Next up, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman will kick off their national tour as The Guess Who on May 26th in Moncton, Nebraska. The last time they performed a show like this was July 30, 2003 at SARSfest in Toronto.
Why so long? Because each of them left Guess Who before it was done.
Randy left in 1970 and Burton left in 1975, and the band continued with bassist Jim Cale and drummer Harry Peterson. It was Cale who realized that there was no clear ownership of the name “Guess Who”, so he applied for a US trademark in 1986 without telling Burton and Randy. The band continued without its two main players and songwriters.
And it just got weirder. Cale stopped performing with The Guess Who in 2016, and Peterson semi-retired and appeared with the group only occasionally. Fans who came to see the group saw and heard performances by musicians who had nothing to do with the original group. The name was the same. The songs were the same. The group members were not.
In 2023, both Cummings and Bachman sued to get the name back, claiming that this version of The Guess Who was “nothing more than a cover band” and did nothing to dissuade the public of the fact that Cummings and Bachman were no longer in the band. Keil and Peterson fought back, arguing something along the lines of “if you delay, you lose,” arguing that the statute of limitations on trademark disputes had long since expired.
The good news is that everything has been settled in September 2024. The trademark is now jointly owned by Cummings and Bachman, allowing them to officially embark on a 2026 tour as The Guess Who.
This is an example of the group versus brand debate that is getting louder. something I first started writing about in 2022. How many original members does a band need before it can legitimately position itself as that band? Two? One? Nobody?
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Musical nostalgia continues to generate a lot of income, with artists continuing to tour well into the 70s and even 80s. However, the participants in these actions are haunted by the disasters of old age, and even the Grim Reaper.
The Rolling Stones will remain The Rolling Stones as long as Mick and Keef are there. Fleetwood Mac without Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham? It's very close. ZZ Top with just Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard? They managed to pull it off.
And I have no doubt that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will do a great job as a reunited Rush, although many fans will be hard-pressed to see the band on stage without Neil Peart. Was it hard to watch Who with just Pete and Roger? For me it was like that.
There are dozens of bands with only one original member remaining: Bush (frontman and leader Gavin Rossdale), Danzig (Glenn Danzig), Everclear (Art Alexakis), Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson), Megadeth (Dave Mustaine), Ministry (Al Jourgensen), Queens of the Stone Age (Josh Homme), Soul Asylum (Dave Pirner), The Cure (Robert Smith), The Beach Boys (Mike). Love), Boston (Tom Scholz), Emerson Lake and Palmer (drummer Carl Palmer) and Deep Purple (drummer Ian Pace) are just a few examples.
In addition, we have what can be mildly called “successor groups.” Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have said many times that the KISS experience is so great that it doesn't matter who's on stage in costume. There is a version of The Allman Brothers that still performs today, but it does not include any members of the original group formed by Duane and Gregg back in 1969. This current version is touted as an organization that maintains the spirit of Allman Brothers, something that has the full support of the Allman families.
Next up will be a double-headlining tour featuring Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd, two bands that have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Double Trouble Double Vision tour will feature some version of Foreigner that may not feature guitarist Mick Jones, the last remaining original member. He has not toured with the band since 2022 due to health reasons related to Parkinson's disease.
Meanwhile, there are zero The original members left Skynyrd following the death of Gary Rossington in 2023. Everyone else in the lineup joined later, although John Van Zant, brother of Ronnie, who died in a 1977 plane crash, at least maintains family ties.
However, things are not going well. Pasta calls it a “rock 'n' roll scam” that “promises all the hits, all the nostalgia and none of the original members.” It's like an old airliner that has undergone many D checks, the most rigorous maintenance procedure required every six to ten years. Eventually, many of the airplane's original parts are replaced, and it is no longer the airplane it was when it left the factory. (Read more about this philosophy at problem about the ship of Theseus.)
There's a certain level of nastiness here that also applies to Blood, Sweat & Tears, Quiet Riot, Ratt, GWAR (but who'll notice with all those costumes?), Iron Butterfly, Canned Heat, Little River Band, Molly Hatchet, Sepultura and Spinners. There is even a version of The Glenn Miller Orchestra (founded in 1938) that still performs today. All we're really left with are the logos and the associated intellectual rights.
This brings me back to the band vs brand debate. How long will fans continue to buy? I predict it will be even worse with AI, holograms and avatars. T-shirts will still be on sale and there will be regular meet and greets, special ticket packages and all other offers. There is money to be earned. Who cares if it's the same band you grew up with?
Today, a band will never have to break up, and no matter how many members leave or die, we will probably always be able to buy a ticket to a concert.
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