Blair Thornton
| Blair Thornton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 23, 1950 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Associated acts | |
| Notable instruments | |
| Guitars Amps & Effects | |
Blair Montgomery Thornton (born July 23, 1950 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a rock guitarist and songwriter most widely known for his work with the Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO). He also played in the Vancouver-based band Crosstown Bus prior to joining BTO.
Thornton joined the group in January 1974 during the supporting tour for the Bachman-Turner Overdrive II album, replacing Tim Bachman shortly after that album was released. Thornton made his live debut with BTO at a televised event for Don Kirshner's In Concert program hosted by Don E. Branker.
With Thornton's arrival, BTO began incorporating "dual-lead" guitar solos in many new songs, with Thornton playing the lead guitar parts along with primary lead guitarist Randy Bachman. Such solos were not a major feature on the band's first two albums. In interviews years later, Randy noted that Blair Thornton was a welcome addition:
"He was known for playing in the Eric Clapton/Bluesbreakers style, and was more advanced on the guitar than my brother Tim, who was basically a rhythm player who left all the lead to me. I'm not that good. I would repeat myself, my vocabulary is limited and I didn't have time to go out and learn. So Blair brought in a new style. We now had twin lead guitars, and that made my job a lot easier; it gave us more versatility."
As a songwriter, Thornton contributed two compositions to the Not Fragile album: "Givin' It All Away" and an instrumental called "Freewheelin'", still one of the favourite anthems of Not Fragile that also wound up as the B-side of the No. 1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". He also co-wrote three songs for the follow-up 1975 album, Four Wheel Drive, including the title track (with Randy Bachman), and co-wrote the Top 40 hit "Take It Like a Man" (with Fred Turner) for the 1975 album Head On. Two other songs on Head On, "It's Over" and "Wild Spirit", also credit Thornton and Turner as songwriters.
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