Guess Who’s back in court Band members still not in tune over group’s legacy, name use By: Alan Small Posted: 4:27 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

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This article was published 31/10/2023 (710 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The latest salvo in the decades-long battle for control of the Guess Who name was fired in a Los Angeles federal courthouse Monday.

Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman — the two most famous members of the Winnipeg rock band that rose to stardom in the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as American Woman and These Eyes — have sued Jim Kale and Garry Peterson, their former bandmates, for more than US$20 million.

Cummings called the band that tours under the Guess Who moniker “imposters” in a release, and in a telephone interview with the Free Press from his home in Moose Jaw, Sask., said it has no connection to what Bachman and Cummings helped create in Winnipeg’s North End in the 1960s.

“Our name and songs went all over the world. We went to Australia, New Zealand and Japan and carried the flag. We’re proud, we’re from the Prairies, we’ve got wheatfield soul,” he said, referring to the title of the Guess Who’s 1969 famous album that led off with the hit These Eyes.

“These guys on stage now, they had nothing to do with any of that. They had nothing to do with establishing an international legacy or memory. They had nothing to do with what they are claiming, and to me, I don’t care what side of the fence anybody’s on, that’s wrong.”

“They had nothing to do with establishing an international legacy or memory. They had nothing to do with what they are claiming, and to me, I don’t care what side of the fence anybody’s on, that’s wrong.”–Burton Cummings

Kale owns the rights to the Guess Who name and has performed with Peterson, who was the Guess Who’s drummer during the band’s 1965-75 glory days, off and on for years, including for band reunions with Bachman and Cummings, such as the closing ceremonies of the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg.

The bassist, 80, has since retired from performing, but allows others, including Peterson, 78, to perform under the Guess Who banner. Peterson has teamed up with four other musicians for the latest iteration of the Guess Who for shows mostly in the United States.

That is the crux of the lawsuit. Bachman, 80, and Cummings, 75, allege today’s Guess Who “concocted a deceptive scheme” that implies Bachman and Cummings are performing with the band today.

They also say the Guess Who has impeded their ability to book concerts, and they seek a court order against Kale and Peterson “to take corrective measures notifying the public and all venues where the cover band is playing with truthful advertising.”

Cummings claimed in the interview the Guess Who has prevented him from touring in the U.S. for the past 10 years or more and says he saw the band use his and Bachman’s images in their promotional material.

“When you’re advertising using my voice, Randy’s guitar, pictures of various incarnations of the band to promote this group that’s calling itself the Guess Who, it’s just not right,” Cummings said.

The lawsuit also alleges images of Bachman and Cummings were removed from the Guess Who’s landing pages on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, and accuses the band of using songs written by Bachman and Cummings without obtaining proper licences.

The Guess Who’s page on Spotify includes a promotional still of the latest version of the band, which includes Peterson, Leonard Shaw, a former Winnipegger, Thunder Bay native Derek Sharp and two Americans, Michael Staertow and Michael Devin.

An accompanying article about the Guess Who refers to its past but only mentions its current band members by name.

On its website, the Guess Who touts a new album, Plein D’Amour, which was released earlier this year, and concerts scheduled in the U.S. for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.

The dispute between the former bandmates began when Kale registered the Guess Who name shortly after Cummings left the band in 1975 to launch a solo career.

In a 2012 Free Press story, Kale defended his use of the Guess Who name, saying it was his way of making a living, but added it was also his method of fighting back against Cummings and his larger public profile.

“I’ll have a band of trained monkeys out there just to piss him off,” Kale said in the story. “I’m prepared to be that petty … I’m really, really sick of it. I’d love to take the high road, but I’m not going to. I’m his karma.”

“I’d love to take the high road, but I’m not going to. I’m his karma.”–Jim Kale

Cummings performs as a solo artist, singing many songs from his 10 years with the Guess Who, but also has teamed up with Bachman under the name Bachman-Cummings, most recently as the headliner of the 2021 Unite 150 concert at Shaw Park that celebrated Manitoba entering Confederation.

Bachman also performs as a solo artist, but revived Bachman-Turner Overdrive earlier this year with his son Tal Bachman, with the blessing of former bassist Fred Turner, for concerts in the U.S.

Cummings said he hasn’t spoken with Kale or Peterson for a long time, and he doesn’t expect to hear from them anytime soon.

“They haven’t contacted me or my lawyers, as far as I know,” Cummings said. “I’m in Moose Jaw, I’m not sitting here waiting for the phone lines to light up.”

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @AlanDSmall