The History of Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Bachman-Turner Overdrive began in 1970-71 when Randy Bachman, his brother Robbie, Chad Allan and Fred Turner joined together and called themselves BraveBelt. The genesis of Brave Belt was a jam session in 1970 when Randy, who just left The Guess Who; went over to play some songs with longtime friend Chad Allan. By the end of the year the two of them had decided to form a group. Randy's younger brother, Robbie, was asked to play drums.In 1971, Fred Turner, another old friend of Randy, made it a foursome. In April of 1971 Brave Belt signed a contract with Reprise Records and a month later their self-titled debut album came out. Another,Brave Belt II was released in the fall of the same year.

Success in Canada came slowly. Because the group wanted to gear itself towards a heavier sound, Chad Allen was asked to leave because his songwriting style and voice did not fit in. Chad was replaced by Randy Bachman's other brother Tim, who left college to join the band. Reprise canceled their tour to support the release of Brave Belt II, but the group nevertheless went on a cross-Canada tour.

The future of the band brightened when Terry David Mulligan, then host of ROQ in Toronto, invited them to be on his show. Prior to their appearance, Randy sent a demo tape to Charley Fach at Mercury Records; he liked what he heard and immediately signed them. By now, the band had come up with a new name to fit the harder edge sound they played on stage - Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

On May 1 1973 their self-titled debut album on Mercury was released. It was the first of four successful albums.

More to come......