Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Best Song On Each Of Their Albums

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s songs served as a starting point for many of us in our early teens around 1973-1975. Their music was inviting and appealing to listeners like me who were coming of age and just starting to notice rock and roll. If you were a kid with older brothers, sisters, or parents who were pretty young and into rock music, you had probably already been exposed to the great ’60s bands. Yet for young teens like myself who were the oldest in the family, or an only child, or had parents whose record collections were filled with Sinatra records, the sounds of BTO on the radio became quite captivating. Additionally, even though the band caught us at such a young age, their albums and, eventually, CDs have been a part of our music collections for most of our lives; I still listen to the band all the time. Their music gives me great joy as a fan of great rock and roll. Picking only one song from each one of their albums is pretty challenging.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1973) – “Stayed Awake All Night”

We open up this list with the band’s first album simply titled Bachman-Turner Overdrive. While some people would probably choose the opening track “Gimme Your Money Please,” I’ve always been a big fan of the song “Stayed Awake All Night.” It doesn’t have many chord changes or even a chorus, but it’s extremely addictive. I love the way Randy and Tim Bachman share the lead vocals on the track. They sound like they’re having a lot of fun on this one. I had a lot of fun listening to it, and still do.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (1973) – “Let It Ride”

The track from this album would obviously be “Takin’ Care of Business.” It’s one of the most popular songs in classic rock history. I wonder if they realized how big of a hit this song would become, since they placed it as the last track on the album. That’s usually not a spot for a song a band or their management expects to be the big hit from the record. It wasn’t even released as the album’s first single. “Let It Ride” was the first single released from the album. It also became the band’s first Top 40 hit in the United States. It’s also the pick here. I have always loved that opening guitar riff, and the chorus is just to die for.

Not Fragile (1974) – “Roll On Down the Highway”

Not Fragile is Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s most successful album of their career. The album’s success was fueled by the huge hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” That has always been one of my favorite Bachman-Turner Overdrive songs. This was a great album, and it wasn’t easy to choose one from this record. The opening track is fantastic. “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” is a phenomenal song, and there are so many more like “Sledgehammer,” “Blue Moanin’,” “Givin’ It All Away,” etc. In the end, the pick goes to the rocking song sung by C.F. Turner called “Roll On Down the Highway.”

Four Wheel Drive (1975) – “Four Wheel Drive”

The title track to the band’s fourth studio album gets the pick here. The lead single from the record, “Hey You,” was a pretty big hit in Canada, hitting number one on the Canadian RPM singles chart. In the United States, “Hey You” peaked at number twenty-one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Nonetheless, that opening track will always be my favorite Bachman-Turner Overdrive song of all time.

Head On (1975) – “Away From Home”

It seems like yesterday when this album was released. I loved what the band did with the album cover, turning it into a foldable poster with full headshots of each band member. My favorite from the album has always been the C.F. Turner-penned song “Away From Home.” C.F. Turner also sang lead on the track. Blair Thornton delivers a great guitar solo in the middle of the track.

Freeways (1977) – “My Wheels Won’t Turn”

The Freeways album never got a lot of love from Bachman-Turner Overdrive fans. That’s sad because there are some really good songs on this album. It would be the last record Randy Bachman would record with the band until the 1984 reunion album. The pick here is the Randy Bachman-penned track “My Wheels Won’t Turn.”

Street Action (1978) – “I’m In Love”

Some will argue that Street Action was not really a Bachman-Turner Overdrive album. After Randy Bachman left the band, the remaining members were required to use the shortened name BTO rather than Bachman-Turner Overdrive. By default, the pick here is the album’s opening track, “I’m In Love.” The lead vocal was sung by C.F. Turner.

Rock n’ Roll Nights (1979) – “Rock and Roll Hell”

Rock n’ Roll Nights was the second album in a row to not feature Randy Bachman in the band. The group at the time consisted of C.F. Turner on rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals, Blair Thornton on lead guitar, Jim Clench on bass, lead and backing vocals, and Robbie Bachman on drums. Bryan Adams’s songwriting partner and fellow Canadian Jim Vallance played keyboards on the album. The pick here also happens to be a great rocking song written by Jim Vallance entitled “Rock and Roll Hell.”

Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1984) – “For the Weekend”

I think a lot of Bachman-Turner Overdrive fans don’t realize this album even exists. After two consecutive albums without Randy Bachman, the band revived the Bachman-Turner Overdrive name in 1984, with a revised lineup that no longer included Randy’s brother, Robbie, on drums. The lineup for the band’s most recent studio album of new material included Randy Bachman on guitar and vocals and C.F. Turner on bass guitar and vocals, making him the only member to appear on every studio album. Rounding out the group were original guitarist Tim Bachman and newcomer Garry Peterson on drums. The pick here is the lead single “For the Weekend.”