Customer Reviews

Takin Care of Business

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

this cd really does have some great obscure stuff, but the most interesting one on this cd is the old 45 edit of four wheel drive! maybe the next re-issue will have the promo 45 only edit of takin' care of business! we bto collectors can only hope. (hint hint to mercury records)

BTO did pen some popular songs after spinning off from The Guess Who. I actually saw BTO in concert at Hampton Roads Colosseum (Virginia) in the early 1970's. The opening act happened to be Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (go figure...). Little did I know that the bands would end up on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to career longevity. Regardless, I like this album because it contains one gem that never got the recognition that it deserves... the very mellow, "Blue Collar" (cut #7). Try playing "Blue Collar" at night when you're cruising down the Interstate or a back-country road... the lyrics and beat really make the drive a pleasure. I only wish BTO would have drifted in that same direction with other songs.

I bought this CD solely because I wanted the "Blue collar" track and found that the last three minutes of the song were edited out...Big let down.

This collection does not contain *all* the hits we heard back in the days when "cruisin'" around and turning up the radio dial whenever "Takin' Care Of Business" came on was part of the routine. It's a '70s classic, successful because of a great Chuck Berry-style lyrics (and CB-style vocalizing) and that drivin' bass - Mr. C. F. Turner really put the record over the top (with help from an engineer who understood R & R). Like all the tracks on this set, the vocals are secondary: "Thank You For The Feelin'", borders on camp, with the lead vocal a little of his league as a screamer - still a good lyric, though. The second best track, for me, is "Take It Like A Man", another 70s rocker, featuring Little Richard on piano. LR helped out many super groups during that decade (Delaney and Bonnie, Canned Heat, James Gang, Jefferson Airplane/Marty Balin); a few of these tracks remain unreleased, but fortunately this track made it onto plastic and into the Top 40. His piano really lifts the music.
"Welcome Home" has four sections to it; an interesting semi-satire on the music business: the hysteria of the road and sold-out concerts still leads to the same ol', same ol' humdrum of home.
"Hey You" has a Doobie Brothers-style intro. and must be a surprise for casual fans. Tim Bachman plays some nice jazz-infected guitar on "Blue Collar".
This CD is a nice road-trip back to that era before drum machines and electronics.

If you are a BTO fan like I am, then this is right up your alley. Classic Rock at it's finest. Hard hitting,raspy,darn good music.A must have.

this is BTO music. You will hear a few tunes that are not on all them greatest hits/live albums. Blown and wild spirit are not on any re-release's, only the original albums. So another BTO album to hear when you are in the mood for a different combo of BTO. Best idea", buy all the orignal albums/CD's (now) and hope mabey they can find a little fire left in the old bones and put something fresh and new, even Randy! Go BTO I remember you, wish it could have longer. Bob... first time seen BTO Dec 1973

I first heard this ear-ravaging drivel when I was about fourteen years-old back in the mid-1970s. And even then, I was intelligent enough to realize that this was unquestionably, music for morons. The vocals are mercilessly irritating and sound like a bunch of dumb jocks singing in a locker room. The lyrics sound like they were written by someone with a single-digit IQ who was intoxicated as well. How this group-or whatever they really were-got to be so popular is truly beyond me. "Taking Care of Business" ranks, in my opinion, as one of the stupidest songs ever written in recording history. And having to hear this song over and over on the radio at the time felt like some kind of punishment being inflicted upon me by God himself for whatever reason.