Film about Randy Bachman's lost guitar "Takin' Care Of Business" screening at TIFF

Tyler Measom's documentary "Takin' Care Of Business" has a gala premiere at Roy Thomson Hall on September 12 as part of TIFF. 

Writes Randy's son Tal Bachman...

"Growing up, my siblings and I heard my dad talk every day about his long lost magic Gretsch guitar.

"That orange 1957 6120 was the guitar he'd saved up for as a kid. It was his best, and oldest, musical friend, and a guitar which seemed to write hit songs on its own. It also turned out to be a good luck charm.

"After all, with it, Dad had risen from smalltown obscurity to conquer the world not just once, but twice, with both the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. But since its theft from a hotel room in early 1977, everything started to go wrong - not just professionally, but personally, too. More than anything else in the world, Dad needed that magic guitar back. 

"And yet, every effort to find it failed - not just for years, but for decades. Almost five decades, in fact. 

"And then, one day in late 2021, I got one of the most shocking emails of my life. An amateur internet sleuth wrote me, claiming he had a lead on the whereabouts of Dad’s long lost magic guitar. It was just a clue, but it was enough to start a cascade of recovery attempts complicated by Covid travel restrictions, mystery surrounding the owner, and Dad’s recent cancer diagnosis.

"We began filming every step of this story nearly from the beginning, and pulled in a team to help us turn the story into a documentary. We are now pleased to announce that this documentary, “Takin’ Care of Business”, will be shown this year at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. 

"A big thank you to the documentary team, Dad, my wife Koko, and TIFF for making this all happen!"

For more information about screenings of Takin' Care Of Business at TIFF check the festival site right here. 

Watch the CBC's The National news story about Randy's lost Gretsch below.