Like Geezer Butler in Black Sabbath, to reiterate, Geddy indeed began on guitar. Alex, however, missed this part of Lee's evolution. "I didn't know Ged when he played guitar. So the transition was already completed by the time we started jamming together and playing. Because that's what we did after school. We'd plug into his amp and play. There was one guitar and one bass. So I'm not really sure about that transition. I'm sure he was interested in guitar like everybody was interested in guitar. But once we actually started playing and learning instruments, that was his chosen one. Just think John Rutsey in that early days--the drums became his thing but I don't know if in his heart he wanted to be a drummer. I think he wanted to be a guitarist as well. But everybody had their job that they sort of gravitated to." Says Geddy, "I was nominated to be the bass player when the first band I was in, the bass player couldn't be in our band. I think his parent's prohibited him or something, and we had no bass player so they said, 'You play bass' and I said okay, and that was how simple it was. That happens to a lot of bass players. Everyone wants to be a guitar player, but I was happy to be bass player. Bass player is like being a major league catcher. It's the quickest way to the majors. Nobody wants to be a bass player. It's a great instrument, it really is, awesome way to spend your time. I had teachers you know; I'm just carrying on the tradition of Jack Bruce, Jack Casady, Chris Squire, a fine tradition of noisy bass players that refuse to stay in the background. So I feel that's my sacred duty, to carry on what they started." Excerpted from Anthem: Rush in The '70s by Martin Popoff All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
