by Richard Skelly » Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:22 am
The last time I saw Burton Cummings sing Timeless Love was June 2009 in Victoria. Performing as Bachman Cummings with fellow ex-Guess Who colleague Randy Bachman, Burt had ladies of all ages in the arena swooning as he nailed the gospel-tinged ballad. Helped in no small part by the perfect harmonies of backup band The Carpet Frogs. Featuring bassist-harmonist Jeff Jones of Red Rider acclaim.
When I first heard Timeless Love in 1977, I incorrectly surmised Cummings and his producer Richard Perry had hired The Jordanaires. Wrong-o. It was three African-American gospel soul singers E.L. (Eldridge) King, the apparently unrelated Bobby King and Terry Evans.
All three had guested on Ry Cooder sessions, not necessarily at the same time. Bobby and Terry would record as a duo in coming years. Eldridge got session credits with Boz Scaggs. Terry Evans died this past January 18 after a long career.
Ry Cooder loved them all, but was so taken by Bobby's timbre that he said he should've been a "frontman." Bobby certainly kept busy. In addition to solo albums and those with Terry, he sang behind John Fogerty, Eric Clapton and Joan Armatrading. He also sang the title track to Crossroads, the 1986 biopic on blues pioneer Robert Johnson.