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Neil pens tribute to Buddy Rich on his upcoming 100th Birthday


Jag2112
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It's been a while since we've seen or heard from Neil, so it was great to see that he recently penned a tribute to Buddy Rich for Rhythm Magazine.

 

You can read all about it at this link: http://news.cygnus-x1.net/2017/09/neil-peart-pens-100th-birthday-tribute.html

 

Let's hope this is the first of more writings from Neil...

 

John

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He died 30 years ago!

 

Neil died 30 years ago? So who's playing drums then, Paul McCartney?

...wait a sec...

Shhh. It's been a Neil Peart lookalike the whole time. There's clues about Neil's death in the lyrics and album covers.

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Page 38 of Traveling Music: Playing Back the Soundtrack to My Life and Times

 

Buddy and Mel's album, Together Again - For the First Time, was originally made as a direct-to-disc recording in the late '70s, shortcutting the analog technology of those days. It had been considered an "audiophile" product, for there was no tape involved, and thus no tape noise, with the aim of producing the cleanest, most dynamic sound possible. The mix went straight to the cutting lathe, and no edits or overdubs were possible, so the band had to play an entire side of the LP in one take, as near perfect as humanly possible.

 

I once talked with a recording engineer who worked on the Buddy and Mel project, and he told me that when an error marred one of the tunes, the producer stopped the band and instructed them to go "back to the top." Some of the musicians went back to the top of the song, and some remembered to start at the top of the side, and this apparently caused a hilarious "train wreck." (A musicians term for when the players get out of sync with each other, especially terrifying when it happened onstage.)

 

Mel himself had written the intricate and accomplished arrangements for the album, with the exception of the tour-de-force on "Blues in the Night," arranged by Marty Paich (father of David Paich, from the band Toto), which featured a brief solo from Buddy that was blistering, highly technical, and yet sublimely musical - in short, a summation of Buddy himself. For anyone who thought Buddy was only about pyrotechnical solos and driving swing, they should listen to his sensitive performance with wire brushes on a lovely rendition of "Here's That Rainy Day," even mimicking the patter of raindrops in a kind of musical onomatopoeia, and showing yet another facet of his consummate musicianship.

 

Mel sang wonderfully well, too (I particularly love his delivery of my favorite Paul Williams song, "I Won't Last A Day without You"), and the guest soloist on alto sax, Phil Woods, was poetic and kinetic, like swallows in flight. When you listened to the overall performances, and considered that every one of the musicians had to play perfectly through a whole side's worth of complication material, you had to be impressed. Most importantly, though, it was great music, and a testament to Buddy's excellence as a musician.

Edited by RushFanForever
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Just checked out the above Buddy Rich and a couple more on YT and obvs he pretty awesome but reminded me what Neil had, which was just the 'Rush' factor wasn't it.

 

You listen to Al's guitar you know it's Rush, similarly Ged's bass, Ged's keyboards - you know they Rush when you hear them. You listen to Neil's percussion, distinctively Rush.

 

There can't be many, if any other bands at all, where every single element of them so distinctively represent that particular band. Even Ged's voice does the same thing, it's crazy. You can make an argument to say even Neil's lyrics so uniquely Rush.

 

We need another album :)

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It's been a while since we've seen or heard from Neil, so it was great to see that he recently penned a tribute to Buddy Rich for Rhythm Magazine.

 

You can read all about it at this link: http://news.cygnus-x...ay-tribute.html

 

Let's hope this is the first of more writings from Neil...

 

John

 

"The writer stares with glassy eyes

Defines the empty page

His beard is white, his face is lined

And streaked with tears of rage

 

Thirty years how the words would flow

With passion and percision

But now his mind is dark and dulled

By sickness and indecision"

 

 

Neil wrote this decades ago to represent himself in today's reality. Neil is done.

 

Yawn Of The Dead Poet's Society

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Gosh, Neil's already 100? Time needs to stand still man

He died 30 years ago!

He died 30 years ago!

 

Neil died 30 years ago? So who's playing drums then, Paul McCartney?

...wait a sec...

 

:P

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Neils performance on Burning For Buddy was very shoddy!

 

Is that pronounced “shitty”? :P

 

The performance was very high-school, and then trotting out the Rush drum solo wasn’t a good move. He should’ve keep it sweet and simple, but no, there had to be a double-bass pedal. :wtf: :LOL:

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