The spontaneous genius and ripe glory of the late Neil
Peart spawned a unique generation of hard rock ‘n’ roll music players and
listeners.
Peart’s youthful obsession with books and music enabled
him to become the percussionist, drummer and lyric writer for the Canadian rock
trio Rush.
From 1968-1974, Rush singer and bassist Geddy Lee along
with his best friend, Alex Lifeson, the guitarist were a stereotypical hard rock
band. In 1974, when Rush first toured the U.S., the band acquired Neil
Peart.
With the acquisition of Peart in 1974, Lee and Lifeson
had found a drummer that was able to keep time with their intricate musical notes
and changes. By the time Rush released their third album, “Caress of Steel” in
1975, Peart was their full-time lyric writer. Egos immediately took a sidestep
in the odyssey of Rush; music by Lee and Lifeson, words by Peart.
Beyond the idea, presentation is everything and must
take on the spark of possibility from an inner ear potential to a realized work,
Peart said in the 1989 “Presto” tour program book. Rush reflects and responds
to life and filters it through their own lenses, Peart said.
When 67-year-old Peart died on January 7 of
glioblastoma, an incurable and aggressive brain tumor, https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-thank-fans/
the musical gods shed tears on Earth while possibly rejoicing in the
heavens far beyond the Milky Way.
At the beginning of making a new album, we have no
idea what well come up with, only the desire to do it, and the confidence we
can. In that sense we don’t know what we’re doing, but it seems right, Peart
said upon the release of the bands 13th studio album “Presto.”
“Roll the Bones,” Rush’s first album of the 1990s, yet
again show cased Rush’s musical prowess, and Peart’s wisdom and straight
forward philosophy. We continue to learn, grow and change. Keep moving, roll
the bones, gather no rust. A dream is over only until you give up or it comes
true, that’s irony, Peart wrote in the Rush “Roll the Bones” tour book.
As someone who has an infinite passion for words on
the printed pages of time, and the tragic passing of rock ‘n’ roll icon Neil
Peart, I decided it was time to re-enter into the blogosphere.
The book, “Rush 1977-2004” made this blog possible. When
the album “Permanent Waves” found its way to the masses in 1980, “Personal Waves,”
by Neil Peart pointed out an interesting fact about the albums cover. The
album cover features a young woman walking nonchalantly amidst a hurricane destroying
everything in its path. The newspaper on the bottom left blowing away has unreadable
words on it. Peart and his two counterparts in Rush wanted the front page of 1948s The
Chicago Daily Tribune that read; “Dewey Defeats
Truman.”
Several decades later, the heads of the Chicago Daily Tribune newspaper
were still embarrassed by their Major Factual Error in 1948, and would not allow
Rush to show that on the cover of “Permanent Waves.”
The percussion domain and words of Neil Peart have
forever fueled my restless soul.
You might have lived your live as an exemplary
Christian only to be met at the gates of heaven by Mohammed. Anything can
happen, we're only immortal for a limited time, Peart said.
Mark Izzy Schurr
