Blair Thornton

Blair Montgomery Thornton (born July 23, 1950) is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter most widely known for his work with the rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO). He also played in the band Crosstown Bus prior to joining BTO.

Thornton was a guitarist in later lineups of the Nelson, BC band Crosstown Bus. The band had released one album, High Grass, on MCA Records before Blair's arrival.

Thornton joined BTO in early 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 March 1974 televised event for Don Kirshner's In Concert program hosted by Don E. Branker.

Thornton's first album with BTO was the highly successful Not Fragile LP, released in the fall of 1974. Upon Thornton's arrival, BTO began incorporating "dual-lead" guitar solos into 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:

As a songwriter, Thornton contributed two compositions to the Not Fragile album: "Givin' It All Away" and an instrumental called "Freewheelin'" 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 late 1975 album Head On. Two other songs on Head On, "It's Over" and "Wild Spirit", also credit Thornton as a co-writer.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.