Posted on 01/10/2020 3:17:10 PM PST by tuffydoodle
Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist for Rush, died Tuesday, January 7th, in Santa Monica, California at age 67, according to Elliot Mintz, a family spokesperson. The cause was brain cancer, which he had been quietly battling for three-and-a-half years. A representative for the band confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...
Neil was one of the prime movers behind the “Burning for Buddy” project, and played and recorded with the Buddy Rich Big Band on a number of benefits.
Neil helped make big band jazz cool for a whole new generation of musicians.
Mark
He had one of the best takes on the fall of the Soviet Union:
Heresy
All around that dull gray world
From Moscow to Berlin
People storm the barricades
Walls go tumbling in
The counter-revolution
People smiling through their tears
Who can give them back their lives
And all those wasted years?
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?
All around that dull gray world
Of ideology
People storm the marketplace
And buy up fantasy
The counter-revolution
At the counter of a store
People buy the things they want
And borrow for a little more
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?
Do we have to be forgiving at last?
What else can we do?
Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
Yes, I guess we do
All around this great big world
All the crap we had to take
Bombs and basement fallout shelters
All our lives at stake
The bloody revolution
All the warheads in its wake
All the fear and suffering
All a big mistake
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?
I’m just pointing out where Rolling Stoned and radio are today.
For 20 years now the NYTimes have said you are ‘rockist’ if you hold to the notion that people should write their own songs and sing them without sweeteners and actually sing and play live at concerts.
As Keith Richard said of Mick Taylor:
“He is a virtuoso guitar player and a great kid. But he’s not a rolling Stone”.
“IRREPLACEABLE”
With Peart’s passing, the end has arrived for Rush.
Just like Led Zeppelin and Jon Bonham.
Some drummers are integral to everything the band does.
Should have been for The Who.
Most influential?
Bonham, hands down. Starting in 1968.
Best?
My vote goes to Ginger Baker. EVERYBODY copied him, or tried.
“But contemporary drummers, for the most part, must be able to play in odd time signatures and with incredible dexterity and technical proficiency...and a lot of that has to do with Peart and Rush.”
Nay.
Ginger Baker set that standard in 1967. And he made it look effortless.
Agreed. He was an amazing song writer and performer.
But post-Cream, the man was no longer influential. By the mid to late 1970s people had have moved on to Bonham and Moon as THE most popular. Now, yes, popular doesn't equal best or even best amongst drummers. But in all honesty, Zeppelin and The Who and the Stones ruled the 1970s; Ginger Baker was barely on the radar.
As for technical prowess, this admirable display by Mr. Baker in 1975 is all in 4/4. This later solo on the Creme reunion tour is better than the 1975 lot, but...well...it's good...BUT it can't compare to this beast of a Neil Peart solo.
For the record, the best drum soloist I've ever seen is Carl Palmer.
Rush were so down to earth. They were all guys with families who also played music....great music and lyrics. Not may drummers who write great songs like Peart did. I grew up admiring Peart and he inspired me more than I can say....being a drummer growing up in the 80s he is what I aspired to be. I really feel a loss. First time I really got upset from a celebrity’s death
Baker was a jazz drummer in a rock band.
“Please note I’m not saying Peart was BETTER than Moonie or Bonzo.”
Okay, then. I’ll say it. Peart was definitely better than Bonham. :) And in regards to timekeeping, he was also better than Keith Moon.
Neil Peart was easily the most technically accomplished rock drummer we have ever seen. And he wasn’t too shabby as a lyricist either.
Well Baker wasn’t as influential because for the most part he abandoned rock in favor of African music and Jazz.
“IIRC, La Villa Strangiato was so difficult to play, they had to record it with multiple takes.”
I remember seeing an interview with Alex Lifeson in regard to “La Villa Strangiato” in which he said, “What’s on the record is a single take. But it took us over forty takes to get it right!” They spent more time on that one song than they did on the entire Fly By Night album.
That was a conscious decision by Townshend, and while he will always be regarded in a special way vs Page, Page was more influential as a guitarist (notwithstanding how many people trash their gear).
Similarly, Baker consciously turned away from the roar of the crowd (he also has more of a drug problem than Pete, though Pete was an alcoholic in the 1970s and finally started drugging again around 1979-1981).
Thus, Baker may not have achieved the level of influence he COULD have, and that MAY have been his choice. But it remains that his influence wasn't as great as some people believe. And of course, his attitude had NOTHING to do with ANY of this.
Pretty much everyone was a better time keeper than Moonie.
Btw, the grand prize for greatest technician ever is Vinnie Colaiuta.
That post went over real well! LOL
One of the best double bass drummers I’ve ever seen. RIP, Neil Peart.
Wow, only one Bruford mention in almost 60 responses. He was always my favorite, from early Yes to UK to King Crimson, filling in live with Genesis and in his own Earthworks band. Saw him a number of times with his Bruins logo a-shirt. Talk about your odd beats, I could hear him doing three hits with one hand, coordinated with four hits on the other hand and six with his foot....amaaazing!
This hurt as much as when Bowie passed.
Way too young and way too soon.
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