Burton Cummings - A Few Good Moments (2024)

It’s been nearly a decade since Burton Cummings released Above Ground, his most recent solo record. Since then he’s kept busy touring and developing new material with his long-time band. His current release, A Few Good Moments, is somewhat understated in the title, containing as it does several stellar tunes bound to resurrect interest in his career. In addition, his favourable legal resolution over the ownership of The Guess Who name and catalogue seems to have energized his touring commitments.

“The songs on this album took a while to become the proper collection”, Cummings said recently. ” I believe in these songs because they are the result of having lived more years. At this point I have no interest in writing teenage love songs. Aging has changed the writing and that’s natural. I believe in these songs and I hope that the people who have followed my material enjoy them. I want this album to stand up when it’s listened to years from now.”

His strength has always been a wonderful voice delivering a strong melody. Admittedly, this writer garners a healthy hometown bias, having seen Cummings in performance many times over the years, including his early career as lead singer of The Deverons in Winnipeg, where his youthful talent was on exuberant display in community clubs across the city. He has always been an underrated pianist as well, well above the skillset of such notables as Billy Joel and Elton John. The man can play anything in the rock/pop/ catalogue, and is a pop music historian of the first order. As for his vocal chops, he has always been one of the great male vocalists in all of pop music, up with Elvis, Roy, Gene, and Del.

His record collection spans the decades and the genres. Cummings simply loves pop music, early rock and roll and blues, and doesn’t hesitate to cover such tunes in concert as “Baby Come Back” (by the Equals) or talk up “Dear Jill” by Bloodwyn Pig on his Facebook videos. It all shows on the blues-based “Blackjack Fever”.

The new record is his strongest outing in years, and for those who have enjoyed his ballads over the years, the new material such as “Break Away”, “My Rhythm and My Rhyme”, and “Arrogance” retains the staying power of his earlier work. Despite that, for this listener too many of the other tracks are guitar-based, with a tendency for his voice to get lost in the mix. His most memorable solo works in the past have always been keyboard-based, with a strong vocal presence upfront. The closer, “Market My Letters” with its dazzling piano and poetic lyric, brings back the magic.

Burton is somewhere in his mid-70s now, so the impact of his wonderful voice is somewhat diminished, although that could well be a result of editing decisions made in the studio. Nonetheless, A Few Good Moments is recommended, particularly for longtime fans of this legendary Canadian superstar. ~Brian Miller