The bassist Geddy Lee says “blows me away”
You can count the number of genuinely great rock bassists on both hands, showing just how remarkable of an achievement it is to be a master of the instrument. While Paul McCartney is probably the first that springs to mind for most people, I’d wager that the second spot goes to Rush legend Geddy Lee.
A distinctive player, Geddy Lee’s locomoting lines gave Rush’s music an extra touch of dynamism and proved to be a necessary middle ground between the searing licks of guitarist Alex Lifeson and the monumental rhythmic structures assembled by their late drummer, Neil Peart. Whether it be ‘YYZ’, ‘La Villa Strangiato’ or ‘New World Man’, the bespectacled maestro has laid down many highlights on the four-string.
Explaining how he came to pick up the instrument, Geddy Lee told Rolling Stone in 2020: “Back in my day, nobody chose to be the bass player. You were always a guitarist, and somebody said, ‘Well, we need a bass player,’ so they had a vote, and you became the bass player. That’s how I became a bass player: I was voted in”.
Despite his reluctance, Geddy Lee took to the instrument like the proverbial duck to water. Unsurprisingly, he was shown the way by a man who also fuses driving notes with a funk twist, Paul McCartney. It isn’t just the Liverpudlian that Lee has expressed his love for, though. Over the years, he has also cited the brilliance of Motown pioneer James Jamerson and The Who’s very own John Entwistle. A fan of the most distinctive players, he has always kept his finger on the pulse regarding the instrument.
One man he has regularly praised is American jazz fusion bassist Jeff Berlin, a member of Bill Bruford’s outfit, Bruford. When at the peak of his powers in 1980, Lee sat down with Guitar Player and was asked to name his favourite bassists of the day. In response, he outlined how Berlin was his favourite player and how his work on that year’s Gradually Going Tornado by Bruford “blows me away”.
He said: “I really like Jeff Berlin-he’s about my favourite right now. His playing on Gradually Going Tornado [by Bruford, Polydor, 1- 6261] blows me away. I listen to Jaco Pastor- ius, and Chris Squire is still a big thing for me. I also like Percy Jones, the bass player of Brand X. He’s great.”
Years later, Geddy Lee still held a special place in his heart for Berlin. When speaking to Global Bass in 2000, he was pressed to name the players who took his “breath away”. While Primus’ Les Claypool was the central figure of the comment, Lee was quick to mention how Jeff Berlin still had it: “Well, certainly there is the whole ‘old school’ of them who were the bass players set in my mind. John Entwistle, Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, and Jack Bruce. These days, I think Les Claypool is a brilliant bassist, of course Jeff Berlin is still out there and playing… he’s a remarkable talent.”
Watch Jeff Berlin in action below.
