Randy Bachman is a man who likes to take risks. He took a big one when he left the Guess Who in 1970. Sidelined by health and personal issues, Bachman formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive and returned to the frontlines bigger than ever. Since the 1970s, he’s reunited with both the Guess Who and BTO, but he still isn’t finished taking risks. Fellow Canadian Neil Young advised him to step out of his comfort zone and create something new and different, so he gathered up his wits and gumption, took a few meetings, made a few calls and Heavy Blues was born.
Produced by veteran knob twister Kevin Shirley in the span of just a couple weeks, Heavy Blues lives up to its name and then some with a collection of mostly hard rocking tracks. Bachman and his band — bassist Anna Ruddick and drummer Dale Anne Brendan — do most of the heavy lifting, as guest guitarists Young, Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph, Scott Holiday of Rival Sons, Luke Doucet of Whitehorse and the late Jeff Healey, add the icing to the cake. It makes for a satisfying white-knuckle ride from start to finish.
‘The Edge” lifts off like the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” before settling into its own groove. Ruddick and Brendan channel John Entwistle and Keith Moon while Bachman chimes in with a crunchy guitar riff and lyrics that inform the listener that the “edge” is Bachman’s “latest address” where you’ll find him. “Ton Of Bricks” triumphantly gallops and skips as Scott Holiday’s stabbing leads dance around the melody in radiant acquiescence. The bluesy “Bad Child” spotlights Bonamassa’s smooth fretwork with Bachman taking it even further over edge by calling himself out as a “bad child.”
You’ll definitely hear Neil Young’s quirky guitar lines on “Little Girl Lost,” while Robert Randolph swoops in with his alluring pedal steel on “Oh My Lord” to supercharge the rhythm. “Confessin’ To The Devil” is a Bo Diddley inspired riff that captures the spirit and mastery of the late Jeff Healey. The title track finds Frampton peeling off the kind of leads he used to play with Humble Pie. “Please Come To Paris,” with Luke Doucet of Whitehorse diligently slicing away at the melody between verses with a heavy dose of sultry string bending, adds an intercontinental flavor to the record. Songs without friends like “Learn To Fly,” “Wild Texas Ride” and the closing “We Need To Talk” spotlight the Bachman band’s unsullied dynamics. The 10 songs on Heavy Blues exemplify the best elements of Randy Bachman, a man who continues to take care of business as many of his peers shy away from the risk-taking, roll up the sidewalk and fade away.
~ Shawn Perry
