My Tribute to Rush

Source: YouTube

I can recall my days in high school, sitting in a circle with my friends on the field during break between classes. As everyone was talking, one of my friends was playing the radio from a boom box he brought to the circle. It was playing something I had never heard before, not British Invasion Rock for once, but not New Wave, either.

I was hearing the song, Tom Sawyer from Rush, and I was captivated, so I asked who it was. Within a day or two, I had a copy of the album, Moving Pictures in vinyl. Once acquired, I recorded that album to tape and started playing it in my car on the way to school.

Moving Pictures had what became some of my all-time favorite songs from Rush like, "Tom Sawyer*, Limelight, YYZ, and Vital Signs. This was the start of a new musical adventure for me. The music on that album was unlike anything I had ever heard before. One of my friends hated the high pitch of the lead singer's voice, but I didn't care. I was ecstatic with everything else. I had music I wanted to hear, over and over.

I was like that back then. I'm deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other, but I still found joy in music. I was happy with what I was hearing and wanted more.

Then on the way to school one day I heard The Spirit of Radio and Freewill on the radio. I had to have that, too. To have it, I found and bought the album, Permanent Waves. One thing that I noticed about Rush is that with each album that I bought, I found that I liked every song on the album. This was a big deal to me as I was not into buying an album for just one or two songs at the time.

So I started collecting all of their albums, from their first and eponymous, Rush, to Power Windows and Grace Under Pressure. A bit later in life, I found Roll The Bones and Test for Echo. But those early albums were what I listened to while transitioning from teenager to man, so that is what I think of when I read or hear the band's name.

I also collected their live albums and developed an appreciation for their accuracy. They were on key playing live when compared to their studio work (although the Wikipedia page on the following album begs to differ and offers some irony). Of their live albums, I enjoyed Exit...Stage Left the most. I loved Alex Lifeson's opening guitar solo for La Villa Strangiato, and Neal Peart's drum solo on YYZ. I loved the transition from The Trees to Xanadu, with Geddy playing synth, Peart playing bells and Alex hammering softly on his guitar. That live album also led led me to the studio albums, Hemispheres and A Farewell To Kings.

As a middle age man, I found something else about Rush. They have built a legacy of music and video that is easily accessible with YouTube and any music service you want to use (Google Play Music has been my preference for a few years now). You can find nearly any song by Rush on video, live or in studio, music video or live performance on YouTube.

But there is something else. Alex Lifeson has done many instructional videos to show how he plays guitar on their most popular songs. It's fun to watch him reflecting on how he performed the songs, accessing his memories and playing them slow to see the details that he has attended to in each chord or riff. He shows a very deep and pragmatic side of playing guitar, while demonstrating some of the tricks he uses to make it sound like there are two guitars playing.

For me, the willingness of Rush to put all of their music and video on exposition, from beginning to end, on YouTube is a true gift. There are many hours of video to watch and learn from just on YouTube alone.

There is also a documentary of the band on Netflix, which is well worth watching if you're a Rush fan. In that documentary, we learn how the band formed, the challenges they encountered and overcame, and how close they are as people in a road touring band. We even learn of their hobbies and what they did during downtime on the road.

Rush also had the presence of mind to record video of their recording sessions of songs from their album, Moving Pictures, all of which are on YouTube. Here we are treated to seeing how they arranged their instruments, their mics and how they played the songs in the studio.

It should also be noted that Rush was recording music videos long before MTV. They even made music videos for songs from their album, Fly By Night. They had a pioneering spirit with music videos, and experimented rather early on with playing their music on a set before a camera. Here is the title song complete with early 70's fashion, for your enjoyment...

Rush has not just given me relief from British Invasion Rock when I needed it most. They have also experimented with many styles of music over the years, adding variability and surprises in every album. They were hard rock, progressive rock, New Wave, reggae, and even a bit folksy at times with their music. They were always experimenting, testing, hacking, and learning new ways to express themselves, and they always made sure they could do it all, live.

I was somewhat saddened when I heard of their recent disbandment. They no longer tour, I don't know if they play in the studio anymore. They had a good long run, and prospered handsomely for it. I admire them for their practice and expression of their talents, their humor (yes, they can be funny), and their passion for the craft of music. I believe that they are one of the few people I have seen to achieve self-actualization and to make a living while doing it. I am glad to have been turned on to their music and will share my collection with my kids by playing them from time to time.

My adventure with Rush was a strange and wonderful journey, and something I will never forget. I still listen to their music from time to time. When opportunity permits, I still sometimes play their live rendition of The Trees/Xanadu loud and revel in that opening for Xanadu. And I play it loud to feel the bass as I lie on the floor. I still play YYZ in the car sometimes. I still play albums like Fly By Night and Caress of Steel for their stories and their whimsical journeys within. These are memories I am happy to carry with me.

Rush, I am glad to have "met" you as you played live in concert, seen you, heard you, and even memorized some of your songs. I still play your songs in my mind. I am happy to have had your music at the ready for so many of my journeys in my car. I wish you peace and happiness in your retirement, and look forward to sharing your music with my kids, for whatever that may bring.

Write on.

Slogan by @tecnosgirl

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A short but growing list of people I admire, who have helped me, and/or influenced me, my thinking and/or my posts:

• @taskmaster4450 - The Age of Abundance is here
• @scottsantens - The Age of Universal Basic Income is here
• @gric - A very cool artist with some interesting perspectives
• @gringalicious - great writing, cooking and photography
• @luzcypher - for teaching me about how gift economies work