With the Guess Who back in vogue, it's guitarist Randy Bachman who's become the keeper of the tapes. He has the rights to all the band's early pre-These Eyes albums (back when they had a question mark at the end of their name) and has released the first three for sale.

THE SUN: How was it that you, and not another member of the band, ended up with the rights to the music?

BACHMAN: "It happened by happenstance. Nobody decided it. We weren't even speaking at the time, 15 years ago; we were in the five corners of the world. Quality Records in Toronto had the stuff from the old Sceptre label, and they were going bankrupt. I didn't know it, but Quality Records was owned by Selkirk Communications.

"Anyway, you being from Winnipeg know what Selkirk means to a Winnipegger." (It refers to a mental hospital in Selkirk, Man., for violent offenders, as in "Dude, you're crazy, you belong in Selkirk.")

"So I get this call and this woman says we've got The Guess Who's Selkirk tapes for sale. And I thought, y'know, we used to go to Selkirk every Christmas and record a show in the asylum there. They were mentally disturbed people, but the acoustics were good and the audience was quiet."

THE SUN: Because they were medicated?

BACHMAN: "Exactly. And I figure those are the tapes they're offering me. I'm lowballing them and saying they can't be worth much money, and they're going, 'Yeah, they are.' So I settled on a price and was totally shocked when I got the box.

"I opened it and it was all the Guess Who tapes from Sceptre Records with the original artwork, and I phoned the lady back and said, 'What's this?' And she said, 'You mean you didn't know what you bought?'

"And she told me I was the last person she contacted. She had called the other band members' reps and they all turned down the Selkirk tapes. Something inside of me said, 'Don't blow her off.' "