The show that changed how Geddy Lee thought about music
The entire concept behind Rush’s music was to move away from the norms of radio-rock. While their label initially wanted them to be in the more radio-friendly mould as artists like Bad Company, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart were determined to make their brand of progressive rock no matter what the cost, leading to massive sales of grand projects like 2112 and Moving Pictures. Even though many iconic bands were starting around the same time as Rush, one stood out above all the rest in Lee’s musical taste.
When looking at his setup, though, Lee was one of the first of his kind to attack the bass like he did. As opposed to making songs that were about providing a bed for the guitars to lay on, Lee would smack his bass with ferocity on every track, creating a distinct smacking sound whenever his fingers hit the body of the bass.
While there were more than a few elements of his sound that were indicative of the bluesy tropes of groups that came before him, Lee always had his ear close to the ground on other brands of rock music. As the group started becoming more prevalent in the progressive scene, Lee and Lifeson would occasionally find themselves out of step with original drummer John Rutsey.
Amid the other extravagant bands coming out of England, like The Who, the duo were fascinated by what acts like Pink Floyd and Genesis were doing, creating songs that didn’t have to cater to a set runtime to get their point across. As Lee played hooky at school, he remembered that his world was changed when he heard Yes for the first time.
While far from the first progressive rock band, Lee remembered being warped by hearing the album Time and a Word for the first time, with songs like ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ blowing him away the first time he heard it. Even though the record was already a case study in rock and roll talent, Lee would be dumbfounded when watching the band play live a few months later.
As he would recall when inducting the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “It was like nothing that I had ever seen before. It was actually profound. It’s not overstating things to say that it changed the way that I played and listened to music forever. The music of Yes is still echoing down through the years, showing me that music truly is a continuum.”
Outside of the musical skill, it was the way the band reached for new influences that resonated with Lee as well. For all the ground they covered, working with everything from sambas to classical music, Rush would be inspired to take things even further with their music, whether that was working with synthesisers or Neil Peart creating brilliant pieces of prose to suit the music Lee and Lifeson put together.
While Lee’s bass style is all his own, it’s easy to see the influence of Chris Squire on his playing as well, being one of the main reasons he played a signature Rickenbacker bass whenever he took to the stage. Despite the massive influence from Squire, Lee would also get the opportunity for his childhood dreams to come full circle, eventually playing the signature bassline in ‘Roundabout’ at the Hall of Fame alongside the surviving members of the band.
