I STILL RECALL MAGIC SUMMERS
A CONVERSATION WITH BURTON CUMMINGS
Burton Cummings is an icon. At 16, he left school and made the decision that music was his career. In 1964, he joined The Deverons, who released two singles in Winnipeg and achieved some success, but it was in 1965 when he joined The Guess Who that his career really took off. The Guess Who went on to have over 30 Top 40 hits in Canada (which includes four number ones) and a dozen top forty hits in the US, with two numbers one, something few Canadian bands did in the early 1970s. Then Cummings went solo in 1976, with his solo debut, “Stand Tall” hitting number one.
But beyond all the chart success, The Guess Who and Cummings had and continue to have a huge influence on generations of bands. Not bad for a kid born in Winnipeg, who dealt with the harsh winters in that city.
“I’m getting ready for Canadian prairie’s winter,” he said during our recent conversation to discuss his new album, A Few Good Moments. “It’s ok, I grew up in Winnipeg, so I know what cold is. As kids we all played hockey and came home half frozen, but that is just the way it was.”
His new album, A Few Good Moments is his 10th solo album. He has also released a wonderful live album, Massey Hall, in 2012 and a couple of brilliant compilations. It is also his first album since 2008’s Above The Ground. The title track has been around for a while and Cummings just wanted to make sure he had it right before committing it to tape.
“It’s been around awhile. Some of these songs are brand new, and some have been around for awhile. It was one of those things, I was thinking about The Kennedys both being assassinated and Martin Luther King. It occurred to me that these things that happened were just so horrifying to think about and it weighed on me so heavily that I thought ‘I am going to craft a song about those events.’ Once I had the songs all gathered up, I thought it was a good title for the album. The songs are from different periods of time, so I thought it was a good title, A Few Good Moments.”
A FEW GOOD MOMENTS ALBUM REVIEW
Cummings is, understandably, proud of the reaction to the new album and the fact that people are already picking favourite songs. “People have been talking about “My Rhythm and My Rhyme”, which may be one of my favourites on the record. I think it is a very honest and open song about aging and having lived a reasonably long time. I will be 77 next month. But I will tell you this much, it is very flattering, I haven’t had a new album in over a decade, and it is very flattering to hear people mention specific songs. Which to me is tremendous as a songwriter, because it means the songs have been staying with people.”
Another song that he has had a great deal of positive feedback is “Heard It On The News”. “Heard It One The News”. That is my friend, Bill Iveniuk, who wrote a song called “Take One Away”, which was on one of my albums years ago. I’ve known Bill since I was a teenager, and he comes up with some great ideas. That was his song about black magic, John Bonham, insanity, and John Lennon. Those were his verses. I came up with the hook, talking about the loss of people, and I said there has to be a verse that talks about Jim Morrison. I came up with “Curiosity Killed The Lizard King”, so that is a co-written song. I wouldn’t have come up with that idea myself, but Bill did.”
Along with writing and co-writing songs for the album, Cummings recorded a couple of very interesting covers for the album. “The song “Shape I’m In” is by a group called The Arc Angels. I’ve always liked the song, and I just found out recently that one of the writers of that song is Marc Benno, who did albums with Leon Russell back in the 1960s, they called themselves The Asylum Choir, and I didn’t know that. They were a couple of brilliant albums. He was one of the co-writers of “Shape I’m In” and I like that song because it is straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll. “Doing pretty good for the shape I’m in”, laughed Cummings.
“With “Sin City”, I have been singing it for years at home. I always liked The Flying Burrito Brothers, and it was written by Chris Hillman and Jim McGuinn. I always liked the song and loved singing it. I was in the studio one day with my two guitar players and the band and I taught it to them. We were in the studio working on something else, and I showed it to the boys. I said ‘just play along with me’. I love the song, and I did it purely for the love of that song.
BURTON CUMMINGS AND TIM BOVACONTI
Even after decades of making iconic music, releasing new material is still a little stressful for Cummings. And given that it has been several years since his last album, there was reason for concern.
“It’s always scary because you never know how the public will react. You do the best you can, and you hope for the best. I watched the industry change drastically over the past 10 or 12 years, we are now living in the age of Taylor Swift, and streaming. So, it is nerve wracking, but what takes away some of the fear is the terrific reactions and reviews. I’m very happy about that. And I’m not a kid anymore. I wanted to put out a record that…you never know if it is going to be your last record, and I didn’t want to put something out that would embarrass me in a couple of years. But I am happy with the record, I really am.”
Cummings is taking the album on the road. He will be touring, celebrating his 60 years in music, but a great deal of the new album will be included. He is also performing at the famous Ryman Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. “What I want to do is stand in that square where all the legends have stood. From Johnny Cash to Johnny Horton to Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, all the real legends of country have stood in that spot. And when we go there, I am definitely standing in that spot and having a couple of pictures taken. It is so legendary.”
A Few Good Moments is a brilliant album, one in which Cummings can certainly be proud. “I have been doing this my whole life, since I was 14 I have been in a band. We cut our first records when I was 16, so I have been at this over 60 years now. Even in this day and age when everything has changed, streaming, I noticed vinyl is making a huge comeback, I am pleased to still be in the business and have an album that I think is decent. It was just a terrific experience, overall, the recording of this record. I hope that people hear it as an album. I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m a guy that has been in the industry for ages now, and I still went about this in an old school way. I made what I think is a decent album and I am hoping for a good reaction. This album has been a while in the making, and it is time to let it go and see what the reaction is from the people.”
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Photo Credits: Maureen Lilla
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BURTON CUMMINGS – A FEW GOOD MOMENTS
SPILL NEWS: BURTON CUMMINGS RETURNS WITH ‘A FEW GOOD MOMENTS’
