Rush frontman Geddy Lee took a shot at the Neil Peart penned “Tai Shan” in a new live Q&A. Rush revealed last month if Dave Grohl will join as their new drummer.
“It’s just one of those songs that Alex [Lifeson, guitar] and I like to make fun. At the time I was singing it, I wasn’t standing on a mountain top. [Laughs] Because it was such a personal song for Neil [Peart, drums], and it was such a great moment for me, Alex and I had a hard time putting ourselves in it. And guys in bands really need all the ammunition we can get to make fun of each other. It just sort of landed on ‘Tai-shan.'”
He also discussed his vintage basses, “Yeah, that’s a really good point and people ask me about this because almost every bass player in this book [Geddy’s ‘Big Beautiful Book of Bass’] has moved away from vintage basses into their own brand that they’ve sort of designed with these new luthiers, new-wave of modern luthiers.
I’m not there yet, and maybe I’ll never be. Probably I’ll never be because I’ve become such a freak about the past and vintage instruments. I certainly appreciate everything that’s been done to use modern technology, to perfect intonation and to perfect the tone and the treble pickups and the detail you can get out of so many of these new instruments.
I go online and watch young players all the time and they really are born to these instruments, like, the five-string and six-string basses. It just ain’t me. I like the sort of imperfection and the mojo of the older vintage basses. In fact, I’m going back pre-’65, I used basses that are before ’65 more often than I ever use basses after ’65.”
Geddy Lee revealed a couple of months ago if he was angry at Neil Peart for retiring. He also said “Tom Sawyer” was difficult to record.
“When we were recording, that was difficult from the get-go. Alex [Lifeson, guitar] had a hard time getting the solo that he liked, getting the sound for it. We had a lot of problems… the recording desk, it kept breaking down, it was, like, one of those songs, that wasn’t meant to be. That was the first time I used [Fender Jazz Bass] on record, I think, And I think I also might’ve used it on ‘Vital Signs’ [the closing track of the same album], but I can’t recall because I’m old. [Laughs]”
Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
