Bachman-Turner Overdrive has released a song titled “60 Years Ago,” the first new music from the band since 1984’s BTO album. The track is billed as a tribute to Winnipeg, the Canadian city where the group started in 1973.
BTO leader Randy Bachman was also a member of the Guess Who, which started in Winnipeg in the ’60s. “60 Years Ago” features original band singer Fred Turner with guitarist Tal Bachman and drummer KoKo Bachman. The song also includes a guitar solo by fellow Canadian Neil Young.
“As a thank-you to Winnipeg, the city that shaped us, I wrote a song called ’60 Years Ago,'” Bachman noted in a press release announcing the track. “This song is our tribute to Winnipeg, the place where we grew up as teenagers in the ’60s, a time when the city’s music scene was exploding. It was the Liverpool of North America, a melting pot of incredible talents.
“Everyone I’ve talked to who spent time in Winnipeg and witnessed that musical explosion is excited to hear this song, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it,” Bachman said.
Bachman revived Bachman-Turner Overdrive last year with a tour, promising new music and the first BTO album of new material in more than four decades. “We’re working on new BTO stuff, and it’s got to sound like 1976 and 1977,” Bachman told UCR’s Matt Wardlaw in 2024.
“It’s really easy – I saved all of my gear from the ’70s. I built a new home studio, and all of my ’70s rack mount gear [with] all of my Neve and Trident modules and everything, they’re here. I’ve got the guitars and the amps. … It’s amazing. I’m having fun. It’s great.”
(Bachman has also recently talked about a reunion tour with the Guess Who slated for 2026 and including singer Burton Cummings.)
“60 Years Ago” marks the first music under the band’s name since 1996’s Trial by Fire Greatest & Latest, new versions of some of BTO’s most popular songs recorded without Bachman. The new track doubles as a charity song, with proceeds benefiting the Bridge to Nowhere Charity Ride, a nonprofit cycling club with a mission to “help end chronic homelessness in Winnipeg,” according to its website.
The band will play U.S. shows in July, with the Marshall Tucker Band and Jefferson Starship sharing many dates. BTO’s current tour dates will keep them on the road through most of the summer, concluding on Aug. 23 in Albuquerque.