John Rutsey 1953-2008

[moedrabowsky]

My own little obit. Some of you may remember his picture on the back of Rush's first album.



John Rutsey, founding drummer for Rush who played on the eponymous debut album, died May 11 from a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes.

Rutsey and Lifeson founded the band, with Geddy Lee doing two stints with the fledgling hard rock outfit before becoming the permanent bassist and singer.

Rutsey's brother came up with the name for the band, and Geddy and Alex cut their teeth on Rutsey and his brother's record collection -- the first time they heard Led Zeppelin and Cream was in that Toronto basement.

Because of his diabetes -- which was a much more devastating disease in the early 1970s -- Rutsey begged off the tour after Rush financed their own debut album and was replaced by Neil Peart on the night of their first show of their first tour of America.

He gave up music and became a bodybuilder, using fitness to try to keep a handle on his disease.

Without him there would be no Rush, but he's been tossed into the dustbin of history because of Peart's reputation and station in the band for the past 33 years.

John Rutsey was 55. RIP.

[ksbluesfan]

Thanks Moe. I always assumed Rutsey was replaced because Neil Peart was a better drummer and lyricist. Fifty-five is too young to die.

[moedrabowsky]

Thanks Moe. I always assumed Rutsey was replaced because Neil Peart was a better drummer and lyricist. Fifty-five is too young to die.

No telling what would have become of Rush had Rutsey not quit the band. It certainly would have been an entirely different brand of rock and roll.

And 55 is too young -- and seems younger each year.

[ppg shg]

No telling what would have become of Rush had Rutsey not quit the band. It certainly would have been an entirely different brand of rock and roll.

Yeah, maybe we wouldn't have to watch Pert play little cymbals and chimes for 30 minutes every show.

[Glovey]

Yeah, maybe we wouldn't have to watch Pert play little cymbals and chimes for 30 minutes every show.

Does anything in this world bring you joy?

[moedrabowsky]

Does anything in this world bring you joy?

Schadenfreude.

[ppg shg]

Does anything in this world bring you joy?

5 piece drum kit

[Glovey]

5 piece drum kit

Nicely played, sir.

[Jack Daniels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppg shg Yeah, maybe we wouldn't have to watch Pert play little cymbals and chimes for 30 minutes every show.

Does anything in this world bring you joy?

Yeah. Forget about his playing style & focus on the songs that he alone was responsible for, or jointly collaberated on.

[dredbyrd]

Thanks Moe. I've always been a fan of Rush but never knew the John Rutsey story.

RIP

[blue zone]

He's no Warren Strelow.

[moedrabowsky]

He's no Warren Strelow.

[triggercut1]

That's Rutsey on drums on the Rush staple "Working Man".

[ppg shg]

That's Rutsey on drums on the Rush staple "Working Man".

Really? I did not know that, and I have been bombarded with Rush trivia since the age of 10 or so, when 4 of my friends decided that Rush was the be all and end all.

To this day, they still drag me on roadtrips to see Rush, although I begged out of the concert in Rockford or wherever it was.

[moedrabowsky]

Yes, Working Man is the last track on the debut album.

Donna Halper, who is a professor now, was a DJ at WMMS in Cleveland when the album was sent to the station.

"In the Mood" was supposed to be the first single, but Halper didn't like it, preferring the seven-plus minute "Working Man."

The phone lines began lighting up and the momentum began. Halper also was responsible for helping Rush get signed to Mercury in 1975, who then re-released the first Rush album with pink lettering (instead of red, thanks to a rpinting screw up).

What a lot of folks don't know is that Neil Peart was not even remotely established when he joined Rush. Peart was hired after a bad audition because he and Geddy were reading similar books. He and Alex Lifeson were not friendly in the beginning (Lifeson and Rutsey having been close since their pre-teen years). Lifeson -- correctly -- tabbed Peart as arrogant and pretentious and not really that good of a drummer. What really got him the gig, though, was his enthusiasm for writing lyrics, something Lee and Lifeosn had no interest in. The debut album -- while being a tasty slab of Dinosaur Rock, if not more than a little derivative of Zeppelin -- featured the most inane lyrics and hackneyed song titles around.

Peart had been an abject failure in England, taking a job in a souvenir shop after failing to land any paying gigs. Peart's first public performance -- of any kind -- was in Pittsburgh before 6,500 people.

BTW, John Rutsey died in his sleep. The way we should all go if this were a benevolent universe.