. I had never given much thought to The Guess Who, their songs were part of the radio landscape I'd grown up with and maybe had taken for granted though I really loved the hell out of "Star Baby" for some reason. I remember liking BTO for a couple weeks in 10th grade until the jocks adopted them as their band and I could never quite get past that, sorry music is so personal and swayed by the oddest factors sometimes. But wow! I really enjoyed Randy's stories, his passion for guitar music and knowledge of rock & roll history is so pure. I gained much more respect for his bands after seeing the dedication, risks and perseverance that it takes to succeed in the strange, unpredictable world of show biz. A huge appeal to me was the fact that he was never a drinker or drug user (not that there's anything wrong with that!) so it kept the stories focused on the craft, business and pure love of music (and junk food which led to a gastric bypass by the way). I loved reading about the Winnipeg music scene, the slightly outsiderness to rocking in the USA, the primitive access and approach to recording, the trips down to the legendary Kay Bank Minneapolis which is still there but called Creation Audio (where I'm recording my current album and mixed my last one) and most of Al, I loved the interweaving of Bachman's musical friendship of the then young Neil Young to the present old Neil Young. Fascinating to me to hear from the angle of a musical contemporary. This book is basically a collection of transcripts from a satellite radio show that Bachman hosts so it does put the history a bit out of sequence at times but I enjoyed jumping around in that way. Also, each episode/chapter ties in music/songs/bands to go with the stories and I loved that and learned some new, old history along the way. Lastly, Bachman is a pretty serious expert on guitars (and collector and historian on Gretsch guitars) and being a guitar fanatic I loved that, he's into it and knows his stuff.

[Douglas Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahh, the simple pleasures of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, Takin’ Care of Business), the working man’s band who proved that normal dudes could hit Number One, too. Was your brother in a band? He rocked some BTO. Bachman has been in the music business forever, and this book perfectly captures the conversational tone and relaxed, been-there-done-that vibe of his Sirius radio show, Vinyl Tap. The appeal is that Bachman ain’t no Keith Richards. He’s Randy Freaking Bachman from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He seems down-to-earth, and he knows everybody, pulling out names and anecdotes that are juicy but not crazy. Yes, he knows Neil Young (star of BEA 2012, also from Winnipeg), as well as Eddie Van Halen and Ringo Starr, but it’s the little anecdotes about rockers like Gene Vincent, Steve Cropper, Chet Atkins, and Frank Zappa that are real treats for rock freaks. And thank the Good Lord there’s no overarching theme or deep psychological introspection here, because sometimes you really just want to hear about that time in 1968 that Bachman once gave a weeping, broke Van Morrison a guitar to lip-synch Brown-Eyed Girl on TV in Cleveland.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't listen to CBC and I've never heard of Bachman's show, Vinyl Tap. Though I'm not a huge fan of the Guess Who or Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), I like a lot of their songs.

I do like reading bios, books by Canadians and music. I was attracted to this book because I thought Bachman would have interesting stories to tell ... and he did. He is indeed still just "a kid from Winnipeg" who has had some experiences, both good and bad. He sounds like a nice fella who is very hardworking who hasn't forgotten his Canadian roots. My favourite chapters are the ones where he tells of meeting and playing with other great musicians.

The last chapter has some of his favourite lists. An interesting one is "Songs Played at Your Funeral" as suggested by his listeners which include:

* Old and Wise - Alan Parsons Project
* Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
* Wasn't that a Party? - Irish Rovers
* Thank You for Being a Friend - Andrew Gold
* Another One Bites the Dust - Queen

It's an interesting book to read and I'd recommend it.

Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2011/11...

[Squirrel Circus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. You know who will LOVE this book? Fans of Randy Bachman (founding member of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO)) and fans of guitar music, acoustic or electric.

Bachman shares his memories of his early days on the Canadian rock scene, as well as the many personal connections that he has made with other guitar greats, like Neil Young, Les Paul, and Eddie Van Halen, among many. Bachman currently has a hit radio show, in Canada, called Vinyl Tap, and many of the stories in this book debuted on the air, first. Bachman seems like a really personable guy, and he's generous with his memories and guitar expertise. If you read the book expecting any hot expose items on anyone he's worked with, you'll be disappointed, but it's interesting enough without them.

I learned a LOT about guitars -- more than I need to know, enough to be dangerous at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame cocktail party - ha ha. Extras include a number of Bachman's "Top 25" lists, in categories like "One-Hit Wonders" or "Girl Groups".

*I received an advance copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program*

[Barry Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guitar player/singer/songwriter for The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive turned CBC radio broadcaster tells stories of the music that influenced him and the people he met during his career. Originally from his radio show, Vinyl Tap, the stories have been edited for reading instead of listening and collected in this volume along with the playlists from the shows. Bachman is great storyteller. Among the pages are such gems as the various guitars that influenced music, their players, and the songs associated with them, the stories behind his most famous songs, how he traded perogies and holopchi for guitar licks with Johnny & The Hurricanes, how 9/11 screwed up his going to Les Paul's house, what a nice man Chet Akins was, his view of Lawrence Welk's balcony golf-course, Johnny Paycheck's guard-ocelot,and many other stories of celebrities as diverse as Neil Young, Little Richard, The Pointer Sisters, Frank Zappa, Moe Kaufman, Hagood Hardy, and Steve Cropper. A very entertaining and interesting read. - BH.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became obsessed with Randy Bachman when he moved into our area when I was a young pre-teen. Later, I was able to mow his lawn and take care of his yard. The best part was learning to play guitar at the feet of the master. I was also lucky enough to get to be a roadie for one of his Ironhorse shows. Man that equipment is heavy ! I was also able to do other things like camping and such with him as he was one of my Boy Scout Leaders.

So, with that in mind, I love Rock history and the stories behind the scenes etc. If you like Randy Bachman or just Rock in general especially from the 60s 70s you'll get a kick out of Randy's stories as he meets his idols and his peers. He also tells the story behind a lot of his famous songs, such as These Eyes, American Woman, Takin' Care of Business, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet etc.

[Kevin A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randy Bachman is a pretty marginal figure in the history of rock, at least if you're not from Winnipeg. But this book is surprisingly enjoyable, mainly because his focus is so tightly on the music. The book originated with the stories he's told on his CBC radio show, which were built around a theme for a playlist of records by him as well as other artists. He talks very specifically about different guitars and different players and what they brought to the table. He retains the enthusiastic obsession of 13-year old falling with love with rock 'n' roll, and the effect is contagious.

He's an engaging and amiable host, and the fact he was a teetotaler throughout his life means he remembers it pretty clearly. (He'd deposit the gate from the night before to the bank the next morning while his band mates were sleeping it off.)

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of Randy Bachman, a lot of these stories are old hat, but there are still many surprises in here. His knowledge of the guitar is well known. Although he is a huge name in Canada still, it was a kick to see his guitar in the lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (now to get the Guess Who inducted!)

Good stories about people like jazz player Lenny Breau, Neil Young, Moe Koffman, Hagood Hardy, Dion Dimucci, so many others. The accidental birth of songs like "American Woman" "Takin' Care of Business" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" are typical of the golden age of rock. Inspiration could strike anywhere, and often the artists didn't realize what they had.

And who knew that the opening chords of the Law and Order theme are the same as 1969's "No Time"?

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is mostly stories from his radio program with some bits of how he got into the music business. There are a few stories about the Guess Who and how they got together and why he left. Also about how he would go about writing songs. He then talks about BTO and how they got together and a few of the hit songs that they had. He does not speak badly about any one that he worked with which was nice and for the most part he would say it was time to move on. He did talk about the different people that helped him or gave him the confidence he would need at a certain time. This book is a few years old and though I was looking for something current this was all I could find. Overall an okay book.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't my normal fare, and was given to me on loan by my much-more-into-this-kind-of-thing-stepdad. On a positive note, this book discusses a lot of sweet music and is pretty impressive in how extensively Randy Bachman can name-drop. However, that makes up a huge portion of this book. While some of his experiences are pretty cool, specifically his "Lenny and Neil" chapter, I didn't really get into a lot of what he covers here. While I definitely respect him as a musician, this book really didn't do it for me.

[gazoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the stuff of school daze. BTO was such a guy trucker band with songs you cranked on the radio and shouted along to with your buds ridin' around town killing time in your shit box wheels. With the Guess Who you got a band that could rock it and drop in killer ballads. Some great back stories in here on the songs and who he rubbed shoulders with. Especially enjoyed the inspiration for my fave tune No Sugar Tonight. A fast, easy read that surprised me on how big their songs became. Let it Roll.

[Andrew Yablonski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically entertaining and wonderfully laid out, Randy's vinyl tap stories kept me glued to the book for hours on end.

Being from Winnipeg, I took this press copy as an opportunity to celebrate and to learn more about a home town hero.
He delivers great and minuscule details of song histories and interesting things or events about bands or stars he has run in to.

Most certainly worth the read.

[Deb Mohr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book of the who's who in music from one of the driving forces behind the Guess Whoo and Bachman Turner Overdrive. Not only does Randy reminisce about all the people he's met, but he describes the type of music they are important for, what kinds of instruments they made the music on, and often what personalities drive these influential people. A must read for anyone who loves music and grew up in the 60,s and 70's.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. He writes of his experiences in the music world, people he's met. I especially appreciated his descriptions of what it means to be a musician-so much more than I realized. We learn of recording details, guitars and their differences, how music is composed and the different styles of playing. To top it all off he comes across as a normal, nice person, definately not the stero-type of a famous rock musician. Thank you Randy, you didn't disappoint!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot of fun! Any fan of classic rock or guitars or great music in general will love this book. Bachman tells all kinds of fascinating stories about his journey through rock history, tells about his encounters with other musical greats, and how some of his most well known songs came to be. At the end of each chapter, he provides a list of songs he likes that are applicable to the stories from that chapter. This book is a fun, quick read and I highly recommend it.

[Johnny Trash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of anecdotes by a nice guy who just happened to be one of the great rock and roll guitarists in the '60s and '70s. Bachman has told these stories countless times and they are seasoned with a little-boy wonder and surprise that he found himself in these situations. Bachman has a weekly radio show on CBC in Canada where he spins old tunes and talks about them. I could listen to his stories all night.

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book used an unfair advantage to earn my five stars - Bachman grew up in Winnipeg. His descriptions of the city and its ambiance (yes, the city has one) made this a must-read for me. The music I loved and still hear today is a bonus and is what most readers will find interesting. His musical and personal friendship with Neil Young has not received nearly enough consideration by musical historians, but here they can get a start on it.

[Vionna · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is quite a good storyteller. The tales of his childhood and early musical forays in Winnipeg were very good. He has certainly lead a very interesting life and his talent has earned him a very well deserved spot in the musical annals of Canada

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. Having grown up in Winnipeg, I remember seeing the Guess Who, Brave Belt, Lenny Breau and many of the performers Bachman mentions. The book is a great trip back to a vital and vibrant time on the Winnipeg music scene. How wonderful to have a look at that time from the 'inside'.