You don't come across a rock star Mormon every day.

I knew Randy Bachman was once Mormon but didn't realize he was a convert, not BIC. Randy was a member of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive.

In 2014, Randy Bachman, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Canada (for the 2nd time):

https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/music/forever-rock-70-year-old-randy-bachman-may-have-a-hall-of-fame-spot-but-he-isnt-going-away

"On Sunday night at the Juno Awards on his home turf in Winnipeg, Mr. Bachman will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame for the second time, with his band mates in Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the group he started after breaking up with Burton Cummings in The Guess Who.

"[He] released his first album with Burton Cummings in The Guess Who in 1966. Together, the two men wrote These Eyes, No Sugar Tonight, Laughing, Undun, No Time, and American Woman, with a riff Mr. Bachman concocted during a sound check at a hockey rink in Waterloo, Ont.. Publishing disputes and lifestyle choices broke up the band, all of which was exacerbated when Mr. Bachman adopted the Mormonism of his first wife Lorayne. About her, Mr. Bachman, a lapsed Lutheran, says two things: 1) For her, he wrote These Eyes; 2) She was Miss Regina Roughrider, 1965. “For me to join a religion that believed in God and taught kindness and abstinence of drugs and alcohol, was like joining AA,” Mr. Bachman says. “When the rest of the band was drinking, when I’d say I’m a Mormon they’d leave me alone.

"Like Paul McCartney before and Dave Grohl afterwards, Mr. Bachman would become that rare rock ‘n’ roll animal — a performer that makes it big with two separate bands.

"Thornton [BTO band member] never subscribed to Mr. Bachman’s strict Mormon rulebook — which eschewed premarital sex, as well as drugs and booze — but says the band gelled onstage."



Randy tells the story of losing his cherished guitar, a 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins model in western orange with black DeArmond pickups, and finding it again 45 years later.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bachman-1957-gretsch-guitar-found-tokyo-1.6206128

"The beloved guitar was lost while Bachman was putting together an album for Bachman–Turner Overdrive in Toronto. His road manager brought the guitar back to the hotel as they checked out. According to Bachman, the guitar was put in the hotel room with other luggage, and in the five minutes it took for the hotel bill to be paid, the instrument was swiped.

"It was just terrible," Bachman said. "I cried for literally all night.... I loved this guitar so much."

"For 45 years, Randy Bachman tried filling the void left behind by a guitar — the guitar — he strummed some of rock music's most iconic songs with.

"The guitar, which he used to pen the likes of No Sugar Tonight, Takin' Care of Business and American Woman, ... recently resurfaced in Tokyo. After a decades-long search and assistance from everyone from the RCMP to vintage instrument dealers across North America came up empty-handed, a fan's creative use of facial recognition software helped track it down in Japan."


When he can safely travel to Japan, Randy is going to trade a similar guitar with the person who bought his cherished guitar years ago in order to get it back again.

He expects he will be overcome with emotion when he reunites with the guitar.

"I will be beyond verklempt," Bachman said. "I'm pretty sure I'll be in tears."

Great news for Randy. I hope he can go and pick up his treasure soon. A reunion 45 years in the making.

It's interesting to read in the two articles how a convert managed to juggle being a rock musician with the demands and limitations of being Mormon.

He managed to continue with the rock and roll but couldn't include the sex and drugs parts of the equation, according to him. It must have made for some interesting conversations with his band mates.

I note Randy's comment about Mormonism "teaching kindness". Not that I've noticed, I'm sorry to say. Maybe it was different back then.

Randy eventually left Mormonism. If I remember correctly, it was through his son, Tal, who used to post here, who came to realize there are problems with Mormonism and shared the knowledge with his dad.

It seems as if Randy has been content since then, with a radio show in Canada and still making music, one of the big loves of his life.

The church hasn't done so well, losing dedicated members, with high profiles, and all that tithing.

It's sweet to think of Randy loving a guitar so much that he cried all night after it was stolen. I'm imagining he wasn't as sorry as that to give up on Mormonism.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2021 08:34PM by Nightingale.

I spent a good chunk of my adult life living in and near Winnipeg and of course heard of their favorite sons Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, and Neil Young. I had already left Mormonism, so I was completely unaware of Bachman's Mormon connection until I learned about it here on RFM.

I think Neil Young did RB one better by succeeding in three bands - Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and Crazy Horse, as well as being "the godfather of Grunge", collaborating a number of times with Pearl Jam.

Winnipeg cranked out some pretty good musicians, for being a largely undistinguished city in the middle of nowhere. As for finding the stolen guitar after 45 years, that beats God finding your car keys. What a story!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2021 09:29PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Yeah, there's something about Winnipeg eh? :)

Maybe just the long cold winters. What else to do but write hit songs?

I really enjoyed reading this story too. (I hope I made it clear that the person Randy is going to meet to get his guitar back is not the person who stole it way back when. That identity is likely lost in the mists of time. Mean thing to do). It's amazing that some random guy thought to use facial recognition software to find the guitar. "A guitar has a face, right?" he said. Funny yet so very effective.

I'm not much of a musician myself (failing clarinet in jr high) although I love listening to the talented people who are.

I was at a concert in the park for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where Randy Bachman was on stage. We were delirious with joy as Vancouver had just won hockey gold during the concert, the game being shown on a big screen overhead. I'd never been to a rock concert. The music was so loud I could feel it rumbling through the ground under my feet. Between the swaying crowd, the noise, the rhythm, the music thrumming through my body and the big win it was nearly an out-of-body experience and one of the most amazing, enjoyable, memorable times ever.

Then Steve Benson, cartoonist and fellow exmo, did me the honour of drawing a cartoon about our gold medal and I've still got a copy of it hanging on my wall. You know Steve - it's a humourous, not serious, picture. Always good for a laugh.

I figure I should have attended more rock concerts in my life! It was amazing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2021 10:38PM by Nightingale.

Neil Young arguably was only in one band, Buffalo Springfield, before he emerged as a solo artist. He guested with CSN, and then Crazy Horse was his occasional backing band (for a few decades!).

Phenomenal talent, but too big to be 'in' a band.

As a kid I had a BTO album and liked their sound, and Takin' Care of Business is a lowbrow classic that I still hum and strum along with.

And then there was that time I got into an argument with Randy's son right here at RfM.

He used to tour for the church, doing special firesides. (See kids, even a famous rock 'n' roller has a testimony.) I was at one of them in Southern California in the late '70s.

I was in San Bernardino when Randy Bachman did a fireside there. It was early 1978 as I recall it. The church was loaded to the hilt to hear him speak of his faith.

Then about ten years ago, I had lunch with Tal Bachman in Salt Lake City and mentioned that fireside to him. Tal said that he was there with his dad that day.

He also said his dad asked him what was wrong when Tal stopped believing in the church.

Tal told his dad that it was okay with him whatever he believed, and gave his dad a couple of books…

Randy and Tal did a youtube broadcast every Friday night at 6:00 PM Pacific with Tal's girlfriend "Koko" during the first year of the pandemic when things were shut down. Sometimes his daughter and granddaughter would join. It was great, and something I looked forward too. I did not know what a great performer Tal is until then, I didn't care much for his pop hit but I think the video turned me off on the song and performance. I've always loved Randy and his playing influenced mine when I was learning guitar. I didn't realize he was Mormon until I a missionary in my Mission from Winterpeg started telling Randy Bachman stories.

I'd like to go to a Tal and Randy NoMo fireside now if they ever care to give one. I hope I can see them play live sometime while Randy is still actively playing shows.

I watched a few of those…really liked how they did “Born Under a Bad Sign.” It was great even though not in a recording studio. And Tal really does have tremendous vocal talent and put it out on that song magnificently.

From what Tal told me, his dad is mostly interested in music and talks little of anything else. It’s his lifetime passion, and conversations get quickly diverted to music.

But Tal himself is well versed in his former beliefs, and said something like, ‘the only thing that ever made sense in Mormonism is if it’s a complete fraud’.

I couldn’t agree more.

I like hearing Randy's show, Vinyl Tap, on Sunday nights. Hearing about the good ole' days in rock-&-roll history, as well as his favorite stories and music, has been great.

VINYL TAP: Two hours of music and stories from one of Canada's musical legends. Randy Bachman has been an integral part of Canada's music scene for more than 40 years as part of The Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive and as a solo artist. On VINYL TAP, Bachman spins his favourite tunes and shares stories from his life on the road and in the studio. Celebrating our 13th year on the air.

Vinyl Tap airs on CBC Radio 1/Sirius 169 Saturdays at 7pm & CBC Radio 2 Sundays at 6pm. Theme previews are announced on social media every Friday.

Glad to hear the story about his guitar... and him finding it... and how it made him feel. Beloved musician

Great song writer, singer, and DJ.

....... that man can talk and talk. Where is Tal?

I don't know but about a decade ago, shortly after coming to RFM, and learning that Randy was a formon (former mormon), and that Tal was his son, I found a few Tal CDs (good musician)... and in southern Mississippi, there used to be a place called Tal's Dart Bar. I hadn't heard of a Tal before, only a towel, which, depending on dialect, can sound like Tal.

Hey Tal, if you're out there - otherwise, Hello In There [John Prine]

What a wonderful story about Randy soon to be reunited with his long lost guitar. Face recognition? Who knew? So awesome!

I so enjoyed the fascinating posts by Tal and his back and forth posts with many of you so many years ago now. I would laugh and laugh.

I laughed about the face recognition too, MexMom. Brilliant idea that guy had to do facial recognition for a guitar! Fortunately for Randy, that musician does public concerts so his guitar could be recognized. Fortunately too that he's willing to hand the guitar back. But it sounds as if it's going to cost Randy a lot to get it back, fare for the trip to Japan plus the cost of a replacement guitar for the other guy. Seems like he's up for it though.

The guy in Japan is probably juiced belong belief to have ended up owning Bachman's 6120. Bachman could probably sell a few of his less played guitars and raise a fair amount of money. I always kick my self about not buying some guitars back in the 70s and 80s, they are worth a lot of money now. I suspect Randy's 6120 would go for about $20K if it is in good shape, actually more if he sold it as his guitar. My guitar teacher wanted to sell me his Gretsch in 1974 for $300. He was doing me a big favor and trying to set me up with a really good instrument when I did not have a lot of money, but I did not take him up on it because I thought he would regret selling it later.

I guess if you could literally cry all night over a guitar, you could fall for the mormon church?

I don't know. I heard Britney cried all day recently. All day. I think it had something to do with her fans response to her early Christmas tree.

All in all, strange thongs.