I have been besieged with requests to post drummers’ tributes to Neil who died last week. I will post them as comments underneath this article. Please write your own remembrances and memories in the comments.
Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist of Rush, author, father, husband, seeker, freethinker, and inspiration to millions of drummers, died last week. This news came to me shortly after the news of my brother-in-law’s death two days after Christmas. Leland Smith, my sister Priscilla’s husband, fell ill and died in the hospital within three weeks. He was only 62, a successful lawyer in Madison, Mississippi. He was a devoted family man, funny, smart and had many, many friends. Leland and I were never close, as in buddies who give each other big hugs, but we enjoyed each other’s company and I loved him. I didn’t realize how much I loved and respected him until after his death. I didn’t realize it until his death hit me so hard and I cried for weeks for my sister. I’m still upset about it. My sister, nephew, and niece have been very brave. I also was recently a pallbearer for my old friend David Turner’s funeral. He was a career sound engineer for many music stars and I rode on tour buses with him to concert gigs. He died in a bus crash. There has been too much death in my little world lately. Too many funerals.
I also didn’t realize how much I loved Neil Peart’s drumming and writing and how much I admired him as a man until now, after his death. I cried about his death too. Hell, I’m crying while I write this article. I have spent a month contemplating my own mortality.
I was not a Rush fanatic. I liked their music, but I was not into progressive rock per se when they reached their prominence. I had grown up musically in the sixties and early seventies and was into jazz and fusion and big band by the time Rush appeared on the scene. I saw them in 2010 on the Snakes and Arrows tour, on a day off from touring with Poco. It is the best rock show I ever experienced; the music, the virtuosity, the production, the films, the self effacing humor. I caught myself playing air drums with the rest of the crowd. I never do that. I could go on and on. I never played a Rush song on stage, and I never memorized any of Neil’s parts but I transcribed many of his drum parts for many of my students who wanted to play Tom Sawyer, YYZ and other popular and iconic Rush songs. In 1985 my former student, Keith Carlock, told me that he had learned everything Neil Peart had recorded and was playing in a Rush Tribute band…in his first lesson with me…at the age of 14. Keith was so inspired by Neil Peart that he reached that same pinnacle of fame and success in the drumming world. It doesn’t matter whether you were into Neil or Rush. What should matter to all drummers is that Neil achieved that which many of us dreamed of: playing in a great famous band, that never breaks up, recording major selling albums, touring the world, and being admired for developing his own style of drumming which influenced and inspired so many drummers. And, all without “selling out”.
I have read bits and pieces of Neil’s books in the press and watched his video, A Work in Progress; Anatomy of A Drum Solo. I read bits and pieces of his lyrics, and knew a little about his libertarian and freethinker philosophy (kindred soul here), but I never read one of his books from beginning to end. So, in the spirit of honoring someone in my profession who was so dedicated to his vision that he climbed to the top the hard way and stayed there, I have decided not to blather on about what little I know about him. There are people who know him personally and fans who know his drumming better than I do who can write about him better than I. Instead, I am going to study Neil Peart’s works. Not his drumming, but his writing; get inside his head; get some inspiration from the man. That was his stated goal in life: to inspire people. I ordered his book “Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road” for my Kindle and started reading it this week. I’m hooked already. It’s about how he dealt with the tragic deaths of his first wife and daughter on a 55,000 mile long solo motorcycle journey. He was a great writer. He did not mince words.
I do read a lot. I’m always reading at least two books at the same time. Neil read a lot and wrote a lot. I envy his writing talent. My brother in law, Leland, was a voracious reader also. David Turner was a reader, and extremely smart. They were all three intellectuals in their own ways. I plan to read everything that Neil Peart wrote in honor of Neil and Leland and David, who all left too soon.
Pictured below in happier moments: Neil Peart, Leland and Priscilla Smith, and David Turner.
Geddy Lee and Rush management suggested to make a donation to a cancer charity of choice to honor Neil’s memory. Neil appreciated the work that DrumsForCures does - Drumstrong.org - Raising awareness and funds in support of cancer survivorship, education and research globally .. through Rhythm Drumming to BEAT cancer.