Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories by Randy Bachman ~ 2011. This edition: Penguin Canada, 2011. First edition. Hardcover. ISBN: 978-0-670-06579-0. 224 pages.
My rating: Oh boy. Another toughie to rate.
Because I’m already something of a Vinyl Tap fan, admittedly for Randy’s rambling anecdotes more so than some of the actual songs, and I’ve heard some – a lot! – of these stories before. The book perfectly captures his long-winded, continually-sidetracked, “Hey – I played with everyone you ever heard of” – and of course he did, he really DID! – very Canadian, very polite, and very funny style. I could hear his voice say every word I read.
Anyway, the rating. If I’d never heard a single episode of Vinyl Tap, I’d have to say a 6 or possibly a 7. Lot’s of name dropping, lots of references to both now-forgotten musicians and still-legendary rock stars, lots of eyes-glaze-over arcane musical stuff. As it is, and because I really like and admire Randy on a personal level – though I’ve never met the guy, and was definitely not a real fan of his music when growing up, except for the few chart toppers I inadvertently listened to – “American Woman”, “No Sugar Tonight” – you know, the standards – (I was always more into the Brits, like The Stones and The Who and Bowie and T. Rex, with a parallel affection for Jonie Mitchell and Bob Dylan and their ilk) – anyway, his voice on CBC Radio is a ton of fun to listen to, and the man seems genuinely nice.
Nice is good. We need way more nice in the world. And he’s a kid from Winnipeg. Who now lives in B.C. So he gets an 8.5/10. Rock on, Randy! Long may you ramble.
*****
I think maybe I already wrote my review. Let’s see, maybe a bit of background info for those of you Canadians who haven’t inadvertently or deliberately tuned into CBC Radio on a Saturday night driving along in the dark.
The Guess Who. Bachman Turner Overdrive. Ring any bells? If so, you may be a Canadian of a certain age.
Randy Bachman’s musical life started way back in his childhood, with violin lessons from the age of five. That was in the 1940s, and by the ’50s Randy had discovered another stringed instrument, the guitar – in particular the rock’n’roll guitar – and his future was set. Blessed with a hear-it-once-and-play-it mind – Randy calls it his “phonographic memory” – Randy forged ahead single-mindedly absorbing every new lick and chord and riff, and hanging out with the rest of the young wannabees in Winnipeg’s surprisingly fertile breeding ground for the rockers of the next few decades.
Teenage garage bands evolved and moved on, and the young musicians traded high school gyms for recording studios, doggedly saving their money to produce demos and singles and eventually albums, and one day, not too far into his musical journey, Randy found himself playing among the greats. Having converted to Mormonism when wooing his first wife, Randy was that rare figure: a rocker who embraced the third element of the stereotypical sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle while remaining a sober observer of the excesses of his compatriots in the first two departments. Perhaps that’s why his memory is so darned good?
And it – his memory – is amazing. The guy is a fount of trivial detail and anecdotes galore. To listen to him chatting away on Vinyl Tap, picking on his guitar to illustrate the details of what chord so-and-so played on his/her greatest hit/forgotten classic is mesmerizing. The guy is a literal sponge. He’s soaked up everything he’s ever heard or seen, music-wise. I repeat – amazing.
This book is a collection of Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap radio show monologues, expanded and cross referenced and generally polished up, with playlists of referenced songs at each chapter end, apparently available as collections on iTunes. (I haven’t checked this out personally, but I read that somewhere in the book end notes. It’s not prominently mentioned – a point in favour, in my opinion.) Another cool feature is the themed lists of songs at the end of the book, reflecting the themed Vinyl Tap shows where the featured “common thing” among diverse songs highlighted by Randy may be, say, cowbells, or songs for your funeral – how about “I Shall Be Released” by The Band, or “Wasn’t That a Party?” by the Irish Rovers, or “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, among all the sad and sobby tearjerkers also listed – or food songs (“Catfish Blues”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “I Want Candy”.) Sometimes a little bit silly, but a whole lot of fun.
Speaking of food, Randy shares some deep down and personal stuff here as well, like how his own appetite led him to the point where he weighed almost 400 pounds a few years ago, and his resolve to turn his life around. He opted for gastric bypass surgery, and it appears to have done wonders for him; he’s downright svelte in his later photos.
All in all, an interesting book for a Randy Bachman fan or a guitar aficionado – the guy’s a guitar monomaniac too, and there is a long, super-detailed chapter on rock guitars and their ins and outs and how to get various details of sound which, though fascinating in an “I’ll never use this information but it’s cool to see someone so passionate about it” way is something that was mostly lost on me, as I suspect it would be on most of us who aren’t aspiring rock band guitarists.
Would I recommend it? Hmm. Maybe one to check out from the library before buying it, though the song playlists are maybe worth having around, for those days with too much time on your hands and an iTunes gift card handy.
And here are some good links to recent interviews with Randy Bachman:
National Post – Randy Bachman Talks & Writes Vinyl Tap
Georgia Straight – Randy Bachman Remembers
Guitar International – Randy Bachman on Canadian Rock & Collecting Guitars
Leaves & Pages 
Things I didn’t know about Randy: Mormonism. 400 pounds
Yup, I’d better add that to my list. (ooh, maybe there’s a Christmas present idea for my man.)
I know! I said to *my* man, “Wow – Randy Bachman is Mormon. I didn’t know that!” He looked at me with that look they sometimes give you. “Everybody knows that.” Well, gee, guess I missed that particular snippet of general info. Glad I’m not the only one! (And I truly never was a BTO or Guess Who fan.)
And I knew he was a big guy – but 400 pounds – that seems absolutely huge. He’s looking great in all his pics now, though.
I love Vinyl Tap. Except sometimes I have to turn the songs down, because I just can’t do MoTown (is that spelled right?) or some of the country stuff he plays. I don’t care how great the guitars are, some stuff is just too much for a person to handle. 😉 But I sure have learned a lot listening!
yup, we love Randy on a Saturday night (see how wild our lives are?) while playing Scrabble. The Tap is so educational.
And I picked it up this morning at Chapters.
Sometimes there is nothing that says it as well as OMG! Just last Saturday, in the car I tuned into CBC on Sirius, and both Tom and I were captivated by the show. I am a huge Neil Sedaka fan, and yet learned SO much about his work. Happily I get CBC on my Apple TV and plan to listen each week now. I wasn’t into his music either, but I love his knowledge.
I’m still shaking my head in amazement, and delight, that you wrote about this.
Vinyl Tap, Vinyl Cafe – two of many wonders on the CBC!
I am terribly proud of, as a Canadian, and attached to the CBC. Surviving the myriad choppings of funding and troubling dropping of some *excellent* programs in the past few years, there are still some grand hours of listening every day. I spent many happy years listening to the iconic Peter Gzowski during “Morningside”, with Vicki Gabereau and then Bill Richardson for lighter amusement in the afternoons. They’re all gone now – well, Peter’s gone, in the most permanent sense – he died a few years ago – while Bill & Vicki are still spinning their stories in different venues – but there’s some creative things going on in this new era too.
Have you heard Terry O’Reilly’s “Age of Persuasion”? Another good one, to go along with Stuart MacLean & Randy B. And DNTO – “Definitely Not the Opera” – has its moments.
Check out the CBC website – lots of links to podcasts. *Hours* of diverting listening!
For a time when my kids were in school, the CBC came in loud and clear on my Bose in the kitchen, and I listened faithfully to Morningside. How I came to love that man and his voice, as I did Shelagh Rogers. I learned so much from that show. I have The Next Chapter on my podcasts. Q and Spark are now on a local public radio station which pleases me.
I will look into the shows you mentioned.
I was never able to get Bill R’s show, but will look for him now. His first BBB&B book is one of my top favorites of all time.
Richardson’s Roundup. Had to think about the name – it’s been a while. It was good – I loved the eclectic music choices Bill played, and the listeners’ stories were priceless. DNTO resembles it quite a lot, come to think of it – same basic formula, but DNTO is more themed. Bill was pretty random! I really like Spark. Sadly it is no longer playing on my long-distance driving days, 5 hours every Tuesday & Thursday, which is when most of my radio listening happens, and I’m not very organized with downloading the podcasts. Just found the BBB&B book – what a coincidence just when you mentioned it! – must dip into it for a refresher one of these days. The follow up BB book wasn’t quite as good, I seem to remember – the BB Pillow Book – was that it?
I think there were two which followed and they were more ‘riotous’ ‘goofy’ -something like that. There was an element of it in the first book, but the sweet brothers and the bookish stuff were more prevalent so I could take it.
I think even by the end of the first BBB&B book Bill was getting pretty silly & giddy. ‘Riotous” & ‘goofy’ – yes – I could agree with that! It’s wearing to read if it’s *too* over-the-top, and Bill Richardson does excel at that.