The History of John Rutsey and Rush

The History of John Rutsey and Rush
Ultimate Classic Rock has just posted an article on John Rutsey titled, appropriately, The History of John Rutsey and Rush.

From the article:
Rush have survived 40 years in the music industry, persisting through critical hatred and shifting musical trends, and they owe much of that longevity to the consistently inventive drumming of Neil Peart. Within that view, it’s easy to miss the band’s important first chapter with John Rutsey, the band’s founding drummer. While Rutsey may be remembered as sort of Rush’s version of Pete Best, it’s a story worth revisiting.

The first seeds of Rush were sewn in 1963: Hockey buddies Rutsey and Alex Lifeson met while attending the St. Paschal’s School and eventually formed a band dubbed the Projection. Then in 1968, in the Willowdale area of Toronto, the teenagers joined forces with bassist Jeff Jones, who was soon replaced by Geddy Lee, a somewhat witchy-looking dude with a high-pitched shriek of a voice and an enviable fluency on his instrument.
Click HERE to read the entire article.

Thanks to Randy Z for the head's up.

Comments

  1. John's work on "Rush" was perfect for that album, there's no denying that. But I will never understand those who say things like "Without John, there would be no Rush." The facts are really brutally clear: John wasn't around for the tours and the subsequent albums and all the work that went into them which sold Rush to the rest of North America---and eventually the world. Those kudos belong to Alex, Geddy and Neil.

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    1. Completely agree however I think most people are attributing the 'There would be no Rush' notion to the fact that John started the band with Alex. If that never happened, would there be a Rush? Impossible to say but I like to think there would have been given Alex and Geddy's friendship...

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    2. You have a point. But, I tend to think of Rush as a collaborative effort resulting in a particular style (albeit one that changes fairly regularly). John's ideas of what to compose and play were clearly at odds with Alex and Geddy, so I think even though he was a founding member of A band, it wasn't THE band, if you get my drift.

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    3. Oh I agree completely. If John HAD continued with Rush, then there would be no Rush ... certainly not the Rush that we all know and love.

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