Bachman-Turner Overdrive is a Canadian rock band best known for their 70s hits “Let It Ride”, “Takin' Care Of Business” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”. When Randy Bachman left The Guess Who, his former bandmate Burton Cummings announced publicly that Randy would never make it in the music business.

Determined to prove Cummings wrong, he recruited former Guess Who bandmate Chad Allan to form Brave Belt with brother Robbie Bachman and fellow Winnipeg bassist CF Turner. Allan left soon after the recording of Brave Belt’s second album, so Bachman’s other brother Tim replaced him. With all band members named Bachman or Turner, the band changed their name to Bachman-Turner Overdrive (after seeing the trucker magazine Overdrive at a truck stop).

Randy invested his life savings to record the band’s eponymous debut album, and Mercury Records signed the band with the agreement they would promote it with vigorous touring. It scored two modest hits in Canada, one also a minor US hit. But it was their follow-up Bachman–Turner Overdrive II that found big success with “Let It Ride” and “Takin' Care Of Business”. Randy – a strict Mormon – saw other members violating his original rule of no drugs, alcohol or premarital sex while touring, so his brother Tim was the first to leave the fold over the issue.

Not Fragile, with Blair Thornton in place of Tim Bachman, gave the band a massive international chart-topper with “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”. The album topped the US & Canadian album charts, and reached the top 20 in five countries overseas. Its second single “Roll on Down the Highway” made the top 40 in several countries. The band toured with Thin Lizzy as their opening act, however they began to be judged by critics as ‘simplistic’, accusing them of using ‘an already familiar formula’.

Seven months later Four Wheel Drive appeared and its lead single “Hey You” topped the Canadian Pop Chart and was also a hit in the US, Germany, Austria & New Zealand. However, they were on the verge of falling apart due to being burnt out from spending 300 days a year on the road. Despite again being labelled formulaic for pumping out ‘familiar licks’ and running on ‘borrowed steam’, Head On was rushed out even faster. It was not as successful, reaching the top 30 in four countries with its two singles finding moderate success in the US and Canada.

When their next album Freeways was finished, the rest of the band felt it didn’t sound like a Bachman-Turner Overdrive album. But Randy Bachman was not only trying to avoid being again labeled formulaic, he was still ‘hell-bent’ on pumping out albums quickly. When it found even less success, artistic differences led Randy to quit and release a solo album, then form Ironhorse – a band that soon changed their name to Union. The remaining members replaced him with Jim Clench of April Wine and continued on under the name BTO. After releasing two albums that found even less success, they disbanded in 1979.

In 1983, Bachman-Turner Overdrive reunited with Randy Bachman (minus Robbie who disagreed with the terms and was replaced by Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson), but the band’s sales and fame remained low in comparison to their heyday. The second single from their 1984 album BTO would be their last minor US hit, peaking at #83. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, the band toured in various incarnations, scoring an opening spot for Van Halen’s 1986 5150 tour. But aside from a cover of “Wooly Bully” for the 1989 Canadian film American Boyfriends, the band released no music.

When Randy Bachman left again in the 90s, he was replaced by Randy Murray and the band continued touring. 1996’s Trial by Fire: Greatest and Latest featured Thornton and Murray sharing vocals duties for re-recordings of the band’s classic hits along with new songs. The band has continued touring through the 2000s with various members.