Freeways, BTO's sixth studio album that was recorded in late 1976 and released in February 1977, signalled the end of BTO's most successful line-up.
Facing some criticism for the "sameness" of the band's songs on the two follow-up albums to Not Fragile, Randy Bachman wanted to update BTO's sound, including adding horns and strings on some songs, but the rest of the band seemed to disagree.
Said Fred Turner:
Since he (Randy) was funding the whole thing, everything went on his and Mercury's timetable.
It finally came to a head for Freeways when Blair, Rob and myself told Randy we were burnt out, didn't like the songs we were writing, didn't like the songs he was writing, and that we wanted to take some time to regroup – especially since all the other bands were taking a year or two between albums, not doing two a year like we were.
Randy told us his songs were fine and forced the album.
It ended that version of the band.

Years later, Randy seemed to agree with Turner, stating, "Looking at it now, we should have taken four, five, six months off ... live a little, and then come back together with new ideas.
In retrospect, that's what a lot of great bands do.
And we didn't."
Freeways only reached #70 on the US pop albums chart and had no charting singles.

Randy Bachman left the group following Freeways.
His initial intention was to temporarily disband while he worked on a solo project, "But it was decided by management it wouldn't work."
He conceded, "We also ran out of common interests."

Randy was replaced by bassist Jim Clench, formerly of April Wine.
Bassist Turner moved to rhythm guitar with Thornton becoming the primary lead guitarist.
Clench and Turner shared lead vocal duties.
Even though this line-up included drummer Robbie Bachman, the band had to record and tour only as "BTO" because of an agreement with Randy who wanted to retain the rights to his surname for his solo career.
While Randy kept the rights to the full Bachman name, the remaining band members bought the rights to "BTO" and its trademarks, including the gear logo.
The re-structured BTO released Street Action in February 1978.
The album became a commercial failure, spawning no hit singles.

The band also released Rock n' Roll Nights in March 1979.
It was the first BTO album to prominently feature outside songwriters, particularly Prism's Jim Vallance, who also co-produced the album.
Vallance had taken over as main producer after Barry Mraz was fired by the band, and would later score huge success in the 80s with Bryan Adams.
But like its predecessor, Rock n' Roll Nights also sold poorly (an estimated 350,000 copies worldwide).
The album did, however, produce a moderately successful single called "Heartaches".
Written by Turner, it cracked the Top 40 in Canada and reached number 60 on the US charts, making it the first BTO single in three years to chart in the US.
BTO played this song on American Bandstand in February 1979 (with producer Vallance guesting on piano), along with another single from the same album called "Jamaica".
Fred Turner and Jim Clench also appeared on Bryan Adams' debut album in 1980 as session musicians. (
Adams had likewise contributed one song, "Wastin' Time", for BTO for the Rock n' Roll Nights album).

On November 3, 2010, Jim Clench died in a Montreal hospital after a battle with stage-four lung cancer.
Freeways, BTO's sixth studio album that was recorded in late 1976 and released in February 1977, signalled the end of BTO's most successful line-up. Facing some criticism for the "sameness" of the band's songs on the two follow-up albums to Not Fragile, Randy Bachman wanted to update BTO's sound, including adding horns and strings on some songs, but the rest of the band seemed to disagree. Said Fred Turner:
Since he (Randy) was funding the whole thing, everything went on his and Mercury's timetable. It finally came to a head for Freeways when Blair, Rob and myself told Randy we were burnt out, didn't like the songs we were writing, didn't like the songs he was writing, and that we wanted to take some time to regroup – especially since all the other bands were taking a year or two between albums, not doing two a year like we were. Randy told us his songs were fine and forced the album. It ended that version of the band.
Years later, Randy seemed to agree with Turner, stating, "Looking at it now, we should have taken four, five, six months off ... live a little, and then come back together with new ideas. In retrospect, that's what a lot of great bands do. And we didn't." Freeways only reached #70 on the US pop albums chart and had no charting singles.
Randy Bachman left the group following Freeways. His initial intention was to temporarily disband while he worked on a solo project, "But it was decided by management it wouldn't work." He conceded, "We also ran out of common interests."
Randy was replaced by bassist Jim Clench, formerly of April Wine. Bassist Turner moved to rhythm guitar with Thornton becoming the primary lead guitarist. Clench and Turner shared lead vocal duties. Even though this line-up included drummer Robbie Bachman, the band had to record and tour only as "BTO" because of an agreement with Randy who wanted to retain the rights to his surname for his solo career. While Randy kept the rights to the full Bachman name, the remaining band members bought the rights to "BTO" and its trademarks, including the gear logo. The re-structured BTO released Street Action in February 1978. The album became a commercial failure, spawning no hit singles.
The band also released Rock n' Roll Nights in March 1979. It was the first BTO album to prominently feature outside songwriters, particularly Prism's Jim Vallance, who also co-produced the album. Vallance had taken over as main producer after Barry Mraz was fired by the band, and would later score huge success in the 80s with Bryan Adams. But like its predecessor, Rock n' Roll Nights also sold poorly (an estimated 350,000 copies worldwide). The album did, however, produce a moderately successful single called "Heartaches". Written by Turner, it cracked the Top 40 in Canada and reached number 60 on the US charts, making it the first BTO single in three years to chart in the US. BTO played this song on American Bandstand in February 1979 (with producer Vallance guesting on piano), along with another single from the same album called "Jamaica". Fred Turner and Jim Clench also appeared on Bryan Adams' debut album in 1980 as session musicians. (Adams had likewise contributed one song, "Wastin' Time", for BTO for the Rock n' Roll Nights album).
On November 3, 2010, Jim Clench died in a Montreal hospital after a battle with stage-four lung cancer.
Bachman–Turner Overdrive