Why Randy Bachman Is Selling His ‘American Woman’ Guitar

Randy Bachman was having extreme again ache. His physician informed him that the answer was to cease enjoying guitar. The primary offender was the 1959 Les Paul Customary he’d used to put in writing and report “American Girl” with the Guess Who.

“That’s not going to occur,” he instantly shot again. Within the a long time that adopted, the Guess Who guitarist went on to type Bachman-Turner Overdrive and finally, he additionally loved a solo profession. In that point, he amassed tons of of further guitars.

The pandemic and the return of his fabled orange 1957 Gretsch guitar in 2022, which had been lacking for almost 50 years after being stolen in 1976, sparked a call to trim down his assortment. This week, he’s auctioning off near 200 guitars from his huge holdings — together with that ‘59 “American Girl” Les Paul.

Whereas conversing with Final Basic Rock Nights host Matt Wardlaw, he mentioned what followers can discover on the public sale — and in addition shared the story of writing “American Girl.”

You are promoting about 200 of your guitars, which to most individuals, that is an unbelievable quantity.
I’m placing in my ‘59 Les Paul Customary, which is without doubt one of the rarest on the planet. The Les Pauls from ‘58 via ‘60 are the holy grail of blues and rock guitars. It’s my “American Girl” guitar. My two white BTO Strats are in there as effectively. The Les Paul was too heavy. After enjoying it for 10 years and screwing up my again, the physician stated, “You’ve received to cease enjoying guitar.” I stated, “That’s not going to occur.” I went into the music retailer and stated, “What’s the lightest guitar you’ve?” He stated, “A Fender Stratocaster.” So I began enjoying Strats in BTO. I nonetheless performed the Les Paul sitting down within the studio, for solos in BTO, due to the massive, thick fats sound in that guitar after which my rhythm tracks had been the Stratocasters.

However that Les Paul is just about model new. If you take a look at the image on the web site, it seems model new or refinished. Nevertheless it’s all unique. Nothing’s been carried out to it. I’ve received possibly six or eight 1959 Gibsons, that are very, very uncommon. As a result of in these three years, they used animal glue. They heated hooves and pores and skin and made the glue. Then after they put the neck on the physique and put the physique collectively, that glue someway permeated the pores of the wooden and petrified it. So whenever you play the guitar, it’s like a petrified log, the way in which Brian Could’s guitar is made out of a petrified log from his fire, proper? These had been the one guitars on the planet that seemed like that. Then they began utilizing regular glue in ‘61 and all the tones modified on the guitars. It’s actually robust to allow them to go.

Watch Randy Bachman Focus on His 1959 Gibson Les Paul

READ MORE: Bachman-Turner Overdrive Ship Their Debut Album

What do you keep in mind about placing “American Girl” collectively?
Effectively, the music got here from a jam on stage. I used to be enjoying that ‘59 Les Paul. It was in a curling rink in Kitchener, Waterloo. There was a bonspiel the following day, which is sort of a curling event, so there was ice. That is in February. There’s ice and so they put plywood on the ice and the persons are in there at a dance. They’re freezing, carrying rubber boots, tuques and parkas. We’re on stage freezing. It was a Canadian gig, so it was like a three-hour dance. If we performed within the States, we’d play for 20 minutes. You’d pick two or three of your hit songs. You performed with the Turtles, Sam the Sham and the Guess Who and all of that stuff. Right here, we had been enjoying alone. I break a string and Burton Cummings says, “Randy broke a string, he’s received to vary a string.” I had no roadie, no tech, no spare guitar, no nothing. “Speak amongst yourselves!” The band leaves the stage, I am going up behind Burton’s piano. I put the string on my Les Paul, at nighttime with no bench.

When you’ve ever strung a Les Paul with a Bigsby [tremolo bar], the string has to return on, go over the bridge, below the bar, over the Bigsby bar, across the bar…..I’m attempting to do it at nighttime and bend the string and it’s taking me [forever] and all people’s speaking. I lastly get the string on and also you’ve received to tune a Bigsby again and again, as a result of as you’re tuning it, the spring within the Bigsby pulls down. You tune the guitar as soon as, you tune it once more and at last, every little thing is in tune. So I’m [playing notes] on the piano and the guitar, tuning it. All of the sudden, [I heard something]. After I tune a guitar, I all the time do an E chord, however I do the excessive E on the seventh fret after which I do it on the fifth fret and the second fret. So I’m getting an E, a B, an E, a B, an open B, an open E after which I do it on the D and I do it on the seventh fret [Bachman imitates the familiar “American Woman” pattern] and all of the sudden, the entire viewers was speaking, all of them stopped and seemed on the stage. I am going, “Oh my God, I can’t overlook this riff!” I rise up and I’m at nighttime.

The drummer, Garry Peterson, begins enjoying drums. Jim Kale comes up and begins enjoying bass. Burton Cummings doesn’t come! He’s out behind the corridor. Once we would take a break, we all the time had a set listing deliberate. After the break, we’d go on as a band and begin to jam the primary music of the set listing. We’re enjoying this music and Burton doesn’t acknowledge it. He doesn’t know the place the music’s coming from. He thinks they’re enjoying a report. Any individual says to him within the viewers, “Why aren’t you on with the band?” He seems and we’re on stage, enjoying this riff. He comes working on stage and I say, “Do a solo!” He does a harmonica solo. He performs a piano solo after which he does a flute solo. I yell, “Sing one thing!” He goes, “What do I sing?” I stated, “Sing something.” He sang it 4 instances, “American girl/ Avoid me.” He stated it with completely different phrasings and the gang went nuts. This went on for seven or eight minutes. I performed a solo after which he sang it once more. When it was carried out, the viewers felt a spark, I felt a spark — all of us felt the spark that, “Wow, that is actually one thing.”

So we go in to report it a few weeks later and we are able to’t get it. [Producer] Jack Richardson says to us, “How did this occur?” I stated, “Effectively, I used to be on their own.” He stated, “Okay, nice. All people go away the studio, put out the lights. Randy, get in your knees in entrance of Burton’s piano. Detune your Les Paul and tune it up, see should you can provide you with the riff.” We had forgotten it. I tune it up, all people is available in and he rolls the tape. We nonetheless have that tape, by the way in which, nobody has ever heard it. As a result of I’m doing the riff and Burton’s singing. He sang, “I don’t need your warfare machine” and he’s saying, “I may put within the lyrics concerning the ghetto scene, the warfare machine.” I stated, “Put it in and make it rhyme.” For me and Burton, it was a crowning achievement, as a result of it was a one-riff music. A few of our songs, like “These Eyes,” it’s received 22 chords and it retains altering key. You’ve received to be a grasp participant should you can play and sing “These Eyes.” It’s like “Big Steps” by John Coltrane, however it’s a pop music. For us to do a one-chord music, like “Bo Diddley” or “Entire Lotta Love,” was actually an enormous deal. “American Girl” was an enormous one-chord music and it went to primary. Each from time to time, somebody like Lenny Kravitz does it. It opened the Nation Music Awards and Kelly Clarkson sang it, as a lady. It was superb. Improbable. She’s like Aretha [Franklin], when she actually screams.

READ MORE: The Day Randy Bachman Left the Guess Who

How did you are feeling whenever you heard Lenny’s model?
I got here residence from a visit. I had been on tour with the band. There’s a CD within the mail, it’s lime inexperienced. There’s six variations of “American Girl” with a notice from Mike Myers saying, “The unique is within the [Austin Powers] film and I received Lenny to do the closing credit. Which model do you want?” So I picked one by Timbaland, which has extra vocals on it. Nevertheless it was Lenny together with his pc at residence, enjoying with a drum machine. I’ve nonetheless received that someplace, I’ve received to seek out it. I picked a kind of after which he launched a number of variations. Nevertheless it was an enormous deal for Lenny. He had had many, many hits. His best hits [album] got here out and wasn’t actually promoting. They pulled it again, put “American Girl” on it and increase, it went multi-platinum. He received a Grammy for Greatest Male Rock Vocal Efficiency[in 2000] on that music. That revitalized his profession and now he’s the Lenny Kravitz. There’s a fantastic model of “American Girl” with him and Prince on a New 12 months’s Eve. Each of them are soloing and singing “American Girl” with a full band enjoying — together with saxes and horns. It’s simply superb.

Watch Lenny Kravitz and Prince Carry out ‘American Girl’