The drummer that inspired Neil Peart to greatness: “I played along to the radio”
“He’s not even human,” Hollywood actor Jack Black once said while describing the drumming prowess of none other than Neil Peart. When discussing the topic at hand, Peart is often the name that graces the lips of many, not just in terms of the sounds he generated in front of the kit but how he delivered it with unparalleled precision. As Black put it, “Everything was just right on the nuggets”.
Throughout his time with Rush, Peart delivered drum sounds that went far beyond mere rhythmic contribution. Instead, he infused songs with technical adeptness and melodic charm in a way that left many wondering how he ever managed to pull off such a seemingly impossible trait in the first place. For many, Peart wasn’t just a drummer; he was the real deal—a true visionary.
Even more remarkable is the fact that, at first, Peart kept his talent somewhat under wraps, unleashing it at pivotal moments and completely blowing all of his fellow musicians out of the water. As Geddy Lee once recalled, many of his choices just made sense, and it was a wonder why no one had ever achieved such a feat before. Speaking to Beyond the Lighted Stage, Lee said: “A car shows up with this kind of gangly guy. He started doing these drum rolls with his feet, which just blew me away.”
Peart’s drumming wasn’t just about resilience and longevity like much of Rush’s catalogue, it was about calculation in a expert sense; patience in a way that effortlessly lets sounds flow, a steady yet deliberate intricacy that only someone with true artistic capability could pull off. Such a talent leaves many feeling as though Peart set the standard, and many seek to emulate him, and the idea that he would idolise any other just doesn’t make sense.
However, such was the case with Wrecking Crew’s Hal Blaine, who Peart would play along to on the radio, trying to emulate his sound long before he landed on his own. As he described during an interview with Music Radar, “When I was growing up, I played along to the radio, so I played along to Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Association and The Byrds, and I was really playing along to Hal Blaine.”
In fact, for Peart, Blaine was the ultimate virtuoso. His precision and effortless attention to detail while playing the instrument likely influenced him to follow in his footsteps when he crafted his own career some years later. As he put it: “There was another drummer who said that he was shattered to find out that his six favourite drummers were all Hal Blaine!”
Although many others became Peart’s heroes and influenced both his musical tastes and personal approach to creativity, Blaine became a focal point from early on, a significant figure in the development of his own craft. The kind that enabled him to go on and establish his own unique way of playing. The kind that laid the very foundation that led him to become one of the greatest drummers of all time.
