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The former Guess Who singer has met with the man whose production and songwriting contribution to Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" helped the Canadian native sell an unprecendented 29-million albums worldwide.
"I've just had some meetings with Glen, who is possibly the hottest producer in the world right now," says Cummings, who lives in Los Angeles where Ballard is based. " 'Jagged Little Pill' is in the Guinness Book Of Records already. Here's this 22-year-old girl from Ottawa, comes along in one album, surpasses Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Annie Lennox, all the great divas of pop music, outsells them all. That's astounding.
"I've known Glen for a while," Cummings continues. "Glen has been around for many, many years. He worked with Richard Perry (producer of Cummings' first two solo albums) on all The Pointer Sisters' records during the years. He's done some tremendous work. He's got a tremendous track record. Plus, he plays piano and guitar and he's a writer. It's a perfect marriage, I think."
Cummings was in Toronto last week to promote the reissue of his first four solo albums -- 1976's "Burton Cummings", 1977's "My Own Way To Rock", 1978's "Dream Of A Child" and 1980's "Woman Love" -- on CD. He is currently between record deals but has written some 50 new songs in which he believes. "If you pare all that down to the best 10 or 12, I think I've got a pretty good shot at one more kick at the cat," he says.
"(Glen) would produce this and he would kind of polish up some of the songs that he thought needed some work. There's one song in particular that he really likes. It's a song about gambling called 'Black Jack Fever.' And he thinks it's a smash record. I'm in the door already with Glen," Cummings adds. "He's so busy. This is the guy who's sought after from all corners of the globe. The very fact that he would meet with me is quite flattering to me, and I would love to work with him, so I've been a little hesitant in pursuing other producers. I will be patient to work with Glen."