The time is now again: Spotlight on Rush · May 24, 10:16 PM by Don
In 2003, I found a Rush fan site titled Freedom of Music (now defunct) which hosted a generous selection of Rush rarities, including an mp3 of the band’s first a-side, a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” (The b-side was an original titled “Can’t Fight It.”) Buddy Holly? It was the last thing I’d expect Rush to play, much less be the band’s first single. But it definitely rocks; it’s fun to hear Rush be so loose.
mp3: Rush – Not Fade Away [Buddy Holly cover] :: from the “Not Fade Away” b/w “Can’t Fight It” single, the band’s first release (1973)
Guitarist Alex Lifeson elaborates on the band’s first single in a 1985 interview:
“...‘Not Fade Away.’ Actually, not too many people have that. That was obviously a very limited run of records. And that particular record was done with the original producer David Stock, who produced the first album in about two hours and it sounded like it was done in maybe two or three minutes. We just did a version of it that sounded good. It was real powerful. Nothing like the Rolling Stones version or the original version. It was a lot more powerful and it was a lot of fun to play. Playing the bars, it was a song that always went over really well. I think we used to close with it or we used to close a set with it.”
mp3: Rush – The Analog Kid :: from Signals (1982)
“The Analog Kid” is my favorite Rush song. An airy rocker, it captures nicely the feeling of young love on a summer day. In his book, Roadshow, drummer/lyricist Neil Peart shares the origin of the song’s lyrics:
“The summer before I turned fifteen, my family camped outside Montreal to visit the World’s Fair, Expo ’67, and at the campground, I met a girl from Ohio. Her father was extremely watchful (warning her that Canadian boys had ‘Roman hands and Russian fingers’), and we never even kissed, but I fell hopelessly in fourteen-year-old love… I always remembered her (‘the fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs’ in the song ‘The Analog Kid’).”
mp3: Rush – Ceiling Unlimited :: from Vapor Trails (2002)
Musically, “Ceiling Unlimited” sounds like, for lack of a better term, indie/alternative rock. Well, Rush’s version of it. Peart contrasts verses about violence and vanity with the unflagging optimism of the chorus. The way Geddy Lee sings “ceiling,” emphasizing the long “e” sound buried in the second syllable, assonating with the long “e” in the first syllable, gives the song an insistent quality that sells it perfectly.
I’ll end this post with a fiercely rendered punk take on the pre-Peart staple, “Working Man,” by the band Anger.
mp3: Anger – Working Man [Rush cover] :: from Juvenile Anthems (1997)
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Songs in the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format are offered for a limited time only. Songs that are no longer downloadable from Timedoor can be streamed for several weeks courtesy of Hype Machine’s Timedoor Pop-up Flash Player. Dead mp3 links take you to the top of page one.
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Greetings again!
Great post!
I especially enjoyed your reasons for choosing each song. Props!
— Casey May 25, 05:21 PM #