Rush, in their own words, ‘The World’s Biggest Cult Band’, started from humble beginnings: three suburban Canadian teenagers. Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and John Rutsey formed a Led Zeppelin-influenced trio, eventually scratching a living playing the bars and clubs of their native Toronto. A hard work ethic, no small amount of talent, and a slice of good fortune enabled their first self-financed and distributed album to gain a foothold in the American market.
And then, on the eve of their first American tour, drummer Rutsey quit. Fortune smiled on them again when auditions for a replacement produced Neil Peart, who could not only drum like a demon but was adept at lyric writing. Sharing a love of the then emerging progressive rock scene, the trio embarked on crafting a series of albums from the ‘second’ debut, Fly By Night, to the career-defining and best-selling masterpiece Moving Pictures. Records which would secure them a permanent place in the rock hierarchy.
This book, the first volume of two, examines all these albums up to Signals, their 1982 release, which saw the band embracing keyboard technology and severing their connections with long-time producer Terry Brown, the unofficial fourth member of this remarkable trio.
Richard James immersed himself in music as soon as he got his first real six-string at the age of ten. Previously chained to a desk for a living, he broke free, armed with a music degree from the Open University and a Licentiate Diploma in Classical Guitar from the Royal School of Music, and proceeded to roam the East Midlands as a freelance guitarist and music teacher. He lives with his wife in Leicestershire, UK, and when not involved with music, he enjoys foreign travel and playing chess badly.
