“It wasn’t really about being in a rock band”: The challenge Alex Lifeson had playing with Rush
Although Geddy Lee and Neil Peart weren’t technically original members of Rush, their arrivals marked a significant upheaval in the band’s trajectory. Suddenly, this was a group with more longevity than perhaps any others out there, thanks to Peart’s drumming prowess and Lee’s ability to deliver guitar playing that seemed to hold its own melodic charm.
As a founding member, guitarist Alex Lifeson watched and experienced such a transformation first-hand, all while focusing on his own technical prowess as it developed from mere appreciation and inspiration into taking on a world of its own. Growing up studying figures like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page meant that he quickly learned who was easy to replicate and who wasn’t.
As he put it during an interview with Vintage Guitar in 2011, Page was my “absolute guitar hero”, but he also appreciated Steve Hackett for “the way he worked melodies into the context of the music”. He also explained how his development centred around simplicity in the early days: “Clapton’s solos seemed a little easier and more approachable,” he said. “I remember sitting at my record player and moving the needle back and forth to get the solo in ‘Spoonful.’ But there was nothing I could do with Hendrix.”
For a band like Rush, which holds an ethos that Lee once summarised as “more is more”, being a guitarist requires not just adeptness but loyalty and the ability to keep up. Complexity is key in this arena, and exploding on stage, so to speak, was their entire appeal. For Lee, the bass guitar wasn’t just a necessary piece to the puzzle; it was an integral part that had the power to facilitate entire melodies.
Lee had become enamoured with the bass guitar from an early age, finding inspiration in performers like Roy Orbison, particularly his song ‘Pretty Woman’ and the “tone of the guitar” in the song which “stood out” to him, making him notice the intricacy of such an instrument for the first time. “It changed my life,” the musician said, recalling the first time he played guitar as a child, “that stupid little guitar.”
What started as a more lighthearted interest soon became a clear calling, and Lee became transfixed with the entire art form more than anything he had ever enjoyed growing up, mostly because of how much it gave him a sense of belonging. As Lifeson recalled, “Right from the very beginning, [Lee] was always more of a focused musician. It wasn’t really about being in a rock band; he always set a high standard for his own playing.”
In fact, his immense technicality and loyalty to his craft made Lifeson feel challenged in his own contributions, mostly because Lee “worked hard on every aspect of being a musician.” As the guitarist put it: “One of the challenging things for me, as a guitarist playing with him, and [Peart], for that matter, is how active they’ve always been.”
Instead of growing frustrated at their commitment, however, Lifeson was astounded. In his own words: “It’s amazing. The little melodies that he incorporates and the little things that he’s doing that a lot of other bass players perhaps don’t do [is amazing].” Every member of Rush might be extraordinary in their own right and keep to their own high standards, but, in the beginning, it was their willingness that led the way for them to become the leaders of an entire genre.
