Burton Cummings Releases New Album and Embarks on 60th Anniversary Hits Tour

Burton Cummings, owner of a long successful solo career and the former voice and primary songwriter for hit makers The Guess Who is on tour with rare appearances scheduled for metropolitan Phoenix, Los Angeles, Tacoma, Nashville, Jacksonville, Akron, Atlantic City, Milwaukee and more than 20 other cities. The chance to see Cummings live on his 60th Anniversary Hits Tour is a real treat for fans who are also over the moon that the star has released an excellent new album called A Few Good Moments.

With Cummings being well into his septuagenarian years you might think that "A Few Good Moments," the album's opener and title song is about a reckoning with mortality. It is not. Rather the song, which cites some terrible events like the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr, offers hope for the future through the notion that "a few good moments from a few good men could undo a lot of the harm that's been done." The cut rocks pretty good but there's a good dose of poignancy in the words, especially at song's end. There are a couple of covers on the record and a few co-writes but Cummings wrote most of the songs on the generous 17-song offering that overflows with highlights. There's lots of variety in style here too, from the gentle ambling of the Americana-tinged "Ain't No More" to the rollicking Chuck Berry-influenced "Shape I'm In" where Tim Bovaconti and Michael Zweig rock out on guitar while Cummings boogies on piano, to the super fun "Shoot Me Down" where Cummings rails against a potential lover trying to use him. "Magic Town" moves to a loping beat and has a bit of an eerie overtone and the lyric "The streets are overflowing with the likes of you;" Cummings is no stranger to writing barbed lyrics but those particular words are directed not at a particular person but at any entertainer whose star has dimmed. "Heard it On the News" is a driving rocker about the deaths of John Bonham, John Lennon and Jim Morrison, a hopped-up blues really, and with cowbell! "Up to the Minute" gurgles with funk that would make Stevie Wonder or Billy Preston smile; that's Burton bringing the earthiness with his organ playing. "Blackjack Fever" is another really fun cut to sing along to, or at least try; Cummings uses some gambler's lingo that takes a minute to master but until then listeners can just sing with the chorus of "Hit me, hit me!" "Yo, John" is a surefire pleaser as Cummings chronicles watching an off-putting groupie encounter; the song is full of clever lyrics and has an irresistible multi-voice chorus of "Please baby baby, baby." Burton shines on piano on the brief "Arrogance," a reflective and personal reminiscence where the Deverons, Cummings' very early pre-Guess Who band, get a shout-out. Cummings' piano playing is sublime on "Sin City," the Gram Parsons/Chris Hillman chestnut. To take liberties with the album's title, there are certainly more than a few good moments here.

The Burton Cummings 60th Anniversary Hits Tour continues through late March, 2025 and Cummings and his band have been playing a set that will thrill fans in a show that's loaded with Guess Who hits like "Laughing," "Star Baby," "Clap for the Wolfman," "Hand Me Down World," "No Time" and of course "American Woman" along with solo gems like "Stand Tall" and "My Own Way to Rock." Find tour dates and information on the new album and everything else Cummings is up to here.

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