Before the days of digital, Rush fans had to work hard to stay updated on current news for their favorite band. In 1980, The Rush Backstage Club was created to deliver, via regular mail service, band news, tour dates, fan Q&A's, merchandise catalogs, and a young Neil Peart's reflections. Over the years, there were over thirty newsletters released, some were full of timelines from Neil, some contained tentative upcoming tour dates, and some were merely merchandise catalogs. We have reprinted and bound the most meaningful of these newsletters in a 9" X 12", 72-page folio.
This folio is printed in Canada on heavy art paper, with open-stitch binding on the spine. Along with actual newsletters, there are a couple of other visual features, as well as a couple hand-typed notes from Neil to their management company SRO. There is an Introduction written by Ray Wawrzyniak, and Foreword written by Patrick McLoughlin.
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"Hugh Syme is one of the most acclaimed album designers in history - his 40+ years with Rush as well as his work with Dream Theater, Megadeth and so many more."
Artists and albums discussed: Rush (11:37), Hemispheres (18:25), Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals (22:03), Test For Echo (31:15), Bon Jovi – New Jersey (35:30), Warrant – Cherry Pie (39:35), Whitesnake (44:03), Aerosmith – Get A Grip (47:25), Def Leppard – Retroactive (53:30), Megadeth - Youthenasia (55:05), Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction (58:00), Dream Theater – Distance Over Time (1:00:53), Dream Theater - Octovarian (1:04:05), Iron Maiden – X-Factor (107:11), KISS – Revenge (1:10:37), Alice Cooper – A Fistful of Alice (1:11:35) Billy Thorpe (1:15:35).
"Growth Rings" Co-written by Jeremy Bout and recorded by Neil Peart of RUSH, one of the greatest drummers of all time, this short film honors the way in which music marks moments in our lives. Just as the life of a tree can be understood through it's growth rings, we can look at the milestones and eras of our lives and reminiscence of the songs and bands that resonated with us during those times.
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"That was not an accident! Alex Lifeson is on the title track. He's on the title track of my life and career trajectory. He was one of the first supporters of Big Sugar and one of the greatest mentors that I've had. And he's such a down-to-earth chill guy. He saw us coming up, liked our music, and would do things like 'Hey, man, here's a double-neck guitar. Why don't you take the Xanadu guitar and use it for a while?' Like, who does that? So I texted him and I had to explain myself because it's such a Rush knock-off. I got the Taurus Moog pedals in there and gave it the full Moving Pictures treatment. But he not only sent me a wicked guitar solo but a bunch of overdubs-acoustic guitars and banjos and all kinds of other production to put in the track. It got way Rushier. And I'm good with it. ... He still plays great. And when he sits down to play, only one sound comes out of that amp." - Global News, May 8, 2020Check out the track below:
"With extensive, first-hand reflections from Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, as well as from family, friends, and fellow musicians, Anthem: Rush in the ’70s is a detailed portrait of Canada’s greatest rock ambassadors. The first of three volumes, Anthem puts the band’s catalog, from their self-titled debut to 1978’s Hemispheres (the next volume resumes with the release of Permanent Waves) into both Canadian and general pop culture context, and presents the trio of quintessentially dependable, courteous Canucks as generators of incendiary, groundbreaking rock ’n’ roll."Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Like Geezer Butler in Black Sabbath, to reiterate, Geddy indeed began on guitar. Alex, however, missed this part of Lee’s evolution.
“I didn’t know Ged when he played guitar. So the transition was already completed by the time we started jamming together and playing. Because that’s what we did after school. We’d plug into his amp and play. There was one guitar and one bass. So I’m not really sure about that transition. I’m sure he was interested in guitar like everybody was interested in guitar. But once we actually started playing and learning instruments, that was his chosen one. Just think John Rutsey in that early days―the drums became his thing but I don’t know if in his heart he wanted to be a drummer. I think he wanted to be a guitarist as well. But everybody had their job that they sort of gravitated to.”
Says Geddy, “I was nominated to be the bass player when the first band I was in, the bass player couldn’t be in our band. I think his parent’s prohibited him or something, and we had no bass player so they said, ‘You play bass’ and I said okay, and that was how simple it was. That happens to a lot of bass players. Everyone wants to be a guitar player, but I was happy to be bass player. Bass player is like being a major league catcher. It’s the quickest way to the majors. Nobody wants to be a bass player. It’s a great instrument, it really is, awesome way to spend your time. I had teachers you know; I’m just carrying on the tradition of Jack Bruce, Jack Cassidy, Chris Squire, a fine tradition of noisy bass players that refuse to stay in the background. So I feel that’s my sacred duty, to carry on what they started.”
"Feeding the Chicago natives’ fascination with avant garde film scores, Esterly embarked on a pioneer project. Taking notes from visionary composers such as Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman, Esterly meticulously selected culturally influential classics to cover with cinematic flare recreating the very narrative each song represents through his sonic alchemy. 'This project is a challenge to myself to reimagine these songs in a cinematic viewpoint,' says Esterly. 'Within a three minute track, could I create the rise and fall of a cinematic arc inside a song people already know and love?'” - divinemagazine.biz
“We’re trying to be very sensitive about doing the tour and not having it be, ‘Hey, all about Neil,’ ” Claypool says. “It’s about admiration for these amazing musicians and friends.”
"I talked to Geddy about it, yeah. I texted with him — I keep in touch with Geddy — just to make sure we weren’t trodding on something weird. So I checked in with him to see what he thought of it, and he was excited about the notion.
"He just got excited; he thought it was a great idea. You know, we go way back with those guys, so I think it made him feel good that it was going to be us that was going to do this thing. But I don’t know, you’d have to ask him. I can’t put words in his mouth, but he seemed excited about it."
"Suddenly, you were goneNever were those words more true than today, when we learned of the shocking passing of Neil Peart this past Tuesday, January 7th, after a three and a half year battle with brain cancer (Glioblastom). Always fiercely private, he kept his illness a secret to all but a few. In one of life's ultimate cruelties ("The Stars Look Down" indeed), Neil retired from drumming in 2015 only to be diagnosed with cancer a year later. He leaves behind his wife Carrie and daughter Olivia. Here's a collection of news items announcing his death and those that have come out to pay tribute to his loss.
From all the lives you left your mark upon"
"Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart performed together for the first time to an audience of 11,000 people in 1974. Forty years later, their last tour sold over 442,000 tickets. This is the story of everything in between. This is the story of Rush."
“Winter is coming! Cold, dark and desolate , Minus 20 is a reflection on the current state of cold, dark and desolate fields everywhere”. – Alex Lifeson- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
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