Roadcrew

CVAK Glad you posted as you point out the few times drugs have been mentioned by Rush themselves Brutus ( not his real name ) was arrested in the US for the third time when Neil was writing the " Letters to Brutus " referred to in Ghost Rider. He in fact was treated as a three time loser, but managed to get repatriated to Canada to serve his sentence. Once there he only did a few more months as Canada don't have make their citizens complete any sentence given by US courts. I have a very close friend currently serving 30 years for cocaine importation here in England. He is Irish, and both countries have agreed to let him return to Ireland to finish that sentence. Hopefully he will then get an early release. Anyone interested Google Brian Brendan Wright to read a remarkable story. Brian rings me weekly, and how he sounds normal with that amount of jail time is beyond me.

Cheers, everyone, looks like we have sorted the problem/misunderstanding. Nice to speak to you all, hope this has left you satisfied, and not even more confused. Think all has been covered so, take care, and thanks for the chats. Peter Brockbank ( Legends of Brocklehurst ) PS In case you are wondering where the Brocklehurst comes from, when I was roadie for English Rose ( The band Neil was in London in 1971 ) I got various versions of my surname including being called Brocklehurst by Robin, and Neil. When Neil was editing my earlier roadie stories he named them Legends of Brocklehurst. PB

You can't see the reference to drugs as I removed it when I realized people were upset at such a suggestion. Save you skimming through the blog again ! Prime Mover has covered the salient points, yet again, very well. Having met all three of your heroes, both through work, and socially, my take would be this. Neil. Obviously I knew him long before he achieved fame in Rush. Neil hasn't really changed. Friendly, humerous, mainly black, and white, not many grey areas, very loyal, and generous, but doesn't suffer fools. Geddy. Took longer for me to be accepted as he was very suspicous of my past, but once I was, I found Geddy to have a great sense of humour, says what he thinks. He is a more private person than Alex. I didn't spend a lot of time with him on my own but I guess he doesn't suffer fools either. Alex. Alex is exactly what you would expect. Tremendous fun, always laughing, makes you feel very welcome. He was the one who would always come over if I was in a bar, and tell me to join him. I enjoyed every minute I spent in his company, and though a few times we had a good drink, I never saw him worse for wear, or anything but polite, hilarious, but totally in control. Personally I think it is a mistake to have preconceived ideas about anyone, whether they are famous or not. If you do meet them, make your own mind up, other wise don't have a strong opinion, or you could be very disappointed. In this case accept Rush individually, and collectively, are brilliant musicians, and maybe not worry too much what they are like as people. Remember first, and foremost they are human beings, and like all of us have frailties, make mistakes. Fame is no guarantee of a decent human being, but in the case of Rush I think they all are.

Prime Mover, Cheers for your reply. I totally understand your thoughts, and think it is really the beliefs of most of the Rush fans I know. The first time I met some of the TNMS ( English Rush Site ) members with my son, Mark, we were amazed at their clean cut attitude. I sort of expected there to be evidence of drug taking, or at least some mention of it. When I asked if anyone dabbled, and remember I grew up during the '60s when most people tried something, one guy said, " I have fancied trying some drugs, and visiting a brothel. " Mark who was in his twenties replied, " I suggest you try them together. " The guy just looked at him like he was mad. I have often been let down by people I looked up to when I met them. Sadly you don't have to be a decent person to be a star, whether track, field or music. I do think you are completely correct in your assessment of Alex, Geddy, and Neil. They are all very honest, caring people. But in their business it would have been almost impossible not to have tried something, but of course that wouldn't make them bad people.

My name is Peter Brockbank, and I wrote Legends of Brocklehurst. I joined The Forum when, by accident, I came across this discussion. First I want confirm I did drive NEP on both '88 and '92 legs of the European Tour. I am not some internet wannabe pretending to be someting I am not. Everything I wrote in my story is true as far as my aging memory can tell. I had no idea that the mention of certain matters while visiting Neil in The Savoy Hotel would cause to much distress. After reading comments about that post, I removed the " offending " words. The reason I mentioned that in the first case was to prove Neil is in fact human, not a machine, a lot of you fans have this set idea that he is unfriendly, uncommunicative, and generally is a dour character. I have always maintained, as Chris Lea does in the part he wrote, Neil is a very funny, humane, caring guy. I never could have guessed at your reaction. I really think some of you are very naive when I read your comments. As well as brilliant musicians, do your heroes also have to be paragons of virtue ? No one is saying anyone is a drug addict, over doing various chemical stimulants. It is a fact at certain times all rock groups have indulged. There was no slur meant on anyone's name. If I said I got drunk with one of the band, would that be wrong ? How the fact that one, or all, of Rush have taken drugs, now and then, can alter the way you think about them is amazing, and almost unblievable to me. I can't speak for the USA but over here half the people under 40 ( and plenty over ) are using recreational drugs at leat once a week. The other half can't afford to !. I would be pleased to read your thoughts on this, and will answer any questions.