RIP John Rutsey

If you meet somebody who knows the name John Rutsey it's pretty much an indicator that they're a Rush fan. After all, who but a Rush fan is going to know that the band's rough around the edges and notably straightforward debut album did not feature one Neil Peart but, instead, a drummer whose playing style is, well, rough around the edges and notably straightforward.

I remember when I was first really 'getting into' that first Rush album. It was in the mid 1980s and I was in full infatuation with their music. It was even a little scary how much I was into Rush during that time, especially in retrospect. Rush were, to me, so clearly the best band ever that it really wasn't even funny. I would burn through countless AA batteries on my Sony Walkman going through the entire Rush catalog over and over again. Outside of the occasional pause for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, Night Ranger (!), and a couple of others I essentially listened only to Rush for a seven year period between 1984 and 1991. During 1985, in between my time of being obsessed with Grace Under Pressure and Hemispheres, I focused on this little gem. I had previously dismissed it as not really being a Rush album. After all...no Neil, no Rush, right? Well, after spending a big chunk of the summer of 85 wearing through a cassette copy of the first Rush album I started to finally come around. While it wasn't my favorite album of theirs then (nor today) I loved the rawness and energy of this album. I also loved that, if you listened closely, you could catch a glimpse of the direction that the band would take in the future, particularly on 'Before and After' which I consider to be the best track off of the album.

What struck me the most, perhaps, was the playing of John Rutsey. His playing certainly never 'wowed' me like Neil's had so many times but, in Rutsey's playing, I felt that I caught a glimpse into the days of the band before they became so recognizable. I had read stories of Rush playing little dive bars across Ontario, high school gymnasiums, and even the occasional high school prom. To me, listening to that first album took me away to those days for the band...the 19 hour van rides to a gig in Manitoba, playing for nothing more than chips and gravy at a local restaurant, worrying that their beat up 1968 Econoline wouldn't make the drive to Ottawa. Best of all, however, I could hear the sheer naivete and enthusiasm of three young guys just wanting to play music and hoping against hope that they can make enough cash to feed themselves in the process.

The playing of John Rutsey, with his somewhat pedestrian, Simon Kirke-like approach, fit this band at that time perfectly. Despite the fact that he left the band for health reasons and creative differences in 1974 and missed all but the very, very beginning of their period as a successful music group, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for John Rutsey, perhaps because he's the closest there will ever be to a Canadian Pete Best. In listening to the debut album for the first time in a long time recently I was actually struck by how much I still enjoy the album and, more surprisingly, how much I enjoyed the playing of John Rutsey. The album, and Rutsey's playing, has stood the test of time.

John Rutsey passed away last weekend, supposedly because of complications from the diabetes which partially caused him to leave the group in the first place. I'll be tipping one tonight in his honor and playing 'Here Again' and 'Before and After' way, way too loud here at home. RIP John...