by Richard Skelly » Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:53 pm
Supposedly knocked off as a sample track to establish proper studio recording levels, Nothin' only became a keeper when Mercury boss complained that there wasn't an obvious single on Not Fragile. Asked if BTO had recorded anything else, Randy reluctantly played him the sample track. Fach was over the moon at its catchiness, while Randy was embarrassed by the stuttering. (He'd planned to send a tape as an inside joke to his brother, Gary, who'd overcome childhood stuttering to become a successful businessman.)
Millions of record sales and airplays later, Randy would be honoured with an award from an association representing the speech-afflicted for bringing global awareness to the treatable condition.
The best cover of You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet is by Burton Cummings. Rendered as a torch ballad on Burt's first solo album, it seemed a peace offering to his former Guess Who collaborator. The two subsequently reconciled and, thus, ended what had been the bitterest feud in early/mix '70s rock.
PS: Gary Bachman had managed Brave Belt, brother Randy's first band after exiting The Guess Who. When Brave Belt relocated from Winnipeg to Vancouver, Gary turned reins over to Bruce Allen and the quartet was renamed Bachman Turner Overdrive. Gary returned to Manitoba and established himself in real estate. A few years ago, after the death of his beloved mother Rhoda, Burton decided to sell his river-view mansion, reportedly listing it with Gary.
And that's the rest of the story.