We’re at that point where nearly all classic rock artists that helped lay the template down for today’s chart-toppers have either celebrated or are approaching their 50-year anniversary. A half-century is certainly a milestone on its own, but when you’re able to take the songs that you wrote and still deliver them to appreciative audiences all these years later, that’s the true reward.
For Burton Cummings – the instantly recognizable mid-baritone voice of the original version of The Guess Who – he figured why stop there? At age 77, Cummings is celebrating 60 years of him being involved in recorded music. And what better way to do that than on the road, which will include a stop at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, Pa. on Sunday, March 9.
“I’ve been very busy touring, and we have had a wonderful feeling of ‘welcome back’ to the States because we hadn’t played in America in quite some time,” Cummings said. “Because of the fake Guess Who; and there was a lot of legal action involved and it was just a big headache. That’s gone now, and we’ve been touring the States steadily now since early September and the reaction has been tremendous. I’m just very happy about where we’re at right now.”
Cummings’ answer may seem like a lot to take in, but it’s because that’s how busy the man has been. A well-publicized legal fight between the most recognizable lineup of The Guess Who, trying to protect the integrity of his music, and simply continuing to be a working musician. Thankfully, he has found time to continue to tour, including a recent voyage as part of the Rock Legends Cruise, and is proud of the way his 60 year anniversary tour has been coming together.
“I cut my first record with The Deverons in Winnipeg and I was 17 and I’m 77 now, so it’s 60 years of making records,” he said. “We do about two hours straight-through with no breaks. It’s a well-crafted show and the reaction has been tremendous. That’s what I go by – the reactions of the crowds. And the crowds have been wonderful.”
Check out the review of the Burton Cummings show in Pennsylvania in March of 2025 by Ryan O’Malley here.
Those fans are reacting so well because they get to sing along with rock staples like “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” and “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.” Cummings’ catalog is full of hits, which many consider to be masterpieces. In order to protect his music, Cummings had been involved in a bitter legal dispute with bassist Jim Kale and drummer Garry Peterson –former band mates of Cummings and Randy Bachman – from the original The Guess Who over his songs being played by Kale and Peterson’s version of The Guess Who. Kale had owned the trademark to the moniker since the 1980’s and would tour with Peterson and side men as The Guess Who. Health issues eventually took Kale off the road, and over the last several years Peterson would not be at a number of shows, leaving no members of the original The Guess Who on stage. Yet they would play the songs people knew and be billed as The Guess Who.
It’s a move that did not sit well with Cummings and Bachman, as both men felt it deceived audiences and tarnished the band’s legacy. Within the last year, Cummings and his lawyers did something unheard of – they terminated his agreement with companies that handle performance rights and royalties. These companies – in this case Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) – have agreements with venues across the country where any time an artist’s music is performed in a venue, the artist who wrote the song/songs performed would get royalties as per their agreement with BMI. With Cummings terminating that agreement, it cost him royalties but it also prevented Kale and Peterson from performing Cummings’ songs that he wrote and produced. So if The Guess Who wanted to perform, they couldn’t perform any of Cummings music, essentially guaranteeing nearly non-existent ticket sales.
“It was a big, long legal process – it was ugly and there were a lot of meetings that took hours, and hours, and hours,” Cummings said. “We spent a lot of money on lawyers. Anyway, it’s all over with. My lawyer came up with a brilliant strategy which forbade the fake cover band to go out and play any of my songs. Because I have the publishing (rights), we were able to do that. So it was a very clever legal maneuver. But these guys were just fakes, wannabes pretending they were the real band. They would use the real records to draw people to their fake shows, and then people would get there and it was all these strangers that had never been on the records. I’m glad that’s over with. It was such a disgrace, it really was.”
When Kale and Peterson’s band found out about the termination with BMI, they were scheduled to play that night and the show had to be canceled, as did all other shows they had booked. It’s a tactic that was so off-the-wall that it had to work.
“I’m not sure exactly how that worked,” he said. “What happened was, my lawyers got in touch with the venues and said the venues would be liable if they let that fake band play our songs. That’s just ordinary – that’s a regular, legal thing. Whoever owns the publishing can control the songs. Simple as that.”
With Cummings’ age, the inevitable questioned had to be raised of if he would like his music to be carried on after he is gone or retired.
“Carried on by what, another fake band? No, absolutely not,” he said. “If those songs that I wrote and recorded are going to be performed, they’re going to be performed by me. And that’s it. Period.”
That said, Cummings is still close with Bachman and they still tour together under the Bachman-Cummings Band name when their schedules permit. If fans are looking for any kind of “reunion” of The Guess Who, that would be as close as it would get as the night is full of songs by The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
“Absolutely. Randy and I, we do Bachman-Cummings (shows) once in a while,” he said. “What that encompasses is all the Bachman-Turner Overdrive stuff, all The Guess Who stuff that we did together, and my solo stuff. When Bachman-Cummings plays, it’s a couple hours of hit records.”
Another decades-long scuffle involving The Guess Who revolves around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and their refusal to induct the band. The term “snubbed” is thrown around a lot in regards to the Hall, but when it comes to The Guess Who it seems to be the longest continual snub of any artist. It’s become so synonymous with The Guess Who that Cummings gets slightly irritated when it continues to be discussed.
“No offense to you, but I get so tired of this question,” he said. “I don’t care about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. First of all, I would never get up there with Kale and Peterson after what they did to the name and the history and the legacy. Secondly, neither would Randy Bachman. If you’re going to induct the group, who’s going to be there on that stage? A fake band again? I don’t think so. As far as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jann Wenner, who ran it for a while – the guy from Rolling Stone, the owner or editor – he never liked The Guess Who. He had it out for us from day one. We got terrible reviews in Rolling Stone, we got dumped on in Rolling Stone. I’m sure he had a lot to do with us never being asked to join the Hall of Fame. Secondly, Madonna is in the Hall of Fame; Chic are in the Hall of Fame. That’s not rock and roll. I don’t lose any sleep about not being in there. Believe me.”
With everything behind him, Cummings can concentrate on his true passion – performing his music. With this 60th anniversary tour, Cummings has been enjoying a new energy whenever he’s on stage and the crowd has been nothing short of an inspiration for the singer.
“If it’s any indication, all the shows in the States since the beginning of September have been standing ovations and cheering and have just been terrific. It’s almost like a reemergence for me and I feel this overwhelming feeling of welcome back to the States, Burton. I hope you enjoy the show and we’ll see you there.”
website: https://www.burtoncummings.com/
Upcoming Tour Dates
Mar 6 Thu
Kleinhans Music Hall @ 7:00 p.m.
Buffalo, NY, United States
Mar 7 Fri
Goodyear Theater @ 7:30 p.m.
Akron, OH, United States
Mar 9 Sun
Penn’s Peak @ 8:00 p.m.
Jim Thorpe, PA, United States
Mar 11 Tue
The Ridgefield Playhouse @ 8:00 p.m.
Ridgefield, CT, United States
Mar 12 Wed
Mayo Performing Arts Center @ 7:30 p.m.
Morristown, NJ, United States
Mar 14 Fri
Ocean Casino Resort @ 9:00 p.m.
Atlantic City, NJ, United States
Mar 15 Sat
NYCB Theatre At Westbury @ 8:00 p.m.
Westbury, NY, United States
Mar 18 Tue
Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at Count Basie Center for the Arts @ 7:30 p.m.
Red Bank, NJ, United States
Mar 19 Wed
Warner Theatre @ 8:00 p.m.
Washington, DC, United States
Mar 21 Fri
Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts @ 8:00 p.m.
Detroit, MI, United States
Mar 22 Sat
Rialto Square Theatre @ 8:00 p.m.
Joliet, IL, United States
Mar 24 Mon
Medina Entertainment Center @ 8:00 p.m.
Medina, MN, United States
Mar 26 Wed
Pabst Theater @ 8:00 p.m.
Milwaukee, WI, United States
Mar 28 Fri
Blue Gate Performing Arts Center @ 8:00 p.m.
Shipshewana, IN, United States
Mar 29 Sat
Palace Theatre @ 8:00 p.m.
Columbus, OH, United States
Check out the review of the Burton Cummings show in Pennsylvania in March of 2025 by Ryan O’Malley here.
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