Rush
The Canadian group Rush are perhaps one of the nearest thing to gods for me, and I followed them from around age 16 onwards.
If you don’t know their music, there’s a fabulous back catalogue to explore. Their music and ethos exists outside of fashion and shallowness. – JC
Neil Peart (of Rush)
The late Neil Peart was an insanely talented, driven, committed and hugely influential musician. He lived his life to the maximum in terms of packing so much into it.His “what is the best thing I can do today” attitude has always been inspiring to me. – JC
Letter to The Telegraph
I make a deliberate point of reading left-leaning, right-leaning and centrist news media, as I find it useful in forming a balanced view of the topics of the day.
When Rush’s drummer, percussionist and lyricist died in January 2020, the Telegraph seemed not to have noticed the passing of one of the most talented, revered and iconic musicians of our times in that they hadn’t published an obituary for him. I felt compelled to write to them, to point out this glaring omission. Here it is;
23/01/20
To the Telegraph Editorial Team,
I was busy with many things this New Year, and it would have been very easy for me to be “simply annoyed and then letting the feelings subside” rather than finding the time to write to you about the reasons for that annoyance; it relates to an omission from the Telegraph, I couldn’t let this one pass…
The question is…
Where Was Neil Peart’s Obituary?
Neil Peart OC (Order of Canada) 12th September 1952 – 7th January 2020
The supremely talented, hugely influential and inspiring musician Neil Peart, who made his name as the drummer/percussionist and lyricist for the Canadian rock band Rush sadly died of brain cancer on the 7th January 2020 in California. He was 67.
The lack of an obituary in the online Telegraph (and presumably the printed version too) in the days that followed his passing was a huge omission, only somewhat “compensated for” in a decent article about Rush that appeared a number of days later mentioning his death (on the 14th January), but it wasn’t an obituary as I believe there should have been. If this was because you “aren’t on that grapevine”, then I think as a news outlet you should be. If there was a conscious decision not to commission an obituary for this unique man, I could only hope it was because the editorial team were unaware of his huge influence. For any other reason, it would be a disgrace.
During the days after Peart’s death (in the period between the 10th and 23rd January), the Telegraph published obituaries for Irving Burgie, Bram Gay, Barry Tuckwell and Iain Sutherland, important, skilled and respected musicians for sure in their own fields and niche’s, but none were close in terms of influence to that of Neil Peart.
Plenty of journalists and critics will tell you about musicians who are influential, and in many cases, they surely are to greater or lesser extents, but then there’s those that really and truly are – like David Bowie, like Miles Davis, like Allan Holdsworth, like Robert Smith, Frank Zappa and John Lennon to name but a few. Like them, Neil Peart belonged amongst the absolute greats of music and musical influence, regardless of one’s personal taste and preferences of genre. If in any doubt about this, check out the huge global outpouring of love and respect for this most singular of musicians, and look back at the many (documented) achievements of his life.
In actual fact, his influence extended way beyond the world of drumming in which he made his name. He became a person that could inspire others to live a full life, packed with creativity, exploration, enquiry, discovery, erudition and lifelong learning. He wanted ““to be good, not famous” but became both. Over his career spanning 40 years there were great albums, sold out tours, drum clinics, instruction videos, books, features and awards. Together with his bandmates they became hugely successful, but in their own way and on their own terms.
When the sad time comes for his bandmates Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee to leave this world, please don’t make the same mistake of not recognising and respecting them, their influence and the importance of their body of work.
Peart (and co-author Kevin J Anderson) wrote in their book Clockwork Lives that “Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Others are epics.”
His own life was most certainly one of epic proportions and deserves the utmost of respect.
The Telegraph failed on this occasion.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Cuff
Letter to Uncut
In terms of reading music publications, I see them as a “necessary evil” in order to keep abreast of both new music and past recordings and artiststhat I may have missed.
I do this despite their frequent proneness to “hipness” and “band-wagon jumping”, and the personal biases and hatchet-jobs expressed by some their scribes.
As with my letter to the Telegraph about the passing of Neil Peart, I felt Uncut’s paltry paragraph noting his passing was grossly inadequate in terms of his influence as a musician. Here it is;
18/02/20
SUBJECT: NEIL PEART – Not Fade Away
To the Uncut Editorial Team,
Neil Peart OC
OC (Order of Canada) 12th September 1952 – 7th January 2020
I received my subscription copy of Uncut on the 17th February, and whilst eating my tea that same evening, I had a skim through the magazine. On the “Not Fade Away” pages, you had rightly included the passing of Neil Peart, but the life and achievements of this hugely important and revered musician was covered in a single paragraph. It just doesn’t seem right.
Peart was a dedicated, supremely talented, hugely influential and inspiring musician, who made his name as the drummer/percussionist and lyricist for the Canadian rock band Rush. He sadly died of brain cancer on the 7th January 2020 in California aged 67.
Plenty of people will tell you about musicians who are influential, and in many cases, they surely are to greater or lesser extents, but then there’s those that really and truly are – like David Bowie, Miles Davis, Allan Holdsworth, Robert Smith, Frank Zappa and John Lennon to name but a few. Like them, Neil Peart belonged amongst the absolute greats of music and musical influence, regardless of one’s personal taste and preferences of genre. If in any doubt about this, check out the huge global outpouring of love and respect for him that continues to this day, and look back at the many (documented) achievements of his life.
In actual fact, his influence extended way beyond the world of drumming in which he made his name. He became a person that could inspire others to live a full life, packed with creativity, exploration, enquiry, discovery, erudition and lifelong learning. He wanted “to be good, not famous” but became both. Over his career spanning over 40 years there were great albums, sold out tours, drum clinics, concert videos, instruction videos, documentaries, books, magazine features, travelogues and numerous awards. Together with his bandmates huge success was achieved, but they did it in their own way and on their own terms.
When the sad time comes for Peart’s bandmates Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee to leave this world, please don’t make the same mistake of not recognising and respecting them enough, their massive influence and the importance of their body of work.
Peart (and co-author Kevin J Anderson) wrote in their book Clockwork Lives that “Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Others are epics.”
His own life was most certainly one of epic proportions and deserves the utmost of respect.
Some extensive and respectful coverage of Rush and Neil Peart would seem appropriate to me, and doubtless to other subscribers and readers of Uncut Magazine.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Cuff
Warminster, Wiltshire
Cat’s Eyes
An interesting (occasional) collaboration led by Faris Badwan (of the Horrors) and classical singer Rachel Zeffira, backed by a full band.
We saw them at the Lantern in Bristol and enjoyed the unusual combination of influences which worked surprisingly well. – JC
Albert Lee
Though I’m not a massive devotee of what is broadly termed “Country” music, I jumped at the chance of seeing the legendary guitarist Albert Lee, which I attended with my guitar tutor/mentor Al Summers in Bristol.
Despite advancing years, he’d clearly lost none of his fluency and technique as he rattled through some breakneck-speed versions of his music.
Very glad I attended, and experiencing this kind of music in a live setting is certainly the best way of doing it. – JC
Thurston Moore
Former Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore is now a solo artist, and really worth catching live if the opportunity presents itself.
I described the performance I witnessed as “alt rock with controlled explosions”. – JC
Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson and his excellent band achieved the best sound I’d ever heard at the Colston Hall in Bristol (the venue has since been redeveloped and renamed as the Bristol Beacon).
Lemmy from Motorhead and David Bowie had recently passed away, and during the show Wilson spoke at length about both them, and their influence on music.
Still on that topic, we witnessed the band perform an excellent version of “Space Oddity” as a tribute to Bowie. – JC
Arun Ghosh
Amanda and I really enjoyed catching jazz clarinetist Ghosh with his band at the Lantern in Bristol.
You could tell that it was really “happening” for them that night, and positive energy poured from the stage. It lasted with me for days afterwards.– JC
Allan Holdsworth
Though beyond categorisation in my head, guitarist and guitar-synthesist, Allan Holdsworth might often be labelled as a jazz rock/jazz fusion musician.
In my view, he was beyond all that; a musical explorer of epic proportions who had a unique musical intelligence so rare, it probably doesn’t exist anywhere else in the known universe. – JC
Derek Bailey
Guitarist Derek Bailey was a leading light and inspirational figure in the world of free improvisation and avant-garde jazz.
For those seeking to hear musicians with different mindsets, its’ worth checking out Bailey. His work challenges even the most broadminded of listeners. – JC
Nils PetterMolvaer
The trumpet might seem like an instrument of the past to some people, one that will die a slow death of less and less players learning it, whilst current players drop by the wayside.
Attending a performance by Molvaer might change that, as he re-energises the instrument using effects whilst being backed by different and original sounding bands and ensembles.
Old instruments can have good futures too, provided someone (like Molvaer) is prepared to try something different with them.– JC
James “Blood” Ulmer
Seeing avant-garde bluesman James “Blood” Ulmer was a great treat for me at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club.
I think those who attended the show to “say they’d been to Ronnie Scotts” rather than specifically to see him perform found the show a bit challenging! – JC
Steve Gadd
The thing I remembered most of all about attending a show led by master drummer Steve Gadd was that I was hearing more than I was seeing whilst I watched him, so subtle and economical were his movements. It’s quite astonishing to behold. – JC
King Crimson
Led and steered through many incarnations since the late 1960’s by guitarist Robert Fripp, King Crimson shows what a true “progressive” rock band should be. In other words, constantly moving forwards and yes, progressing.– JC
The Flaming Lips
I once attended at Flaming Lips show at The Dome in Brighton.
It was like being in an adult version of a child’s soft play centre, with balloons floating, zany and trippy costumes galore and frontman Wayne Coyne zorbing over the crowd and riding through the stalls on the back of a unicorn. Fabulous stuff!. – JC
Frank Zappa
Zappa taught me that music could be both funny and satirical, as well as serious.
As a young man, major influences on Zappa included both Edgard Varese (avant-garde classical composer) and Johnny “Guitar” Watson.
Their influences can be heard in the gigantic body of work he subsequently produced.
I never had the opportunity to see him perform, but I was able to see the “Zappa Plays Zappa” performances led Zappa’s son Dweezil Zappa. – JC