If you dont know the story behind the recording of Takin Care of Business by BTO, read on and you will see why this is truly a Rock-n-Roll story. Randy Bachman had sung what would later become Takin Care of Business while still a member of The Guess Who. His original idea was to write about a recording technician who worked on The Guess Whos recordings. This particular technician would take the 8:15 train to get to work, inspiring the lyrics take the 8:15 into the city. The standard uniform worn by technicians at the studio was a white collared shirt, which inspired the title White Collar Worker. In the early arrangement for the song, the chorus riff and vocal melody were similar to that of The Beatles Paperback Writer. When Randy first played this version for Burton Cummings, Cummings declared that he was ashamed of him and that The Guess Who would never record the song because the Beatles would sue them.[1] Randy still felt like the main riff and verses were good, it was only when the song got to the chorus that everyone hated it. While BTO was still playing smaller venues in support of its first album, Bachman was driving into Vancouver, British Columbia for a gig and listening to the radio when he heard a particular DJs (Daryl B) catch phrase Were takin care of business. Lead vocalist Fred Turners voice gave out before the bands last set that night. Bachman sang some cover songs to get through the last set, and on a whim, he told the band to play the C, B-flat and F chords (a I-VII-IV progression) over and over, and he sang White Collar Worker with the new words Takin Care of Business inserted into the chorus.[1] After this, he rewrote the lyrics to White Collar Worker with a new chorus and the title Takin Care of Business. Along with this he wrote a revised guitar riff, which was the I-VII-IV progression played with a shuffle. The song was recorded by Bachman–Turner Overdrive for their second album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II. It would reach #12 on the Billboard singles charts, #3 on the Canadian RPM charts, and become one of B.T.O.s most enduring and well-known songs. The original studio version, recorded at Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle, Washington, also features a prominent piano, played by Norman Durkee. Durkee was delivering a pizza to the Steve Miller Band in the next studio when he poked his head into BTOs studio while the playbacks of Takin Care of Business were running. While Bachman assumed that Durkee was just a pizza delivery man, Durkee was actually an accomplished musician who would become musical director for Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. Durkee said, that needs a piano...a real boogie-woogie piano would sound cool, and he left. The band tracked him down in another studio, Durkee scribbled the chords down on a pizza box, and recorded the piano part in one take. youtube/watch?v=1dSzaScsWh4
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 04:53:58 +0000
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