Geddy Lee is a rock star, thatB次元官网网址檚 undeniable. But heB次元官网网址檚 also a polite Canadian to the core. So itB次元官网网址檚 fitting that the Rush icon picked a not-too-bawdy title for his memoir.
B次元官网网址淢y EffinB次元官网网址� LifeB次元官网网址� is an engrossing tale of a B次元官网网址渃lassic underachieverB次元官网网址� who became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vocalist, bassist, and keyboard player. ItB次元官网网址檚 a great read for anyone interested in the brilliant prog-rock trio or the music scene from the 1970s onward.
LeeB次元官网网址檚 writing is a lot like his bandB次元官网网址檚 songs B次元官网网址� deep, gloriously nerdy, sometimes wandering and wonderfully thoughtful. ItB次元官网网址檚 a 400-page narrative from a perfectionist who calls himself B次元官网网址淢r. Bossypants.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a compulsion to exhaust every possibility to make the perfect record,B次元官网网址� he writes. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want to have to live with errors. Impossible, I know, but whatB次元官网网址檚 the effinB次元官网网址� point of not shooting for the moon?B次元官网网址�
The book is enlivened by photos of scrawled lyric sheets, studio doodles and private emails as Lee traces the rise of a band who faced a pre-MTV landscape, a lack of coast-to-coast progressive radio network or sympathetic critics. One reviewer said he sounded like B次元官网网址渁 guinea pig with an amphetamine habit.B次元官网网址�
Readers will go chronologically as Rush B次元官网网址� including guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart B次元官网网址� go from sleeping on luggage in the back of a rented station wagon to five-star hotels. Along the way there are dubious sartorial choices like kimonos and lots of cocaine.
The band B次元官网网址� considered the patron saints of brainy, technical, ambitious rock B次元官网网址� leans on all kinds of sources, from the sci-fi of Robert. A Heinlein and J.R.R. Tolkien, to Ayn Rand, Rod Serling and Jean-Paul Sartre.
There are hard-won tips for musicians, like never believing any producer who says B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 worry, lads. ItB次元官网网址檒l all be fixed in the mix.B次元官网网址� Lee also advises bands to demand final approval on everything, offer soundchecks and take your wallet onstage. One tip seems universal: B次元官网网址淒o NOT drop psychedelics before an interview.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 a treat to see Lee geek out on audio equipment B次元官网网址� like B次元官网网址渢he JP-8 with its trendy arpeggiator fed by an 808 drum boxB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and later wine. Sipping a glass of 1978 Musigny he writes may be the most rewarding experience heB次元官网网址檚 had.
A private treasure is seeing the photo B次元官网网址� snapped by a friend B次元官网网址� that captured the moment Lee and his future wife Nancy first locked lips. B次元官网网址淗ow many folks can boast a relationship of 50-plus years and still have a photo of their very first kiss?B次元官网网址� he writes.
Lee throws shade at musician Billy Preston and producer Steve Lillywhite but also turns his critical eye on himself B次元官网网址� his neuroses and poor husbanding B次元官网网址� and his band, writing that with the album B次元官网网址淰apor Trails,B次元官网网址� they B次元官网网址渄isappeared up our own asses.B次元官网网址�
One thing to beware of is LeeB次元官网网址檚 modesty, like the time he casually mentions that he became B次元官网网址渂esottedB次元官网网址� by baseball. In actuality, he has a massive collection of baseball memorabilia, including balls signed by the Beatles and Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Lee B次元官网网址� born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib B次元官网网址� was a B次元官网网址渟hy, long-haired, brooding characterB次元官网网址� who grew up in Toronto, born to parents who survived the Holocaust. This is not something he tosses off B次元官网网址� it causes echoes throughout his life.
Chapter 3 B次元官网网址� Lee says you can skip it, but you mustnB次元官网网址檛 B次元官网网址� is a meticulously examination of the horrific paths his parents took into hell, a 40-page indictment of Nazi evil that starts in Poland and ends with his mom rescued at Bergen-Belsen and dad from Dachau. LeeB次元官网网址檚 laser-focus on details is put to astounding use here.
He suspects his earliest vocal style may have been rooted in his childhood B次元官网网址渓istening to the stories of what my parents had endured in the camps, suffering all the bullying and alienation, so that when I did begin to sing it did come rushing out as a screaming banshee.B次元官网网址�
This is a memoir where tragedy seems always around the corner, especially later when bandmate Peart is tortured by loss. The memoir even ends with a scene in a Toronto cemetery where Lee introduces his grandson, Finnian, to the boyB次元官网网址檚 great-great grandfather B次元官网网址� in the ground.
It may be hard in parts but always worth it. ItB次元官网网址檚 an effinB次元官网网址� good read.
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