The first band Geddy Lee was in awe of
No member of Rush could claim to be a snob about any particular kind of music. Although they would pioneer the sounds of progressive rock throughout the 1970s, the Canadian power trio were known for pulling from every genre they could get their hands on, whether it was the sounds of reggae a la The Police or the sonic force heard from groups like Black Sabbath. While Geddy Lee continued to maintain a wealth of different influences, he admitted that one band left him stunned when he heard them for the first time.
As Rush was first gelling as a group, Lee got his musical upbringing from the sounds of the British Invasion. Even though many of Rush’s clearest inspirations would be seen in the sounds of outfits like Yes and Genesis, Lee got his first understanding of a walking bass progression when listening to bands such as The Rolling Stones.
While Lee would praise those foundational parts of his bass tone, the blues were about to overtake the airwaves. Coming from the American blues scene, many aspiring British musicians were sculpting songs that dealt with the heavier side of rock, with Cream being the clearest example of where the genre could go.
Even though Cream found its feet in bands like The Yardbirds, it paved the way for another rock giant when guitarist Jimmy Page ditched the group to form Led Zeppelin. Taking the crux of the blues he had learned years before, Page would implement different unorthodox sounds into his arsenal, creating hymns of doom across songs like ‘Good Times Bad Times’ and ‘Dazed and Confused’.
While they were volcanic on record, it wasn’t until they hit the stage that fans got a true taste of their power. Despite being reined in throughout the album, the band had the energy of a freight train whenever they started performing together, leading to the crowds becoming unruly, watching the outfit plough through old blues standards and original songs.
When getting a taste for Zeppelin, Lee talked about being taken aback by just how powerful they were on record, recounting in his biography, “We grabbed one, headed home and laid it on my turntable. I can still remember the three of us sitting there on the bed in utter awe, listening to the heaviosity of ‘Good Times Bad Times’, the fire of ‘Communication Breakdown’, and oh, that drum sound!”.
Once the group started to put their own outfit together with original drummer John Rutsey, many of their original compositions also fit within the realm of Led Zeppelin. Compared to where they would go next, Rush’s self-titled debut had more than a few songs indebted to Zeppelin’s playbook, from the odes to the rock and roll lifestyle like ‘Need Some Love’ to Alex Lifeson’s punishing guitar solo on ‘Working Man’.
Then again, this was just the beginning of Rush becoming a sonic tour de force, turning in one sonic juggernaut after another whenever they went into the studio on albums like Hemispheres and Fly By Night. While artists like Yes may have had a more evident influence on Rush’s sound, it was Zeppelin who gave the band the will to explore.
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