Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings have resolved their long-running dispute with former Guess Who bandmates Garry Peterson and Jim Kale over the use of the band's name.
Though details of the settlement remain confidential, terms include acquisition of the “The Guess Who” trademark by Bachman and Cummings.
Cummings says, "If there is a group out there calling themselves The Guess Who, it's going to have the lead singer who wrote the songs and the guitarist who made the riffs. It's going to have Bachman and Cummings in it. I say 'if' because we don’t know. Randy has a lot of bookings and I've got solo gigs. What we do know is that Randy and I are happy because there isn't a fake Guess Who out there anymore."
Bachman says the settlement allows the, to "move forward with a new sense of purpose and camaraderie."
In the initial suit, filed last October, Bachman and Cummings claimed the current lineup was “little more than a cover band,” and by using the band’s name, photos of the original lineup, and recordings that Bachman and Cummings appear on, they've given “the false impression that Plaintiffs are performing as part of the cover band.”
In April, a judge denied The Guess Who's motion to dismiss the suit. According to Rolling Stone, Cummings "terminated the performing rights agreements for all the Guess Who songs he wrote, removing the copyright protections that allow the band (or anyone else) to perform hits like 'American Woman,' 'These Eyes' and 'No Time' in concert. In effect, he shot himself in the foot to try to shoot the band in the face."
At the time Cummings said, "I’m willing to do anything to stop the fake band; they’re taking [Bachman and my] life story and pretending it’s theirs. They’re not the people who made these records and they shouldn’t act like they did. This doesn’t stop this cover band from playing their shows, it just stops them from playing the songs I wrote. If the songs are performed by the fake Guess Who, they will be sued for every occurrence...
“Yes, I’m going to lose some money, but we’re going to find out what’s worth what. I will not have this fake band going on any longer... The name is worthless without those songs. So what are they going to do? ‘Hey, The Guess Who Is playing but we can’t do 'Share the Land' or 'American Woman,' we can’t do 'These Eyes.’ Nobody’s gonna be there.”
Jim Kale obtained the trademark to the Guess Who name in 1986. Though he retired in 2016, original Garry Peterson periodically performed with the band.
Ironically, Randy Bachman is touring as Bachman-Turner Overdrive, despite being the only original member in the lineup.