Not Fragile

[cingram]

I received this CD in the mail last weekend. It was $ 4.99 for an import copy, so I said what the heck. With the latter events of last weekend I had a realization, or should I say flashback, about the album and the time that it was written in, and how it was conceived by some as a not so subtle slam directed against Yes, and progressive rock in general. I had totally forgotten about all that and would've probably not remembered about it without the tragedy that occurred. In listening to it, one can find some ammunition to support that belief. Musically, after not hearing it for many years I hear similarities to Ted Nugent. So just how tongue in cheek was BTO being about the whole Fragile/Not Fragile thing? Was it just a title thing, or was BTO trying to exploit a perceived angst youth had towards progressive rock?

[bob_32_116]

I'd say any exploitation was in the ear of the beholder. BTO were right - the album was very different to Fragile. they were almost musical opposites. The title was a very good summing up of the nature of the music - hard and thumping. They were almost musical opposites. To say that is not to say that one is better or worse than the other (though I have my own opinion over which was better).

Whether the reference to the album by Yes was intentional or not, only BTO can say.

[Yves]

The title did refer to the Yes album but it was not malicious . To quote Randy Bachman:

"Yes had come out with an album called ‘Fragile,’ and they had a world breaking up [on the cover], and Fred said, “Well, I want to call this album ‘Not Fragile’ and show that it’s not fragile.” And we’re playing really heavy stuff. Yes’ stuff is very fragile, because it’s all very intricate vocals and harmonies, and on our stuff, it was like four guys in the garage, playing — it was like ‘Wayne’s World’ — playing guitars and just rocking out. It’s anything but fragile. So he wrote the song ‘Not Fragile’ and out of that came ‘Roll On Down The Highway’ — and then the mistaken song that was never even supposed to be on the album, ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,’ comes out and becomes a No. 1 single, and so that was like the pinnacle and the peak of the BTO moment. You have ‘Not Fragile,’ the No. 1 album and ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,’ the No. 1 single about five years after the [Guess Who's] ‘American Woman’ album and single were No. 1, so I had gone out and had the fortune again to find the pot of gold at the end of a different rainbow"

Read More: Randy Bachman on BTO's Offhanded Smash 'Not Fragile' - Exclusive Interview | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/randy...ckback=tsmclip

[WeatherWiseCDC]

Randy Bachman has a very good musical ear, and his taste in music is very diverse. The title is definitely meant to be tongue-in-cheek.



This is the same guy who wrote and performed on "Undun," which is his favorite song from his time as a member of The Guess Who.

I'm not a frequent listener of his CBC Radio show, Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap, but the one time I tuned in (and I should probably tune in more often since it's really good), he was introducing Chris de Burgh's "Lady in Red" and talked about his appreciation of the song, particularly because of the fragility of de Burgh's voice in that recording.

I think Not Fragile is simply the title of that BTO album because of the type of music BTO recorded.

There were some more delicate BTO songs, though, like "Lookin' Out For #1," which Bachman also wrote.

[SteveSly]

“Not Fragile” is one of the first albums I ever owned as a kid. I got into BTO quite a few years before I even knew what progressive rock was. At the time I remember the title track being the heaviest thing I had ever heard in my life. Personally I think it is a great hard rock album.

[ThomasKDye]

The things you learn. So THIS is where that "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" song came from. I guess I'll have to settle for a C- in Classic Rock.

[bob_32_116]

BTO were one of those bands who were more than they at first seemed. Their first hit in this country was "Taking Care of business", a song that's OK if you like that genre but which I found rather plodding. Next up was "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" which I thought was a big leap in the right direction. And then we got "Looking Out for no. 1" which i found hard to believe was the same band; it sounded like something that Astrud Gilberto would have recorded.

Further surprises were in store when I discovered that the band were the remnants of the Guess Who, and that former band-mate Burton Cummings had recorded a lounge version of "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."

I wouldn't scramble over broken glass to get a BTO album, but nor would I dismiss them as just another hard rock band. There were some interesting things going on there.

[Koreabruce]

“Not Fragile” is one of the first albums I ever owned as a kid. I got into BTO quite a few years before I even knew what progressive rock was. At the time I remember the title track being the heaviest thing I had ever heard in my life. Personally I think it is a great hard rock album.

This could've been written by me. "Not Fragile" WAS my very first album. I loved it to death for the longest time. As for thinking at the time that the title track was the heaviest thing I'd ever heard in my life, I'd almost agree, but I'd say it was a toss up between that and the first song in side 2, "Sledgehammer." I was convinced that Fred Turner's voice on that could peel paint off the walls!

[SteveSly]

This could've been written by me. "Not Fragile" WAS my very first album. I loved it to death for the longest time. As for thinking at the time that the title track was the heaviest thing I'd ever heard in my life, I'd almost agree, but I'd say it was a toss up between that and the first song in side 2, "Sledgehammer." I was convinced that Fred Turner's voice on that could peel paint off the walls!

Ah....I forgot about "Sledgehammer", yea that one hit me like a ton of bricks too. I saw the Bachman / Turner re-union tour a few years ago and they did both songs. Live they made my teeth rattle.

[Koreabruce]

I never got to see them live since I was 14 in 1974 when the album came out, but I saw some YouTube videos of those songs and yeah, they've definitely still got it. I was especially surprised at how well FT could still belt it out!

[Jerjo]

I had Not Fragile on 8 track back in the day. I loved the guitar tone and the big riffs. Definitely a second tier hard rock band, just meat and potatoes rock here with no pretensions of being anything else. To be filed in your case of 8 track tapes next to Foghat, early REO Speedwagon, and Grand Funk Railroad. I always cranked up the title track, "Rock is My Life", "You Ain't Seen..." and of course "Sledgehammer".

[Yves]

Maybe I have Canadian bias, but I'd rank BTO above any of the bands Jerjo compared them to.

[Jerjo]

I dunno Yves. For instance, I would not rank BTO anywhere near the Guess Who.

[Vic2012]

Never cared for BTO. I like gut-bucket, guitar rock and roll, but this group just never tickled my fancy.

[Yves]

I dunno Yves. For instance, I would not rank BTO anywhere near the Guess Who.

Agreed. But better than Foghat, REO Speedwagon, and GFR in my book. They were HUGE up here in the 70s.

[Vic2012]

Yeah, The Guess Who I did like. Never bought any of their records but I liked them. I remember seeing them on TV in the early 70s on one of those "In Concert" type shows. They sounded a lot heavier live than on records.

[miamiscot]

I loved that record as a kid and always wondered if it was in reference to YES. Very glad to hear it was.

[Jerjo]

They sounded a lot heavier live than on records.

I saw the Guess Who twice. Caught the last date of the last US tour in '75 when Dominic Troiano was on guitar. All those pop songs were hard as nails when played live. The other time was in the early 00s at the Xcel Arena in St Paul, they had a reunited lineup including Randy Bachman (two BTO songs that night) and Donnie McDougall on guitar. The Doobie Brothers were the opening act (sans Michael McDonald) and they were all California tan and rejuvenated. Played a couple new songs but all the big hits, brought the house down by the time they got to "Black Water". Woman next to me and my brother said, "Why are the Doobies, an American band, playing before a Canadian band with less US hits?" The Guess Who come out and they're pale, no one on the stage had been missing any meals (Randy's guitar stuck out from his gut so far it was comical). They get a good start, then go into an acoustic set. Burton starts vamping on the keys with some blues shit and then starts spelling: A...M....E....R.. He gets through that, milks it a little more, Randy steps to the lip of the stage, and they hit that fucking riff like their lives depended on it. Like they were in their early twenties. There were over 10000 people in that hockey arena that night and the upper deck was just about shaking. Woman next to me yells "The Doobies made the right choice." Then the Guess Who start slamming out every uptempo song in their catalog plus "Taking Care of Business". "No Time" practically cracked the ceiling. I was astonished how much fire in the tank they had that night.

[Vic2012]

Burton Cummings had a hell of a rock voice.

[SteveSly]

I never got to see them live since I was 14 in 1974 when the album came out, but I saw some YouTube videos of those songs and yeah, they've definitely still got it. I was especially surprised at how well FT could still belt it out!

Turner's voice has held up quite well. He has lost a little bit of power, but not much. It was a lot of fun.

[bRETT]

y

Agreed. But better than Foghat, REO Speedwagon, and GFR in my book. They were HUGE up here in the 70s.

Yeah, the fact that Bachman was still a great pop songwriter was evident when he was trying to just do an ultra-heavy band.

[JohnTG8]

My fav BTO album and heavy was the word. Back in the day when FM stations played whole albums the one in Baltimore WKTK played Not Fragile when it came out and it just blew me away. Not Fragile, Roll On Down The Highway, Sledgehammer, Rock Is My Life, Second Hand. Great stuff there.

[trurl]

I like Randy Bachman as a player; he came up with some very good riffs but... as a singer, not so much. But I'd take him all day over Turner; sorry but he always sounded like a more yell-y version of the guy from Molly Hatchet to me (yes, I know Fred came first ) I just can't get into BTO because of the vocals.
Well, that and the truly shitty drums.

[ronmac]

Burton Cummings had a hell of a rock voice.

Still does. One of the truly elite rock singers of all-time. Easily top five. Maybe top two, post-50s, IMO, behind John Lennon.

[trurl]

Yeah, Burton was amazing.