We all know packrats. But you probably haven't encountered one like Randy Bachman.

The legendary lead guitarist of the Guess Who made headlines a decade ago when he donated truckloads of band memorabilia to the National Library Archives in Ottawa.

It didn't take him long, however, to amass another truckload.

"I just hired two college kids and they're going through two bedrooms and a garage," says Bachman from his West Coast home/studio on Salt Spring Island. "It's filled floor to ceiling with a walkway in between as wide as a human body."

"I've saved every test pressing, every acetate, every program, every writeup, every review, every T-shirt, poster, button, everything from every gig. I have been a packrat since the Guess Who. I was a booker most of the time, so I had most of the contracts from gigs and record deals.

"Before my first donation, I was renting four double garages in White Rock where I used to live, which cost me $6,000 a year. It was great to have Ottawa say, 'We have room for this, we want it on display. We want to legitimize pop music.'"

This hoarder's instinct, and his inability to say no to any collectible that comes his way, was key to The Guess Who? This Time Long Ago -- a stunningly preserved and enhanced record of the band's early days as a garage combo, touring band and a veritable CBC house band for shows like Let's Go/Music Hop and Where It's At. Included are lost Guess Who tunes Croyez-Moi and Miss Felicity Grey from the band's British recording sessions, plus TV covers like Light My Fire (two versions), White Room and Summertime Blues -- "We covered Blue Cheer's version, you know, where there's no answer in the lyrics, like 'I called my Congressman and he said quote ...' and then there's feedback 'Woo-oo-woo-oo!'"

Every cut has a story. The Light My Fire covers came from a veteran CBC soundman, part of the crew interviewing Bachman for a documentary on his late mentor, Lenny Breau.

"They're interviewing me on the banks of the river, and the soundman says, 'Remember me?' And I said, 'Did we go to school together?' And he said, 'Yeah, I was in your room in Garden City (Collegiate).' I said 'Marvin, right?' And he says 'Yeah. I was also the soundman at CBC when Harry retired.'"

Seems the kid's first gig was the Guess Who on CBC. "He says 'I was so proud to get this job, I saved the tapes.'

"And I said, 'What?' He says, 'Yeah, CBC had us erase them. But I'd make my own copies and take them home.'"

A techno-addict, Bachman worked on the various cuts for 10 years, breathing audio life into source tapes so old "you'd get one play out of it and the oxide would come off.

"I would get that album about done and some new noise suppressor would come out to expand your old mono tracks." Eventually, he spent $40,000 on enhancement gizmos.

He's re-released the first three Guess Who albums from their pre-These Eyes days on his Ranbach Music label. He's putting out a collection from Brave Belt (his band, pre-Bachman Turner Overdrive) and has been steadily re-releasing the oeuvre of the late jazz-guitar wizard Breau.

Soon, however, it will be time to poke his nose out of the studio, like the world's largest groundhog.

In two weeks, the band gets doctorates from the University of Brandon. They then come here for induction into Canada's Walk Of Fame. Then comes a new Guess Who summer tour, a shared bill with Joe Cocker, that'll hit 41 U.S. cities.

Once again, they'll play all the hits. "We've added You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Stand Tall, and to the delight of us and everyone out there, we've added Shakin' All Over."

But no covers. "We don't have time. This album (This Time Long Ago) will be the last time you hear us doing covers."