CoronaVinyl Day 193 (B): Not Fragile by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "B," and we're going Canadian rockers' Bachman-Turner Overdrive's third studio album, 1974's Not Fragile.

BTO was formed by former Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman, who had left The Guess Who in 1970 at the height of the band's popularity.  He recruited his brother Robbie on drums and bassist Fred Turner, and they formed the country rock band Brave Belt in 1971.  Despite not having anyone in the band whose last name is Overdrive, they developed a harder sound, added another Bachman (brother Tim on second guitar), and changed their name to Bachman-Turner Overdrive, releasing their first two albums in 1973.

Building on the success of their second album -- Bachman-Turner Overdrive II, which reached #4 on the Billboard album chart and #6 on the Canadian album chart, behind the hit song "Takin' Care of Business" -- Not Fragile was the band's first #1 album in both the U.S. and Canada.  For this album, Blair Thornton replaced Tim Bachman on the second guitar.  Randy Bachman and Turner both handled lead vocal duties, with Bachman's voice being a little more pop friendly and Turner's voice being a little more hard rock friendly.  Not Fragile features two of their most well-known hits, "You Ain't See Nothing Yet" (sung by Bachman), which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Canadian pop chart, and in several other countries, and "Roll On Down the Highway" (sung by Turner), which reached #14 in the U.S. and #4 in Canada.  

All in all, it's a pretty solid '70s hard rock album, and some of the lesser known songs are hidden gems.  The band released two albums the following year, both of which were pretty successful, but then, as it happens, there was internal dissention in the band, Bachman left in 1976, and the group disbanded in 1979, before re-forming and releasing an album in 1984.  They were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

Interesting factoid:  Stephen King chose his pseudonym Richard Bachman because he was listening to "You Ain't See Nothing Yet" when his publisher told him to pick a pseudonym.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Not Fragile"

The title track -- and first track on the album -- is a snarling hard rock song with a heavy riff.  Turner handles lead vocals on the song.  This sounds like it could be on an early KISS or Blue Oyster Cult album.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Givin' It All Away"
Not to be confused with the 1990 Ratt song "Givin' Yourself Away," this song starts out with kind of an Allman Brothers-esque intro, before busting into a fast-paced rocker, with both Bachman and Turner sharing lead vocal duties.  It ends the album on a rollicking high note.