Some stuff you might find interesting:

[Eel Yddeg]

I just got a book entitled The Rush Chronology for Christmas, it is the most comprehensive book about Rush day by day, and it has lots of interesting facts some of you might not know:

 

- Rush were originally called The Lost Cause, with a lineup of Doc Cooper, Alan Grady, Bill Fitzgerald, Alex Lifeson, and John Rutsey. Songs they played included Crossroads, Mr. Soul, Shapes of Things, Louie Louie, For Your Love, and Hungry, all covers. Then they were called the Projection before settlin on Rush.

- "In The Mood" was made all the way back in 1968. A song called "Losing Again" was made at the same time.

- Songs written in 1969 included "Number One", "Keep in Line", "Run Willie Run", "Mike's Idea", and "Tale". In 1970 they wrote "Sing Guitar", "Morning Star", "Margerie", "Feel So Good", "Love Light" and "Garden Road", none of which made an album.

- "Working Man" was first performed as early as 1971, as was "You Can't Fight It". "Slaughterhouse", an unreleased hard rocker about endangered wildlife, was also made.

- Rush recorded their 1972 show at Rochdale College, Toronto, but they are presumed lost :( Other shows were recorded, and also in their basement, but none survived :( Rush's live setlist in 1972 included covers of "For What It's Worth", done as a 20 minute jam, "Spoonful", "Suffragette City", and various Grateful Dead songs, and originals "The Tale", "Margarite", and "Fancy Dancer".

- The original lyrics to the debut songs were rejected. "Not Fade Away" and "You Can't Fight It" would have been on the album, but were replaced by "Finding My Way", "Need Some Love", and "Here Again". Most of the album was recorded in April of 1973, except for those three, recorded in November.

- John Rutsey was in possesion of tapes of early Rush recordings, and Lifeson listened to them in 1988.

 

 

- "Anthem" was made in July 1974, and The riff was played in Neil's audition. The show on September 11, 1974 in Toronto was recorded on the King Biscuit Flower Hour.

- "Rivendell" was written in September 1974, "Making Memories", "Fly By Night", "Beneath, Between, and Behind", and "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" in November. "Best I Can" and "In The End" dated from the Rutsey years. The album was originally going to be called Aurora Borealis.

- The original cassette edition of Caress of Steel had "Didacts and Narpets" in between "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park", and "I Think I'm Going Bald" was after "In The Valley".

- All the songs on 2112 were written on tour with acoustic guitars, as early as September 1975,except "The Twilight Zone", recorded in a day.

- "Xanadu" started being worked on as early as June 1976, and was originally based off of Citizen Kane.

- A promo LP entitled Everything You Listeners Ever Wanted to Hear By Rush- But were Afraid To Play was released in January 1977. Tracklisting of "Fly By Night", "Making Memories", "Bastille Day", "Something For Nothing", "Lakeside Park", "Anthem", "2112 Overture/Temples", "The Twilight Zone", "Best I Can", "Bacchus Plateau", and "In The End".

- "Xanadu" was made in one take.

- "La Villa Strangiato" was written as early as September of 1977, during soundchecks and days off. "Hemispheres" was written in May 1978.

- The 4 shows in May 1979 at the Hammersmith were FILMED and were going to be released as Live in England. The videos for "The Trees", "Circumstances", and "La Villa Strangiato" were recorded there.

- The first song on Permanent Waves written was "Entre Nous", then called "Between Us". It was made in June of 1979. "Uncle Tounouse" was an unreleased instrumental jam recorded on the first day of the sessions, with elements worked into other songs. "The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto. "Different Strings" and "Natural Science" were worked on in September.

- The Hammersmith shows in June 1980 were recorded for a potential live album, but shelved, as were the Newcastle shows on June 12 and 13 and the Manchester show on June 17.

- The first song written for Moving Pictures was "Tom Sawyer", written on July 28, 1980 and called "Louis The Warrior", the first demo was made in August.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Eel Yddeg

[78jazz]

Early Rush doing Spoonful would be sweet to hear!

 

I wonder whatever happened to those tapes Rutsey had?

[Union 5-3992]

- The 4 shows in May 1979 at the Hammersmith were FILMED and were going to be released as Live in England. The videos for "The Trees", "Circumstances", and "La Villa Strangiato" were recorded there.

- The Hammersmith shows in June 1980 were recorded for a potential live album, but shelved, as were the Newcastle shows on June 12 and 13 and the Manchester show on June 17.

Hopefully someone in the band starts to notice their funds are running low and wants to make a quick buck...

[taurus]

I find everything you listed in that post interesting.

 

The tapers yelling "Suffragette City" in that Toronto Massey Hall show makes more sense now.

 

Odd how the Sept 11, 1974 KBFH show hasn't turned up anywhere even in Wolfgang's Vault.

 

The Hemispheres shows being video taped is fantastic news and I hope to dog that they do archival releases of those and the PeW shows.

[treeduck]

I was hoping for...I've discovered that treeduck is God!

[Geddyleegenes]

Hey, that stuff is really interesting.

 

I've got the Caress of Steel cassette with Didacts and Bald on the wrong sides. I remember that really irritated me back when I'd play that tape.

[EagleMoon]

Cool, interesting stuff!

[78jazz]

- The 4 shows in May 1979 at the Hammersmith were FILMED and were going to be released as Live in England. The videos for "The Trees", "Circumstances", and "La Villa Strangiato" were recorded there.

- The Hammersmith shows in June 1980 were recorded for a potential live album, but shelved, as were the Newcastle shows on June 12 and 13 and the Manchester show on June 17.

Hopefully someone in the band starts to notice their funds are running low and wants to make a quick buck...

 

Count me in as another would like to see those 1979 shows.

 

I thought it was not uncommon knowledge on the PeW shows?

[ytserush]

I just got a book entitled The Rush Chronology for Christmas, it is the most comprehensive book about Rush day by day, and it has lots of interesting facts some of you might not know:

 

- Rush were originally called The Lost Cause, with a lineup of Doc Cooper, Alan Grady, Bill Fitzgerald, Alex Lifeson, and John Rutsey. Songs they played included Crossroads, Mr. Soul, Shapes of Things, Louie Louie, For Your Love, and Hungry, all covers. Then they were called the Projection before settlin on Rush.

- "In The Mood" was made all the way back in 1968. A song called "Losing Again" was made at the same time.

- Songs written in 1969 included "Number One", "Keep in Line", "Run Willie Run", "Mike's Idea", and "Tale". In 1970 they wrote "Sing Guitar", "Morning Star", "Margerie", "Feel So Good", "Love Light" and "Garden Road", none of which made an album.

- "Working Man" was first performed as early as 1971, as was "You Can't Fight It". "Slaughterhouse", an unreleased hard rocker about endangered wildlife, was also made.

- Rush recorded their 1972 show at Rochdale College, Toronto, but they are presumed lost :( Other shows were recorded, and also in their basement, but none survived :( Rush's live setlist in 1972 included covers of "For What It's Worth", done as a 20 minute jam, "Spoonful", "Suffragette City", and various Grateful Dead songs, and originals "The Tale", "Margarite", and "Fancy Dancer".

- The original lyrics to the debut songs were rejected. "Not Fade Away" and "You Can't Fight It" would have been on the album, but were replaced by "Finding My Way", "Need Some Love", and "Here Again". Most of the album was recorded in April of 1973, except for those three, recorded in November.

- John Rutsey was in possesion of tapes of early Rush recordings, and Lifeson listened to them in 1988.

 

 

- "Anthem" was made in July 1974, and The riff was played in Neil's audition. The show on September 11, 1974 in Toronto was recorded on the King Biscuit Flower Hour.

- "Rivendell" was written in September 1974, "Making Memories", "Fly By Night", "Beneath, Between, and Behind", and "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" in November. "Best I Can" and "In The End" dated from the Rutsey years. The album was originally going to be called Aurora Borealis.

- The original cassette edition of Caress of Steel had "Didacts and Narpets" in between "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park", and "I Think I'm Going Bald" was after "In The Valley".

- All the songs on 2112 were written on tour with acoustic guitars, as early as September 1975,except "The Twilight Zone", recorded in a day.

- "Xanadu" started being worked on as early as June 1976, and was originally based off of Citizen Kane.

- A promo LP entitled Everything You Listeners Ever Wanted to Hear By Rush- But were Afraid To Play was released in January 1977. Tracklisting of "Fly By Night", "Making Memories", "Bastille Day", "Something For Nothing", "Lakeside Park", "Anthem", "2112 Overture/Temples", "The Twilight Zone", "Best I Can", "Bacchus Plateau", and "In The End".

- "Xanadu" was made in one take.

- "La Villa Strangiato" was written as early as September of 1977, during soundchecks and days off. "Hemispheres" was written in May 1978.

- The 4 shows in May 1979 at the Hammersmith were FILMED and were going to be released as Live in England. The videos for "The Trees", "Circumstances", and "La Villa Strangiato" were recorded there.

- The first song on Permanent Waves written was "Entre Nous", then called "Between Us". It was made in June of 1979. "Uncle Tounouse" was an unreleased instrumental jam recorded on the first day of the sessions, with elements worked into other songs. "The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto. "Different Strings" and "Natural Science" were worked on in September.

- The Hammersmith shows in June 1980 were recorded for a potential live album, but shelved, as were the Newcastle shows on June 12 and 13 and the Manchester show on June 17.

- The first song written for Moving Pictures was "Tom Sawyer", written on July 28, 1980 and called "Louis The Warrior", the first demo was made in August.

 

This is a Top 10 essential Rush book...maybe Top 5. It's pretty comprehensive. Always good when you learn something when you read.

 

Got this when it came out. The author stops in here sometimes for some Q&A.

[thirteen]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Ancient Ways]

I was looking for info on rush appearances in rockline recently and ran across an excerpt from this book of a couple of chapters. I literally spent an hour or two reading. Currently have it on order.

[Lurkst]

Count me in as another would like to see those 1979 shows.

 

I thought it was not uncommon knowledge on the PeW shows?

 

Agree with both points. Going back to the Visions biog it said they'd wanted to release a live set after the PeW UK tour and Cliff Burnstein convinced them to get back into the studio instead. Sterling advice!

 

I wonder what could've happened to the London 79 footage that didn't make the Hemispheres promo films? Come to that, the unseen footage from Montreal 81, Toronto 84 and Birmingham 88 that never made the original cuts?...

 

[Lucas]

"The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto.

 

It exists

[treeduck]

"The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto.

 

It exists

By that point Peart's snobbish persona had almost completely taken over his mind and this Peart couldn't abide a childish "prog" lyric about knights and dragons. So he nixed it. He was probably worried that he was going to be confused with Ronnie James Dio, a heavy metal lyricist that he found laughable.

[Digital Dad]

"The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto.

 

It exists

 

Of course it exists. All of it exists in some form somewhere.

[Eel Yddeg]

Here's some more facts:

- The Camera Eye was the first song to be completed, in August of 1980. Most of the songs were were written in that time, except "Witch Hunt" (September 1980) and "Vital Signs" (October 1980)

- Geddy Lee appeared with Max Webster at their new years show at the Maple Leaf Gardens in 1980.

- "Chemistry" was written in a soundcheck jam in April of 1981.

- Most of their soundchecks have been recorded, as most songs were formed by jams in soundchecks.

- The three nights at the Maple Leaf Gardens in March 1981 were recorded, but didn't make ESL. Geddy Lee had laryngitis on the date the show was recorded.

- "Subdivisions" was made in September 1981, as was "Digital Man". "The Weapon" was made in December of 1981, in a keyboard jam session of the house of Geddy's friend, named "Oscar". "The Analog Kid" came in January 1982, "Losing It" in March 1982, and "Countdown" and "New World Man", working title "Project 3:57" were the last two, in May 1982.

- The first song written for Grace Under Pressure was actually "Between the Wheels", written in August of 1983. "Kid Gloves" and "Afterimage" were written a couple days after, "Red Sector A" and "The Body Electric" were in September of 1983, as were "Distant Early Warning" and "The Enemy Within", and "Red Lenses" was last, written in October 1983.

- During a show at Tuscon Community Center on May 9, 1984, Geddy Lee was struck by a bottle thrown by an audience member.

- The first song written for Power Windows was "The Big Money", written in February 1985. "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon" came the same week, and later that month "Middletown Dreams" and "Grand Designs". "Emotion Detector", "Territories", and "Manhattan Project" were written in March. 60% of the album came from GUP Tour soundcheck jams.

- Before a show at the McNichol's Arena in Denver on February 14, 1986, Alex Lifeson ate at a Morroccan resturaunt, triggering an allergic reaction. He struggled to play during the concert.

- The first song written for Hold Your Fire was "Time Stand Still", from September of 1986. "Second Nature" and "High Water" came soon after, and a week after "Mission", "Open Secrets" and "Turn The Page". "Tai Shan", "Lock and Key", and "Prime Mover" were written in November 1986, and "Force Ten", written in December 1986, was the last.

- The shows at the Great Western Forum in February 1988 were recorded, but not used on Show Of Hands. Show of Hands was going to be called Presto!

- The first song written for Presto was "Show Don't Tell", in January of 1989, with "Available Light" soon after that month. "Hand Over Fist" and "Presto" were the last, from August 1989.

[Super25Smasher]

Very interesting!

[MMCXII]

during Geddys hiatus in '69 he was in a couple bands called Ogilvie and Judd while Rush changed their name to Hadrian during this period. Lindy Young played with Hadrian and Judd! .. (yes I had to pull my RUSH debut re-release and check the "family tree" lol)

 

I wish there was more recording from these early years!

 

Here's an interesting vid on the history of Peart. Nice thread btw :)

 

[Entre_Perpetuo]

- The 4 shows in May 1979 at the Hammersmith were FILMED and were going to be released as Live in England. The videos for "The Trees", "Circumstances", and "La Villa Strangiato" were recorded there.

- The Hammersmith shows in June 1980 were recorded for a potential live album, but shelved, as were the Newcastle shows on June 12 and 13 and the Manchester show on June 17.

Hopefully someone in the band starts to notice their funds are running low and wants to make a quick buck...

 

And they claim the vaults are empty, pshah. I'd love a box set of those shows.

[Mithrandir]

"The Spirit of Radio", "Freewill", and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" were made in July. Rough demos were recorded at Sound Kitchen in Toronto.

 

It exists

By that point Peart's snobbish persona had almost completely taken over his mind and this Peart couldn't abide a childish "prog" lyric about knights and dragons. So he nixed it. He was probably worried that he was going to be confused with Ronnie James Dio, a heavy metal lyricist that he found laughable.

 

Dio, while maybe not laughable, was certainly just your average run-of-the-mill heavy metal lyricist.

[Mystic Slipperman]

.

- The shows at the Great Western Forum in February 1988 were recorded, but not used on Show Of Hands. Show of Hands was going to be called Presto!

 

 

WHAT?!

 

I was at one of those shows.. it was my first Rush show. Oh man, I'd love an archival release of that.

[Disembodied Spirit]

I was hoping for...I've discovered that treeduck is God!

Rob Ryan likes this post

[78jazz]

 

- The three nights at the Maple Leaf Gardens in March 1981 were recorded, but didn't make ESL. Geddy Lee had laryngitis on the date the show was recorded.

 

- During a show at Tuscon Community Center on May 9, 1984, Geddy Lee was struck by a bottle thrown by an audience member.

 

- Before a show at the McNichol's Arena in Denver on February 14, 1986, Alex Lifeson ate at a Morroccan resturaunt, triggering an allergic reaction. He struggled to play during the concert.

 

 

I wonder about the first one I have in the quotes box here. An article from the paper in Ottawa says that the show was done in 90 minutes due to vocal problems, but this is the first I have heard of Toronto. I also do not recall any problems with his voice on any of those shows.

 

I thought the Tucson bit was common knowledge. Geddy had talked about in an interview.

 

The story of Alex struggling to play in Denver is new to me.

 

.

- The shows at the Great Western Forum in February 1988 were recorded, but not used on Show Of Hands. Show of Hands was going to be called Presto!

 

 

WHAT?!

 

I was at one of those shows.. it was my first Rush show. Oh man, I'd love an archival release of that.

 

I thought every night from this tour was recorded. It would be nice to see all of that be available for purchase, but I will believe it when it happens.

[Eel Yddeg]

Some '90s and '00s facts about Rush.

- The first song written for Roll The Bones was "Dreamline", from August of 1990, followed shortly after by "Face Up". "Bravado", "Roll The Bones", and "Where's My Thing?" came in October 1990, and the rest were in November. The drum parts took only four days to record, and the guitars eight.

- "Cold Fire" was going to be a slow country ballad (!) "Leave That Thing Alone" originated from the RTB Tour, and the whole album was written in February 1993.

- The Counterparts Tour was going to last through June, but was cut a month due to Geddy Lee having another child. There was going to be a Counterparts Tour live album, and the 2/27 show in Miami, the 3/22 and 3/27 shows at Auburn Hills, and the two nights at the Spectrum on 4/29 and 4/30 were recorded. They said that after the album they were going to do a 20th anniversary tour, with a setlist going chronologically from 1974 to 1994. The show on 4/27 in Hampton was stopped after 3 songs because Geddy lost his voice.

- Most of Test For Echo was written in Fall 1995. "Resist" was going to be called "Taboo" The first song finished was "Driven" in April 1996.

- ALL the shows on the TfE tour were recorded.

- An unreleased Vapor Trails song was entitled "Telescope Peak", elements were repurposed into songs like "Ghost Rider" and "How It Is". "Earthshine" was the first song completed, in March of 2001. "One Little Victory", "Ceiling Unlimited", "Nocturne", and "Peaceable Kingdom" (Originally instrumental) were completed that month. "Sweet Miracle", "Out of The Cradle", "The Stars Look Down", "Vapor Trail", "Secret Touch" and "How It Is" were done in June 2001, and "Freeze" and "Ghost Rider" in July. The lyrics to "Peaceable Kingdom" were written in September 2001.

- The Phoenix and Quebec shows in 2002 were not only recorded, but FILMED.

- Feedback was going to have a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression" but it was not up to par, so it was abandoned.

- The shows at Red Rocks on June 29, 2004, Radio City on August 18, and Montreal on August 21 MAY have been filmed for the live album, it's unclear if they were shelved or not.

- The first two songs written for Snakes And Arrows were "Bravest Face" and "The Way The Wind Blows", from February 2006. Five songs were done by March, eleven by October. "Hope" and "Malignant Narcissism" were the last two, from December 2006.

- The show in Saskatchewan on May 25 2008 was recorded.

- "Clockwork Angels", "Caravan" and "BU2B" were made in January 2010. "The Anarchist" and "The Garden" were completed in March. "Carnies" and "Headlong Flight" (Then an instrumental called "Take That Lampshade Off Yo Head") came in March 2011. "Seven Cities of Gold", "The Wreckers" and "Wish Them Well" came in October 2011. The last two were "Halo Effect" and "BU2B2".

[78jazz]

I wonder if that was in planning on the CP tour or if dates were cancelled.

 

I believe that the CP tour was also recorded in its entirety.

 

As for April 27, reliable information suggests that the show never happened rather than 3 songs and stopped (given that only YYZ was the encore the previous night, no show seems to make more sense).

 

I thought Neil said Telescope Peak was a song Geddy and Alex rejected.

 

If those VT and R30 shows were filmed, I would like to see them (but I question if they exist at all).