R.I.P. Neil Peart

[Plasmatopia]

So many great tributes here. Peart's passing has had a far bigger impact on me than I would've expected. I didn't expect it because I've largely moved on from Rush. I wasn't really a fan of a lot of the latter day albums, but I respected what they built and that they had remained a cohesive unit for so long and also remained friends and were like brothers to each other.

Rush was the first band that really blew my teenage mind way back when and propelled the music bug I was in the process of catching. I wasn't a drummer, but every musician in the band grabbed my imagination and when I listened to them I simultaneously wanted to be each one of those guys and play the parts they were playing. Rush was also a big common thread that united my brother, my cousin, and many of my musical friends. Maybe the aura of brotherhood the band exuded paralleled what I felt with my friends and family that were also into the band's music. Later on, my son naturally also became of fan of Rush and of Neil in particular, also being a drummer and being exposed to what I was playing around the house and in the car when he was growing up.

So yeah, it was an emotional weekend. I had to stop reading the tributes for a while. My wife probably thought I was nuts for being so sad about it.

[dropforge]

About 6 years, but yeah.

You and me: "He was in the band 5-6 years." Rock journo: "He left the band after a year."

[Yodelgoat]

So yeah, it was an emotional weekend. I had to stop reading the tributes for a while. My wife probably thought I was nuts for being so sad about it.

My wife is also equally perplexed by my response to Neils Death. But she has been listening intently to the interviews I've been revisiting, and has commented that they do seem like very real and likeable people. My son, who has Autism loves Rush, and so she is drawn into songs like Afterimage, Mystic Rhythms and Subdivisions - because he has told her that those are his favorite songs... Not just from Rush, But of all. My goal is to eventually convert her into a Rush fan. At least to have the respect for them she has had for the Beatles. Rush overwhelms the Beatles in terms of demanding class and respect.

On a different but related thought... Neil has concluded that he believed that if there is a purpose to life, it is to be loved and respected. Wherever he is, he has to be impressed that he is being remembered so 'respectfully'. I am still sad at his passing...I will be for some time to come. Kevin Anderson said that he visited Neil recently and that he was fully Lucid, I only hope he did not have to suffer much physically. My degree of loathing for scourge that is Cancer is deepened. It took both my inlaws... It needs to be eradicated.

[Steve983]

I only sobbed once today. Saturday it was on and off all day.

[Garden Dreamer]

[chalkpie]

Neil's book "Ghost Rider" is en route to me - looking forward to reading it.

[Jerjo]

I love this tribute to Neil (New Yorker link, if you have gone over three articles this month you won't get in)

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/po...peart-and-rush

[Progatron]

Neil's book "Ghost Rider" is en route to me - looking forward to reading it.

It's fascinating, but be prepared: it's pretty harrowing in places.

[Gruno]

Permanent Waves released 40 years ago today...

[JJ88]

Carl Palmer's tribute...attracted some attention on the Steve Hoffman Forum, judge for yourself:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/n...mer-neil-peart

[Progatron]

What kind of attention? Seems quite complimentary and genuine to me, although I suppose people's feathers will get ruffled at the originality comment.

[Plasmatopia]

Drumming aside, Neil obviously way outclassed Palmer when it came to the written word.

[JJ88]

What kind of attention? Seems quite complimentary and genuine to me, although I suppose people's feathers will get ruffled at the originality comment.

'There is no doubt my playing was an influence on Neil' and things like that rubbed people up the wrong way.

[Jerjo]

NP: a playlist of Rush instrumentals

Thanks for all the timeless music Pratt, Dirk, and Lerxst

[smcfee]

'There is no doubt my playing was an influence on Neil' and things like that rubbed people up the wrong way.

Surely the news is out by now that the members of ELP were brimming with confidence. I'm inclined to give him a pass.

[GuitarGeek]

Well, it'll probably be nothing out of the ordinary, but I'm gonna a memorial podcast. I'm in the process of picking out the music. Admittedly, it'll focus on the 70's and 80's, because, well, that's mostly all I have from Rush, but it'll be heartfelt and I think that's the important thing.

[NogbadTheBad]

Accord to Peart his major influences were Moon, Rich, Baker, Krupa, Mitchell, Giles, Bruford, Collins, Copeland, Bozzio. Palmer does appear in the influences list amongst many others but not as a major influence.

[Paulrus]

What kind of attention? Seems quite complimentary and genuine to me, although I suppose people's feathers will get ruffled at the originality comment.

I'd bet NP would have killed to have CP's traditional grip mastery. And his snare technique. But there's no doubt in my mind that CP is seeing all these tributes and thinking "What am I, chopped liver?" Especially as part of the generation of bands that preceded Rush's generation and actually invented the genre Rush then took to a different place.

[Steve F.]

But there's no doubt in my mind that CP is seeing all these tributes and thinking "What am I, chopped liver?"

I’m sorry, but compared to Neil, Carl is absolutely chopped liver.

[dropforge]

I’m sorry, but compared to Neil, Carl is absolutely chopped liver.

I'm not trying to start anything, because I like Carl, too, but on the old (defunct) ELP fan forum, the die-hards were convinced Carl was the best ever. Neil? Imitator. You couldn't even discuss it.

[dropforge]

I'd bet NP would have killed to have CP's traditional grip mastery. And his snare technique. But there's no doubt in my mind that CP is seeing all these tributes and thinking "What am I, chopped liver?" Especially as part of the generation of bands that preceded Rush's generation and actually invented the genre Rush then took to a different place.

If that's the case, I'm sure there are plenty of reminders that ELP was huge in the '70s. Carl was very young, years younger than Neil, when ELP got big.

[Steve F.]

I'm not trying to start anything, because I like Carl, too, but on the old (defunct) ELP fan forum, the die-hards were convinced Carl was the best ever. Neil? Imitator. You couldn't even discuss it.

I like Carl too, but he isn’t and, IMO, never was, on Neil’s level. Again, IMO.

And again, IMO, he didn’t aspire to be. Who took lessons from other drummers, even when they were hugely famous?? NOT Carl, to the best of my knowledge.

[SteveSly]

Neil's book "Ghost Rider" is en route to me - looking forward to reading it.

It is a good read. I have enjoyed all of Neil's books, but "Ghost Rider" is probably his most personal and I would say his best.

[mozo-pg]

It is a good read. I have enjoyed all of Neil's books, but "Ghost Rider" is probably his most personal and I would say his best.

I liked it too but it's heartwrenching.

[Gizmotron]

Yup; its the place to start.
They are all very worthwhile.

I have them all except for Travelling Music. But I just ordered that to complete my collection.

In many ways, his least-known book is my favorite. It was his first. It covers his bicycle tour in Africa.