Takin’ Care Of Business – Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#12); 1974
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Soon after The Guess Who’s massive success with American Woman, founding member Randy Bachman, his Mormon faith at odds with the band’s rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, left the group.
A solo album went nowhere and Randy joined with brother Robbie, former Guess Who band mate Chad Allan, and Fred Turner in Brave Belt, after the belt on which an Indian hangs his scalps.
The odd name turned out to be a liability in the marketplace, so for awhile they were Bachman Turner, yet, that placed them in the singer/ songwriter folk-duo category. Then one night Randy spied a copy of Overdrive magazine at a gas station.
Further tinkering resulted in Bachman-Turner Overdrive, which in turn gave them a short version in “BTO”, just like CSN. With another brother, Tim, on board in place of Chad, BTO released two albums in just over six months. Bachman-Turner Overdrive II went gold and yielded the signature track, Takin’ Care Of Business.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Randy Bachman
Lyrics Written by:
- Randy Bachman
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).