Any progressive rock performer typically enjoys a wide variety of music outside of classic rock & roll. A well-rounded sound can be achieved by exploring as many musical valleys as you can. However, it might be simple to fall back on classics like Little Richard or The Beatles. Geddy Lee acknowledges that he left one of rock’s titans behind in his early years, even though Rush may have had a distinctive sound that no one else could match.
Geddy Lee was beginning to explore the harder side of rock & roll, while Rush was just getting started. Lee first felt that there was more to the bass guitar than just producing the low end of a groove. This realization occurred when he picked it up to play The Rolling Stones’ iconic song “2120 South Michigan Avenue.”
Lee’s sound suddenly made sense to him after he had become accustomed to musicians like John Entwistle of The Who and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. Lee, alongside Alex Lifeson, composed the core material for Rush’s debut album, including bluesy shuffles like “Working Man.” They also crafted songs like “In the Mood,” which sound like they belong on a Bad Company album.
Even though “Working Man” eventually became popular on rock radio, Lee grew tired of performing the same songs at every show. Lee and Lifeson, not wishing to be a one-trick pony, had begun to grow accustomed to more progressive rock acts. This included Pink Floyd, who were releasing albums at the same time. Though Lee praised Yes’s Chris Squire, Genesis closely followed their progressive peers. They earned acclaim and recognition in the music scene.
The British prog giants, who formed with Peter Gabriel’s eclectic stories, would go on to produce some of the most well-known music of the genre’s golden age. This includes songs like “Supper’s Ready,” which would go on for ages. But Lee passed up the opportunity to see Lou Reed when he first saw what the band could do live.
Although Reed had been touring to support albums such as Transformer, Lee acknowledged that the two bands had never been a good fit. Reed was unable to compete with Gabriel’s many costumes. He would perform as the stoic poet he was whenever he performed live.
Lee would later leave Reed’s portion of the performance, saying, “I went to see a strange double bill, Genesis was opening for Lou Reed.” Genesis was performing for the first time in Toronto, and they were fantastic. They opened with “Watcher of Skies.” And after that, Lou Reed began to play. You know, you were more into Genesis than Lou Reed back then. I have nothing against Lou Reed, but he couldn’t have followed up with that performance. Thus, we departed.
The combination of Lou Reed and Genesis almost felt like a changing of the guard. However, it might have been difficult for anyone’s ego to have fans leave during their set. Following Reed’s art-rock influences in the early 1970s, Rush emerged as the leading force in progressive rock, which had solidified by then.
