Burton Cummings

Biography

Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He led the Guess Who during the band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and has since had a lengthy solo career.
Cummings has been inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been cited as one of the most influential performers in Canadian rock music. He has also been named as an officer of the Order of Canada and Order of Manitoba. The Burton Cummings Theatre and Burton Cummings Community Centre in Winnipeg are named in his honour.

Early years

Cummings was born and raised in Winnipeg by his mother and maternal grandparents, after his father left the family during his infancy. He attended St. John's High School but dropped out at age 17 to pursue a career in music. The school granted him an honorary diploma in 2010.
In 1964 Cummings joined local R&B band the Deverons (not to be confused with an American group called the Devrons) on piano and vocals. The Deverons released two singles locally in Winnipeg. In early 1966, shortly after his 18th birthday, Cummings joined another regionally successful band, Chad Allan & The Expressions, to replace departed keyboardist Bob Ashley. Cummings also took on lead vocal duties in conjunction with group leader Chad Allan.
This group had been subjected to a record company publicity stunt in which their 1965 hit single "Shakin' All Over" was released anonymously with the message "Guess Who?" to trick listeners into thinking it was by a famous British Invasion band. Disc jockeys announced the single as being by someone called "Guess Who?", forcing the group to accept the nickname; their latest releases had been issued under the name Chad Allan & The Expressions with "Guess Who?" displayed prominently on the covers.

With the Guess Who

A few months after Cummings joined Chad Allan & the Expressions, Allan left his namesake band, leaving Cummings as the sole singer. The band's name was changed to simply the Guess Who, with Cummings becoming one of the band's primary songwriters in conjunction with guitarist Randy Bachman. Their first album under this name was It's Time in the summer of 1966.
The band became internationally successful upon the release of their album American Woman in 1970, which reached the top ten in several countries and made the Guess Who the first Canadian band to achieve a number one single in the United States. Bachman then left the Guess Who, and Cummings continued to lead the band through several more internationally successful albums. Cummings and drummer Garry Peterson were the only consistent members of the band during this era. Cummings disbanded the Guess Who in 1975 due to songwriting disagreements with guitarist Dominic Troiano.

Solo career

After the disbanding of The Guess Who, Cummings embarked on a solo career; his self-titled debut solo album was released in 1976 and reached the top ten on the Canadian albums chart. The single "Stand Tall×Stand Tall17 September 1976 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAStand Tall3:20BBurch Magic3:48" was an international hit and sold more than one million copies in the United States. In 1977, he was presented with a Juno Award as best male vocalist. Also in 1977, he provided backing vocals for the Eric Carmen album Boats Against the Current, and released his second solo album My Own Way to Rock×My Own Way to Rock1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Never Had a Lady Before3:11A2Come on By3:19A3Try to Find Another Man2:57A4Gotta Find Another Way4:28A5My Own Way to Rock4:49B1Charlemagne4:13B2Timeless Love3:46B3Framed3:56B4A Song for Him3:32.

His 1978 album, Dream of a Child×Dream of a Child1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Break It to Them Gently4:31A2Hold On, I'm Comin'2:49A3I Will Play a Rhapsody3:09A4Wait by the Water2:58A5When a Man Loves a Woman3:02A6Shiny Stockings2:20B1Guns, Guns, Guns4:07B2Takes a Fool to Love a Fool3:02B3Meanin' So Much4:01B4It All Comes Together2:31B5Roll With the Punches3:37B6Dream of a Child4:18, sold more than 300,000 copies in Canada, making it one of the country's highest-selling albums up to that point. Due to a dispute with his record label, his 1980 album Woman Love×Woman Love1980 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Feels All Wrong3:26A2One and Only4:57A3Mile a Second3:45A4Had to Be You4:46A5Heavenly Blue4:21B1Fine State of Affairs3:17B2Where Are You5:03B3Woman Love6:07B4It's Hard3:17B5Wakin' Up Today3:36 was not released in the United States but was another substantial hit in Canada that earned Cummings another Juno Award. The 1981 album Sweet Sweet×Sweet Sweet1981 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1You Saved My Soul4:20A2Real Good3:43A3Mother Keep Your Daughters In4:38A4Something Old, Something New4:38A5Nothin’ Wrong With the Road3:38B1Gettin’ My Daddy’s Car3:03B2Bad News4:31B3Someone to Lean On3:19B4Sweet Sweet5:00B5Firefly4:55 was much less successful. Cummings also dabbled in acting during this period, with an appearance in the film Melanie in 1982. Cummings joined a short reunion tour of the classic Guess Who lineup in 1983, which resulted in the live album Together Again! (known as The Best of The Guess Who - Live! in the United States). The solo albums Heart×Heart1984 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Combustion3:55A2Love Dream4:10A3Whatever Happened to Your Eyes3:20A4Heart4:15A5Will You Show Me4:28B1Creepin' Peepin' Baby Blues3:29B2Over You3:32B3Thrill a Minute3:32B4Not Too Appealing2:47B5Vocals on the Boat3:44B6Be Bop a Lula2:35 (1984) and Plus Signs×Plus Signs1990 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Workaday3:362Permissible to Cry3:363Friend of Inertia4:154Take One Away3:275Cerebral World5:436I'd Love to Talk3:197The Rock's Steady4:138One Day Soon3:189Bridge in Time4:3010Boring Dreams6:2111Free5:08 (1990) were moderately successful in Canada.
After an extended break from recording, Cummings released the live album Up Close and Alone×Up Close and Alone1996 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Albert Flasher3:242Timeless Love4:253Stand Tall4:584Sour Suite4:265Break It to Them Gently5:346Laughing3:087Undun4:208Clap for the Wolfman4:149I Will Play a Rhapsody3:2710Share the Land3:5311Gordon Lightfoot Does Maggie May2:1012You Saved My Soul4:3113No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature5:4514Ferry Cross the Mersey3:5415Take One Away4:2016I'm Scared4:2017Dream of a Child4:4518These Eyes / Goodnight Everybody5:09 in 1997, featuring songs from throughout his career performed on solo piano. Cummings then convened another reunion of The Guess Who for an extensive nostalgia tour from 2000 to 2003. In July 2003 the group performed before an estimated audience of 450,000 at the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto SARS benefit concert. The show was the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history.

In 2004 Cummings released the one-off single "With God on Our Side", a Bob Dylan cover, which reached no. 29 on the Canadian singles chart. In 2006, Cummings and Randy Bachman started a new duo project backed by the Canadian rock band The Carpet Frogs, but were unable to use the name The Guess Who, which had been trademarked by bassist Jim Kale. The project became known as the Bachman-Cummings Band or simply Bachman-Cummings, and performs occasionally whenever both men are available. They released the covers album Jukebox in 2007 and most recently performed live in 2020. They have been selected to perform for a celebration of Manitoba's 150th anniversary, to take place after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Carpet Frogs have also served as Cummings's solo band. In 2008, Cummings released his first all-new solo album in 18 years, Above the Ground×Above the Ground4 November 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Crazy If You Mess With the Gods3:502Junior Won't Behave3:383TPOS3:304Any Minor Miracle4:095Powers at Play4:436Ponderlust4:507Rollaway1:428We Just Came From the U.S.A.3:379Pretty Pictures3:3910Look Out Charlie (There's a New Bartender in Town)3:1411Kurt's Song4:4512Richard5:0013Dream3:4514Up in the Canyon3:0915A Touch of Morning3:4916Revelation4:2417Invisible3:3218Retribution5:2519Above the Ground4:19Disc 21Behind-the-Scenes View of Creating the Album. In 2017 he released a book of poetry titled The Writings of B. L. Cummings. He returned to solo performances in 2019, with shows featuring cover songs and original songs from throughout his career with The Guess Who and as a solo artist. His latest album, A Few Good Moments×A Few Good Moments2024 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1A Few Good Moments4:222Ain't No More3:303Shape I'm In3:224Break Away3:265Shoot Me Down2:586Speak to Me3:087My Rhythm and My Rhyme4:378Magic Town3:349Heard It on the News4:3010Sanity3:5811Peace Corps Baby2:3612Up to the Minute4:5213Blackjack Fever3:5714Yo, John2:5915Arrogance2:1316Sin City2:5717Market My Letters2:08, was released on September 26, 2024.
In 2025 Cummings announced his "A Few Good Moments" tour would perform at 22 locations in Canada and the United States, including Line Spike 2025 in Harrowsmith, Ontario.

Personal life

Cummings married Cheryl DeLuca on September 22, 1981. They separated in 2021. They had no children. He lived in Sherman Oaks, California, for many years until moving to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in 2017. He is part owner of the Winnipeg-based restaurant chain Salisbury House. In May 2018 Cummings was involved in a serious car crash in Los Angeles that required physical and mental therapy and the cancellation of several weeks of performances.

Film music

California Dreaming (1978)
"Among the Yesterdays" (Music by Fred Karlin / Lyrics by Robb Royer)
"Keep it in the Family" (Music and Lyric by Cummings)
Voices (1979)
"I Will Always Wait For You (Theme From Voices)" (Written by Jimmy Webb)
"On a Stage" (Written by Jimmy Webb)
"Drunk as a Punk" (Written by Jimmy Webb)
Melanie (1982)
"You Saved My Soul" (Written by Cummings)
"Real Good" (Written by Cummings)
"Something Old, Something New" (Written by Cummings)

Collaborations with Randy Bachman

2006 Bachman Cummings Songbook – Compilation that features tracks from The Guess Who, Burton Cummings and Bachman–Turner Overdrive
2006 The Thunderbird Trax – A compilation of previously unreleased material recorded by Bachman and Cummings circa 1987
2007 Jukebox – Bachman & Cummings album that features covers of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, The Shadows and The Beatles