Geddy Lee of Rush And His Summer In Detroit
We were fortunate enough to have Geddy Lee of Rush on the show before his book tour last year, and we started thinking about his love for Detroit. If you don’t know – Geddy spent a summer here in the motor city.
Geddy Lee Loves Detroit
We started off talking about Geddy’s love for the Motor City:
Geddy Lee: Detroit was always one of our very favorite places to come to, and I remember the early days playing there, opening for KISS at the Michigan Palace, and just so many great memories, and playing Cobo Hall a number of times, and the Joe Louis Arena, and, you know, Pine Knob, all those places, so we have a long history with the Detroit area. And before that, we played high schools and bars across the river in Windsor. So there was a connection. Plus, I have family in Detroit.
And when I was very young—in fact, I talk about this in my book—just after I turned 13, I spent part of the summer in Detroit with my cousins. And it was a very important time for me because my dad had just passed away. And so I had a lot of memories and a lot of support from family members in Detroit. So it remains a special place in my heart.
Jim O’Brien: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask one question though, Geddy. And we love talking to musicians about this. Say you meet someone and they go, “All right, I know who you are, but I’ve never heard any of your music ever. Give me one song to listen to that’s Rush. Give us one song that you would hand them and go, ‘This is Rush.'”
Geddy Lee: There’s only one song, and that’s Tom Sawyer, obviously. That really is the quintessential Rush song, I think.
Jim O’Brien: Is that because of commercial reasons, or does it have a connection for you, or just because you guys pop? Why?
Geddy Lee: I think that Tom Sawyer is the coming together of so many things. It has such a prog influence, and yet at the same time, it’s hard rock, and the lyrics are expansive and have a universality about them. And I just think that if I had to pick one song only to represent what we were all about, I think that’s a good one.
One More Rush Note – About A Reunion
Read this earlier in the week regarding a possible reunion – which Alex shot down quickly:
Guitarist Alex Lifeson isn’t interested in doing a Rush reunion, since drummer Neil Peart’s passing five years ago.
Quote, “For 40 years Rush included Neil, and I don’t think putting some new version together would have the same magic. [We] went out on a high note playing as well as ever with one of our best stage shows on R40 . . .
“I guess I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band.”
Alex still jams with singer Geddy Lee once a week. Not only do they play Rush stuff, but they’ve also made new music. Quote, “We do record it, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you where it’ll go.”
