Takin' Care Of Business

Album: Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (1973)
Charted: 12
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Songfacts®:

  • "Takin' Care Of Business" was written by Bachman-Turner Overdrive guitarist Randy Bachman, who also sang lead on the track. He explained to classicbands.com that he came up with the idea in the late '60s while he was still a member of The Guess Who. Bachman loved "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles, and he used that music to create a song about going to work called "White Collar Worker," which needed a new hook to complete. The song lay dormant until Bachman formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive. They were playing a show when lead singer Fred Turner's voice gave out. Forced to sing for a set, Bachman told the band to "Play these three chords over and over - C, B flat, and F - endlessly and when I get to the hook, help me out."

    Bachman was listening to C-Fox radio on the way to the club and heard the DJ say they were "Takin' Care of Business," which gave him the idea for the hook. Singing his lyrics to "White Collar Worker," Bachman sang "Takin' Care of Business" in the breakdown, and he had his song.

    The band captured the feel of jamming in the club by having Bachman sing it, which Turner appreciated since it would give his voice a rest at their shows. Bachman had a sore throat and a head cold when he recorded his vocals.
  • The song propelled the phrase "Takin' care of business" into the popular lexicon, forever to be used by athletes, performers and the common man to indicate they are on the job.

    Although "Takin' care of business" had never before been sung in a popular song, it was far from the first use of the phrase in the musical landscape. Elvis Presley loved the saying - he wore a "TCB" necklace and called his backing group "The TCB Band." Aretha Franklin alluded to it in her hit cover of "Respect," where she sang, "Take care, TCB."
  • While the song title implies an industrious responsibility, a closer listen reveals that it's more of a slacker anthem. The singer is presumably unemployed, and he "loves to work at nothing all day."
  • This was the second single from BTO's second album, following "Let It Ride," their first hit. Their next album had an even bigger hit: "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," a #1 hit in their native Canada and in America.
  • Randy Bachman mixed in a different riff to keep this song interesting. "Ralph (Murphy) and I wrote a song in '67 called 'A Little Bit Of Rain,'" he explained. "That riff is used in the middle of 'Takin' Care Of Business,' just to break the monotony because 'Takin' Care Of Business' was three chords over and over and over. It had no bridge. No hook. No song format, other than that it was 'Louie Louie.' Endless, mind-bashing of three chords. And the original version, as I explained at the Ryman, had twelve chords. That's why nobody liked it. It had an incredible number of chords."
  • Norman Durkee played the piano on this track. So who is this Norman fellow? John Presho, who knew Bachman and worked security at their concerts, gave this account to Songfacts:

    "Randy Bachman told me that when BTO was in the recording studio the record producer wasn't happy with the raw version of that song. BTO took a time out, ordered a pizza and went back to work on the song. A while later there was a knock on the studio door and it was the pizza delivery man. After giving the band their pizza he commented that 'Takin' Care of Business' was a great song but it needed some piano playing. The pizza man introduced himself as Norman and said that he was a piano player. BTO thanked and tipped him and sent him on his way. Hours later with no improvement in the song they decided to call Norman, but no one got his phone number or could remember the name of the pizza place. BTO called a half dozen pizza houses before they were able to track him down. The band paid Herman's $75 to join the musicians union so he could play the piano in the recording studio."
  • Throughout the early '90s, this was used in commercials for Office Depot to promote their business services. Hillary Clinton used it at many of her campaign events in 2008 when she ran for president of the US (the first time).
  • This song took care of the business of warming up Van Halen fans on their 1986 tour, their first with Sammy Hagar as lead singer. In a Songfacts interview with Randy Bachman, he told the story:

    "Sammy called me and he said, 'Why don't you open for Van Halen? I just joined the band, and I don't want anybody yelling, 'Where's Dave?''

    I'd seen Van Halen a lot with David Lee Roth, and normally they'd have a really crappy opening act, which they'd call the 'merch act,' because everyone then is buying Van Halen merchandise and popcorn and getting to their seats. So this band would come out and play 20 or 30 minutes, then they'd have a 10 or 20-minute break where they were still selling merchandise. Then Van Halen would come out.

    Sammy called me up. He was a friend of mine, we'd written a bunch of songs together. He said, 'I want BTO to come and open, I want you to do 35 minutes of hit songs: blam, blam, blam, blam, blam, and do a five-minute switchover. We don't want to hear anybody yelling 'Where's Dave?''

    So we played with them for a weekend, and they came to us later and said, 'We want you to open the 5150 tour. It's going to be 11 months.' So we went on the road opening for Van Halen for 11 months! But it was those hit songs and getting the audience riled up, especially ending with 'Takin' Care of Business,' and then the audience screaming on their feet and yelling, and then the changeover wasn't even five minutes. Our amps would be off in two minutes, Van Halen would be on, blam blam. If you saw us play, you saw how quickly they were on and picking up the energy we left behind with the audience. And nobody yelled, 'Where's Dave?' Sammy came out and rocked, whether he was singing Dave's songs or singing his own."
  • A cover of "Takin' Care Of Business" was included on the first rap album released by a major label. It happened in 1980 when Kurtis Blow recorded it for his self-titled album.
  • In Vancouver, a massive jam on "Takin' Care Of Business" set the record for largest guitar jam in history on May 7, 1994, when Bachman led 1,322 mostly amateur guitarists in a performance that lasted 68 minutes. This record was broken in 2009 when 6346 guitarists in Poland played "Hey Joe" at a Jimi Hendrix festival.
  • The Guess Who played this on their 2000 reunion tour. Bachman was in The Guess Who before leaving to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
  • Randy Bachman and C.F Turner reunited in 2000 for an appearance on The Simpsons that featured this song. At a concert, Homer heckles the band until they play it, then impatiently tells them to "Get to the 'working overtime' part."
  • The song title as well as the band's name are mentioned in the crude but humorous video game Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, where a character claims the song was written about her. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Logan - Troy, MT
  • Bachman's 2001 autobiography is titled Randy Bachman, Takin' Care Of Business.

Comments: 25

  • Keith from OhioRandy tells the story of almost meeting Elvis [ no last name needed ] and he says " the boys met Elvis and never told me about it so i did not get to meet him'. Elvis ask "hey where is Randy the guy who wrote Taking Care Of business " and the boys suposeley told Elvis he couldn't make it, this was in 1973 when the song came out, but Elvis had been using the term TCB since 1969 Randy goes on to say Elvis said i got that from him, how could this be Elvis had been using it since 1969 and the song didn't come out until 1973?
  • Spudth from New YorkRandy Bachman tells a slightly different version of the Pizza guy story to the professor of rock. I would tend to believe the story I saw him tell as it made sense. Andrew of London, we all know now that snopes is high on itself and not always correct.
  • Annabelle from Eugene, OrI wonder what the "whistle up above" refers to. Are they working in a factory?
  • Kim Greatrex from NjWhat are they yelling 2 minutes into the song that sounds like Brad Feldman? After wooh.
  • Dave from Moscow, Russia FederationDoes anyone know how they got that strange 16-th note knocking sound that persists throughout the song? Like knuckles on a conga drum, or something. Too low in the mix to identify.
  • Andrew from London, United KingdomHere's the link for the real story of the piano on the song:
    http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/tcob.asp
  • Andrew from London, United KingdomThe story of the pizza man piano player is not correct. Look up Normal Durkee on snopes.com. He was a proper session musician who was working in the same studio when they recorded the song.
  • Jason from Aurora, CoDavid in Birmingham, Al.
    It's like the way some people mis pronounce Neil Peart's last name. It's pronounced PEERT not Pert!
  • David from Birmingham, AlBy the way, Randy's last name has been mispronounced by generations of deejays and fans. It's BACK-man...not BOCK-man.
  • Ken from Louisville, KyThe lyrics say it all. Tired of the 9 to 5? Get a guitar, learn a few chords and be a rock star! It's easy! It sounds like a lyrics Frank Zappa would have written. Another song in the same vein is "Money For Nothing".
  • Justin from Mt Vernon, WaI participated in the record setting for the largest jam session. That was a fun experience and It looks awesome on a resume, and yes it has got ten me a job!
  • Jason from Denver, CoWhen I was a teenager growing up in Manistee, Michigan, My friends and I went to a place called "Johnny's of Custer" in Custer,Mich.We would go to the Saturday Night teen dance and do The Gator to this song.
  • Ryan from Somewhere In, NjI guess it wasn't supposed to be about anything, but the first time I heard TCOB (noone menchoned that it was a famous Elvis Presley phrase), it sounded like Bachman was talking about how everyone who goes through so much fuss to get paid. There are few people in the world today that actually do what they love to do the most, and list it as a proffesion. It sounded to me like Bachman was trying to express that he loves to write and play music.
  • Brian from New York, NyHas been played at Muts games for two years.

    Oh, did I say Muts? Most people spell it with an E but Yankees fans spell it with a U!
  • Nunzio from Darwin, AustraliaThis goes about 4mins 45sec on the original 45 but
    when K-Tel records did a comp in 74 called MIND BENDER it was cut back to 3 mins. It's the last track side 1. Vers 2 is gone & so is one of the instramental breaks. Elton Johns "Sarturday Nights
    Alright..." (4.55) was cut to 2.50 on same LP.
  • George from Ottawa, CanadaA fellow by the name of Norman Durkee plays piano on this song. The story behind his performance on the song is that Mr. Durkee was a pizza delivery guy who dropped into the wrong studio with a pizza (apparently that had been ordered by Steve Miller who reportedly was in another studio in the building) and he commented to Randy Bachman that the song needed some spicing up with a bit of honky-tonk-like piano and he showed Randy what he had in mind. BTO decided to give the idea a try and liked it and made the recording with Mr. Durkee. He gets piano-palying credit for the song on the album cover.
  • Allan from Vanderhoof, CanadaAs Maurie noted, Randy put out a CD, Every Song Tells a Story, which is actually the soundtrack to a TV special. The story he tells about the creation of TCB takes a while, but it's great. It incorporates a sore-throated singer, Santana, a Vancouver DJ and a Beatles rip-off - among other things. Randy is a natural storyteller, great CD.
  • Rob from Vancouver, CanadaC-Fun is a ladies talk radio station these days. Nice ref Fiona.
  • Fiona from Napier, New Zealand"It's BTO -- they're Canada's answer to ELP! Their big hit was TCB! That's how we talked in the 70's. We didn't have a moment to spare."

    Sorry, couldn't resist.
  • Katheren from Augusta, MeThis is one of my fav songs
    - Katheren, Augusta, ME
    I like this song
    - Katheren, Augusta, ME
    countless sports teams used this song as a theme in the 70's and early 80's while showing highlights on tv.....i remember the chicago white sox used this as a theme one year....
    - Scott, chicago, IL
    this is an awsome song.
    - Dani, Winnipeg, Canada
    I hate this song..........Reminds me of work
    - Jade, Chippewa Falls, WI
    This is Homer Simpson's favorite song. On one of their episodes The Guess Who play and Homer requests that they play Takin Care of Business. Of course they tell him they dont play that song, he refuses to listen.
    - Zach, Faribault, MN
    The title of this song came to Randy Bachman while he was listening to a Vancouver radio stion and the DJ on the air at the time (on CFUN radio - DARYL BURLINGHAM better known as "Daryl B") would always say "... Hey it's Daryl B on CFUN radio, and we're taking care of Business..." and Randy thought that would make a good title to a song! Folks if you are a Guess Who fan like I am.. you NEED to get Randy's new CD.. "Every Song Tells a Story" it was recorded Live in Vancouver, and he tells the story of all his hits! its an amazing CD! www.randybachman.com
    - Maurie, Toronto, Canada
  • Scott from Chicago, Ilcountless sports teams used this song as a theme
    in the 70's and early 80's while showing highlights on tv.....i remember the chicago white sox used this as a theme one year....
  • Dani from Winnipeg, Canadathis is an awsome song.
  • Jade from Chippewa Falls, WiI hate this song..........Reminds me of work
  • Zach from Faribault, MnThis is Homer Simpson's favorite song. On one of their episodes The Guess Who play and Homer requests that they play Takin Care of Business. Of course they tell him they dont play that song, he refuses to listen.
  • Maurie from Toronto, CanadaThe title of this song came to Randy Bachman while he was listening to a Vancouver radio stion and the DJ on the air at the time (on CFUN radio - DARYL BURLINGHAM better known as "Daryl B") would always say "... Hey it's Daryl B on CFUN radio, and we're taking care of Business..." and Randy thought that would make a good title to a song! Folks if you are a Guess Who fan like I am.. you NEED to get Randy's new CD.. "Every Song Tells a Story" it was recorded Live in Vancouver, and he tells the story of all his hits! its an amazing CD! www.randybachman.com
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