GLEN YAPS - THE GUESS WHO Lawsuit

[Music] [Music] hey kids welcome to a glen yaps episode um today we're going to talk about the issue with uh the band The guess who just going to turn this camera just a little bit um I've been a fan of The Guess Who since uh I was a kid um and uh love their music being I'm Canadian uh that music was on our Airwaves constantly when I was a kid um the band broke up there's no secret that this band does not get along um it's well documented um the issue uh came about um but the band had broken up uh the drummer formed his own touring band called the guest who performing the hits of The Guess Who I think the original base player was part of that for a while whereas Randy bman and Burton Cummings went their own way started their own bands so guess who fans said well that's it they're done but we're still going to enjoy the music so the drummer Gary um has toured for decades um under the Guess Who name which from what I understand he owns he owns the name or writes to the name um along with the bass player I believe anyways they've toured for decades there hasn't been a sque week from Burton Cummings or Randy bman on him touring with different musicians playing Guess Who songs ever that I know of until recently where Burton Cummings just kind of went total angry grandfather and and followed the $20 million lawsuit against the band so being a musician myself and growing up with my favorite bands I've I've always voiced my opinion about those original bands touring without original members that's always been a quirk quirky area for me I I I mean if I if I grew up I want to see all the original members because um they contributed to that sound um The Guess Who they would have their odd reunion and quite frankly I didn't like the reunions um for whatever reason they just they just didn't sound as good as the original guess who even with original members it just they lost it they hadn't been doing it in so long I think they forgot they've they forgot what what they really had and secondly they've done so many side projects or solo stuff that their new identities um kind of bled into the old guest Who music so from my standpoint um where this lawsuit comes in that it sounds like they're basic you know it sounds like what they're saying is they're defacing the original guest who but honestly I don't find the reunions of Burton Cummings in the band um sound like The Originals either it's like are you saying you're better musicians well maybe but if you're only doing a a reunion show like once every 15 years or whatever and this band is keeping the music alive live for an entire four months five months of summer concerts summerfall spring concerts um I don't know I don't know if that's a problem or not you're you're getting the royalties off this music so but my thing is a selfish uh point of view as in I'd like to see all the original members but that's that's kind of the deal I want the original band to be playing all along it's just my selfish greed I the band I grew up with I want to see them being playing without stopping nonstop you know it's just one of those those deals um the sporadic reunion things I don't know they just uh I've been disappointed in pretty much most of them like there's bands like Asia for one Asia the membership changed constantly and then they we got the original lineup back together King Crimson another one um anyways so anyways this lawsuit um I just heard just yesterday that the the the court thing got finalized but the whole deal was that Burton Cummings and Randy did not want this B and um touring under the gas who title even though they don't own the guas who name anyways they stopped this band from playing even though the original drummer still plays in the band and the original bass player has some ties to that secondary band now the the here's where my problem lies Burton and Randy were okay with this band for decades for decades this that's the key part irrelevant to what we all think otherwise they okayed it they were okay with it so I think it actually pushes three decades but the present lineup present singers I think has been with them 20 years now they have also put albums out under the Guess Who name um again being one original member uh lots of bands have done this um fans may like it fans May hate it me um like I say I've I've got caught in the the middle of of of um an issue with this guess who thing because I'll tell you why that seems to be different than like say the Asia thing or King Crimson what Burton Cummings has done is while this band has been touring and and they just put out an album and the album's really good it may not sound like the The Guess Who of old but neither does the music of Randy and Burton that that they're doing they are going back to the Guess Who sounds so I don't see the problem there if everybody's going to do their own thing that's why bands break up they want to do their own thing so why can't the Strummer carry on with a band under that name as long as they're putting out material and doing their own thing and some people say well they should change the name but they are paying tribute to the guest who's music I'm in the same boat it's a very touchy thing but here's the deal the Burton coming Randy thing uh they started playing dirty pool they basically would wait to an hour before this um drummer's version of The Guess Who they would wait till an hour before and then have lawyers basically pull the plug on this band playing because Burton and Randy own the publishing uh on the music that they play because they wrote the songs and to me I think that is wrong like you've already got this court case going while it's being battled in in in the courts everybody still continues on until the final judge's word of of what's going down so apparently the Burton Cummings um Can had shows cancelled on this band I've I've heard rumors up to four shows an hour before Showtime so what does that do screws the band out of money and screws the audience I just don't believe in that these guys have played for decades and now all of a sudden it's pissing you off and I I just don't think that's right like um if you were okay with it before and you're not okay with it now and the band doesn't suck they're really good and people love the band you can go on their website people love that that version of The Guess Who um they're paying they're playing uh um The Guess Who songs like they were paying homage to them and doing their own stuff that they created on two or three albums uh of original stuff so it's a real mess but I can foresee this problem building in other bands and I think greed is is a big part of it but with them knocking off this Guess Who band that the germer has um I mean they're they're killing their own royalties for whatever reason and the stupid part is Burton and Ry don't want to tours to Guess Who anyways so they just want to let that band just fade away and just let the classics radio station just um you know play their library and call it a day and I don't I don't think they understand that there's actually a younger audience that is um that that gravitates to their music a whole new generation and if is is basically wanting to hear the music and if these two bozos don't want a tour under the Guess Who name um then why not let somebody else do it I mean the Beatles have done it the Beatles finished in 70 Beatles tributes everywhere you know normal people know it's not the real band it's about the music so for me like in the like say the case of Foreigner it's not Foreigner we understand that um but one of the guys in foragers managing how this cover band is they're basically cover bands it's what they are so I think what Burton might have a problem with is it's called The Guess Who and it's not a called Tribute to The Guess Who well that would have been an easy fix but he let it go for 30 years like that's the part of this that bothers me the most you let it go for 30 years and now all of a sudden you care when you're what in your late 70s 80s early 80s so so now the band is screwed um they they finance these album they finance videos themselves and and you might say well okay well they finance it by you The Guess Who name um you know to make money for it but I keep going back to you they didn't have a problem Randy and Burton didn't have a problem for 30 years they don't want to tour into the guu name except for these odd reunion tours so if you don't have a problem with it why is it a problem now apparently it comes down to some advertisement on on one of the page where they use the likeness of the old band well the guas who went through stages here's the deal Burton Cummings is not the original singer of The guas Who he may have wrote all the those hits but he was not the original singer of The guas Who so there's another area so all of a sudden the guy that's not the original singer of the gas who um um now has all the power so just because he's got publishing rights on these songs and that's what you want publishing rights gives you the the the final say that's why I always tell my friends including myself we write write our own songs get everything in your name um otherwise I mean you go through turmoil uh down the road especially if you're a band that doesn't want to stay together anyways so that's where I am I'm I'm I'm on the fence with this by I feel for this ban because um I mean they've put up the money to travel to the venues they they they're the ticket people they got they got it all going then they go an hour before Showtime They got a sound crew everything every and then all a sudden NOP Burton says you can't do it lawyers shuts it down that's happen I think four times from what the reports are I don't agree with that not at all if you're following a court going through the courts let the court do their job but don't be a dick and Burton obviously is being a dick it's sad because uh I love the Guess Who I've been in I've been in bands that we I was in 60s band just in the last few years that paid tribute to um a lot of bands of the 60s including the guest who now any cover band has to worry about Burt Cummings coming over the fence and start yelling at you and pointing the finger you can't do my songs you don't sound like the Guess Who you're not is that the way it's going to be now you've seen tons of interviews with Burton and Randy talking about when they grew up and the people that they loved they their music Heroes and they played their songs right so here we are Randy and Burton playing cover songs from other people did those artists come after Burton and Randy for playing their songs I've never I've been playing in the bars for 40 something years I've never had an artist come up to me and say you can't play my song the cover band thing in my opinion was always um the beacon for advertising this music so there's tons of songs I heard in a bar that a band was playing that I never heard on radio that I loved we knew these bands were cover bands the audiences aren't stupid and you hear this song it's like wow what is that song I've never heard of you before and you love this song song and you search out who this artist was that originally played it and you add it to your collection in some cases the bar band played it better than the original so so I'm I'm very disappointed in the way this turned out with uh Burton Cummings and Randy The Guess Who Legacy I I I guess they're trying to protected but really they just alienated a ton of fans cuz these two boobs aren't playing Under The Guess Who title don't want to the whole band they fight constantly they don't like each other so they're just going to let the audience go you know suffer and that's what happens the band that that that touring band that the drummer has of The Guess Who is now suffering so they're changing their name all their stuff that they've had for 30 years on websites and stuff has to change now because Burton's not happy so I don't agree with the way it went down with that particular bin in the case of Foreigner foreigners open still opening for Headliners like you know like um sticks and all this other tours that are going on this summer no original members MC Jones is behind it it and um people are enjoying the shows it's not Foreigner I know it's not Foreigner fans of Foreigner know it's not a foreigner but it's keeping it alive I may not agree with it but it's being done to keep that Legacy alive that part I understand um some pass away like rush you can't have I mean you could continue on with Rush With A Different Drummer that Neil per died a few years ago um some fans would not accept it and Neil per wasn't the original drummer the two drummers in Rush the original and Neil have pass John ruty and and Neil per so could they tour again in the rush yeah they could Rush was an entity before Neil per even put out one album and toured so us fans may not like it you know we like that comfortable feeling of what we love but it's their their prerogative really so I don't know um my I think my main issue is how curtain screwed the band over by shutting these shows down an hour before Showtime that I don't agree with that's just being a dick and uh now the band is going to suffer from it even though the dermer owns the name so so here's the deal so does the drummer changed the band name to Tribute to The Guess Who will that make B and Randy happy because doesn't matter how many ways to slice it whether they do the music of The Guess Who individually or that it's not the Guess Who so but being that he's a publisher of these songs he can do them in a solo act which he does yeah so it's really stinky it's just uh and look at this Leonard Skinner there's a primed example um part of the band died in the plane crash uh the singer's brother got the band going to keep the music alive with some of the original members I don't think there's any original members left might be one left so kept the music alive um you know what the fans just wanted to hear the music live were they as good as the original probably not but I did have some of the original members I don't know um very disappointed though so um I think my my biggest peeve is I like the guess who's new album with the the new lineup or not new lineup the lineup has been with them for 20 years um I like the new album I don't want it to sound like the old guu I'd like to see bands evolved right so obviously they put their own stamp on it it's still a fun album done really well the videos are really done well light-hearted um and it and it grabs on to a younger audience um Burton cutting off their shows I think that's just that's dick move being a dick um where it goes from here who knows but I'm sure that band is after just putting out an album they're probably going to if they won if Burton actually won the lawsuit of 20 million the band's definitely you know going to be bankrupt because they'll never they're never going to get 20 million out of it so groi Grandpa got his way in this and I've seen Burton Cummings live myself years ago many years ago um when he had the album standall or the song standall was a big hit and um it didn't sound like the Guess Who either even though he did some of the songs just didn't sound like the Guess Who so um I'm just you know if you he think that band is not up to the same caliber they're generating a lot of fans so and keeping the music alive so so is Burton going to go after all these tribute acts that play play Guess Who music I guess I guess he will you know cuz we're all we're all start off as cover bands for the most part and I played his music too so I'm waiting for a call from Burton to tell me to stop playing Burton [ __ ] songs or guess who songs in my cover band so anyways thanks for watching uh you can definitely post what you think um I'm probably in the wrong here but I just feel for the band that's getting um crucified now um and the audiences that got screwed over on those hor concerts I don't think that's the right way to do it anyways thanks for watching