Note: I am taking a look at my Rush scrapbooks, album by album (studio only). This is Part Seven, Grace Under Pressure.
In April, 1984, Rush released Grace Under Pressure, their tenth studio album. I don’t want to overplay the hand, but just as Neil felt things tightening in his world in 1983 and perhaps into 1984, I felt it, too. He touched on what he and the band were going through in a generous and richly detailed "Pressure Release" primer he wrote for Grace Under Pressure. Hugh Syme, the award-winning Canadian artist who designed almost all of the band's front covers, exquisitely captured the pathos of it all.
In 1982 I had become a Non-Commissioned Officer. The care free days of being an airman were over. Around the time of the release of Grace Under Pressure, the Air Force sent me to Bentwaters Air Base in East Anglia, England. Previously I had been second in charge of the Inventory Section. That was good supervisory training, but now I was in charge of the Individual Equipment Unit and eight people.
I would argue that was one of the toughest jobs in the Supply Squadron at the time. Every single person from Airman Basic to full bird Colonel came to IEU at least twice in their tour of duty. The A-10 (120 of those bad boys) pilots got issued the flight gear and related items while everyone got cold weather gear as well as chemical warfare gear. If there is an argument that we won the Cold War by outspending the Russians, I would agree.
Anyway, I was pleased to be in England because I knew Rush enjoyed recording and playing there. They had toured there for the past five consecutive records. The good news was I would see some great concerts while stationed in England. A young and hungry Motley Crue set the Dominion Theater on fire. I saw not only Knebworth ("Mudworth" with the Scorpions and Deep Purple), but also Monsters of Rock. That one in '84 is considered in some circles as the best with a line-up of headliners AC/DC, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Y&T, Accept, and Motley Crue. Got my vote.
The bad news was Rush did not come across the pond. Also disappointing to a lot of fans was the fact they only played 80-some shows. That was down from an average of about 130 from the five previous. But as Geddy has pointed out, they were feeling burned out and one has to respect that.
As far as scrapbook material, things multiplied greatly. And this seems to be a paradox with Grace Under Pressure. With this record, it was hard for the band to reach the same level of accolades as with that great run of albums they had made from 2112 to Signals. Even Geddy would later say, “We realized with Grace Under Pressure that we were not a techno-pop band.” (Guitar World, 1986)
But in terms of what I collected, you can see the difference in this photo. I count no less than a dozen and a half articles, some long ones in mags like Guitar and Modern Drummer.
I’d like to start off with a puzzle the Rush Backstage Club put in the September, 1984 newsletter. From my small, second floor apartment in the seaside town of Felixstowe, I finished the puzzle and mailed it in.
In the next newsletter (January, 1985), they published the list of the lucky winners. There I was, last, but not least, number 30!
A Rush fan in New Jersey named Derek Bacharach, who was a member, looked at the list. He was wanting to find a Rush pen pal. All the other 29 winners had their city and state listed, but not the full address. Since I was in the Air Force and assigned overseas, my mailing address was the APO for my post office box on the base.
Derek wrote to me, I wrote back, and thus ensued an exchange of letters. When I was stationed at Pope Air Force Base at the end of 1985, Derek paid me a visit. We went and saw Blue Oyster Cult in Winston-Salem. For the Test for Echo tour, he came down and we saw Rush here in Washington. We stay in touch, Rush always Topic A.
In going through the articles, three stand out. Zev Katz (Guitar for the Practicing Musician, March, 1984) wrote what might be one of the best ever on Geddy ("Singing Bass, Geddy Lee Is One Of The Reasons Everything Is Coming Up Sevens These Days For Rush"). Katz was a studio and performing bass player in New York City. His questions soared above the norm.
The accompanying photo marks that period of time when Geddy had acquired a Steinberger.
Katz asked him about his three basses - the Rickenbacker, the Fender Jazz and the new kid, the Steinberger.
Geddy said:
Rickenbacker - It is my mainstay. I feel the most comfortable with it....
Jazz - It's such a lovely bass to play, and has such a different tonality, that I found it refreshing to use.
Steinberger - It just blew me away. I couldn't believe the sustain and evenness of the notes all the way up and down the neck.
Geddy also said the first instrument he played was the piano (not sure that is widely known among Rush fans).
Asked about the influence of odd or changing meters, he said:
Originally it came from Genesis. They used to do Apocalypse in 9/8.
Alex also had a terrific piece ("Playback, The Making of An Album"), speaking with Jas Obrecht. He was Senior Editor for Guitar Player magazine from 1978 to 1998 and is an author and instructor.
Among the things Alex said were:
This is the most satisfying of all our records.
It seemed like this album took years to finish. We usually worked from 2:00 in the afternoon to about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and then everyone would get up about 11:00.
There is something about it that is a departure from our other material, which makes it a lot more fun and interesting to play live.
Modern Drummer's cover piece (April, 1984 by Scott K. Fish) on Neil came in at a whopping nine pages (talk about soaring above the norm). It featured some great photos of Neil washed in his favorite color.
And Fish must have been pinching himself. Neil really opened up, arguably the first great interview he did, and perhaps the best ever.
I will never forget some things Neil said about feeling uncomfortable with fame.
Anticipating that Neil would take the opportunity to explain further, Fish asked him why he felt that way.
"Because it's so unreal!
But Neil also added:
I like meeting people. I'm not reclusive to that extent.
And at the end of the interview, Neil said:
"Humphrey Bogart said that the only thing he owed the public was a good performance."
I always remembered Neil expressing his feelings those ways. I tucked it away and recalled it from time to time when the subject of fame came up. We are now so obsessed with celebrities that there needs to be some adjustments made, and we all need to keep these things in mind.
And here's the thing. Neil would continue to be unfairly criticized in regards to pushing back from what he talks about in "Limelight." But he gave us fans so much in many other ways.
In closing, I'd like to thank a couple of people. First is Dottie of the Backstage Club. She always wrote a prompt reply and kept me informed.
Secondly is Diana Jarvis-Read. I met her on the flight over to London. Our getting-to-know-each-other conversation amped up when we found out we both liked Rush.
Turned out she was the Cultural Affairs Representative for the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture in the Ontario House in London. She was kind enough to mail me a press package on Rush.
Diana, wherever you are, thank you. Your generosity helped me keep grace under pressure...
Comments