An Ode to The Professor

On this day, Thursday, 07 January 2021 AD, there is much to discuss in the way of current events. However, that can wait just a bit. I want to begin by paying respects to someone who passed away one year ago today, Mr. Neil Peart, aka, The Professor, Bubba, or simply, the best damn drummer ever. The following is adapted from a piece I wrote for a weekly manager’s email, which was further edited and posted to Donna Halper’s blog as comment to her post, This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen.

A Lifelong Fan

I’ve been a Rush fan nearly all my adult life. Although I knew of Rush in high school, which I graduated from in 1981, it wasn’t until my second year in college in 1982 that became a true fan. I was attending DeVry, Columbus, and living in a three-bedroom apartment in Reynoldsburg, Ohio with two other knuckleheads, Ray and Joe. A few doors down from us lived a gal, a punk rocker with her own band, whose stage name was Debbie Dagger. Not being into punk rock, Styx and Zeppelin were favorites of choice for me then, I never saw Debbie play live. However, she would often hang out and drank beers with us. One day, she knocked at the door and said that she was clearing out her LPs, wanting to focus on punk only, and asked if I wanted to buy some.

As I scanned thru her collection, Hugh Syme’s artwork on A Farewell to Kings caught my eyes. I pulled the LP out and as I looked over the track listing, Closer to the Heart was the only song I recognized. But then I started reading the lyrics. It is next to impossible for me to read them today without having the music in my head as I do, but 39 years ago only that single song had that honor. Yet every other song resonated, striking a chord inside me that these words were written by a soul who was pure, honest, spiritual, questioning, adventurous… I bought a stack of Rush and Zeppelin LPs, which I still have, from my punk rock neighbor that day.

The first rock concert I ever went to was Rush later that year in northern Ohio. Ten years later, while stationed in Sicily, as a Navy LT, I would jog in the lava fields of Mt. Atena listening to a Rush mix on my portable cassette player. It would be 25 years before I saw the band live again, this time 2007 in San Antonio for the Snakes & Arrows Tour, and then six times after that, to include: 2008 in Austin for the second leg of S&A; 2011 in Baltimore for The Time Machine Tour; 2012 in Saint Louis for Clockwork Angels; 2013 in Raleigh for the second leg of CWA. The last time was in Irvine, CA on Jul 30 – the next to the last show on the R40 tour – when I final managed to get relatively close 12th row, center stage seats. I literally flew halfway around the planet for that show from Kabul, Afghanistan to LAX.

The Professor Exits Stage Left

On Friday, 10 January last year, as I was leaving work, my ex-girlfriend, who was gracious enough to traipse around the country with me to those last four shows, texted, “Sorry to hear about Neil Peart… my brother (who lives in LA and went to the last R40 show with us) sends his condolences. Neil Peart has died.” I was stunned, as was the music industry and fans worldwide. The announcement was issued by the remaining two members, Alex Lifeson & Geddy Lee, wherein we learned that Neil had been battling an aggressive form of brain cancer for the last three years and actually “departed the pattern” on Tuesday three days prior. Professional musicians and fans flooded social media and Rush blog sites with condolences, memories, and empathy for Neil’s wife & ten-year-old daughter, Alex, Geddy, and all on the Rush staff, many who have all worked together for well over 40 years.

In 2014, I visited a friend, who I flew with professionally at NetJets, who was only about six months into dealing with the same type of cancer that Neil succumbed to. My friend was so far gone at that time and I saw that agony his wife was going thru. I can only imagine the stress and pain that Neil’s wife, Ms. Carrie Nuttall and young daughter, Olivia have had to deal with. They are were all in our prayers, of this I am certain. They have our prayers today on the anniversary of their husband’s and father’s passing.

The Professor and His Bandmates Set the Example

Switching gears somewhat, in November of 2017, I penned a short version of the weekly manager’s email, themed around Rush. A week or so after Neil’s passing, I wrote a more expanded version, which related three specific lessons from “The Professor’s” life example. While I leave them unedited from my original corporate email, which is business focused, I trust the reader will find them applicable to life as well. The last point is probably the most important.

• Professionalism

The three members of Rush epitomize professionalism, exhibiting exceptional skill, work ethic and grace.

There is a saying in show business that, “The show’s the thing.” In a recent interview, circa early 2015, Neil reflected that he had commented to Alex that they were all getting older, early 60s at the time, and wondered about the effect if he had a heart attack during the show. Alex jokingly replied, “Have a heart attack if you want but don’t wreak the show!” The shows averaged just north of three hours, with a short intermission at about the one-hour mark, and life on the road isn’t all fun and games that those of outside the business might imagine. Neil was over touring as a lifestyle long ago, and in fact, music was far from the central focus of his life. However, as a professional touring musician, he pressed on, often with a stoicism that would make Marcus Aurelius proud. On various tours he would play thru ear infections, cracked hands, and on the last tour a severe fungal infection on his feet, any of which made playing the drums excruciatingly painful. But he showed up and played.

And that is the point. As professional instructors, technicians and support staff, when we show up to work, we need to show up, focused and ready to work. Certainly, there are times when we are ill, or dealing with life outside work, that good headwork mandates staying home. But when we are here, we need to be here mentally, distractions set aside, game-face on and ready play the drums… oh, I mean teach, sell, maintain, etc.

• Disciplined Practice

I’ll rehash some of my previous weekly article here. Real skill takes study, practice, effort. Often recognized as the best drummer in the world, bar none, before the band retired in 2015, Neil should know. He often spoke of the 10,000-hour rule – it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice, effort and study to become a master at any given skill. Before any tour, the band would rehearse for several months; Neil would rehearse for a month prior for the rehearsals! In 1994, when already arguably at the top of his game, he took up lessons with jazz drumming legend and teacher Freddie Grubber, who taught him to be more fluid and organic when at the drum kit. Again in 2007, he took up lessons with Peter Erskine with the aim to be more improvisional rather than compositional during his solos.

We must take the time and effort to know our material, our craft if you will, be that the airplane we instruct on, the program we are using to create something fabulous for the company, the industry we sell in, and so on. For the instructors, aviation is a demanding, unforgiving business; there is no shortcut for putting in the time and effort. The example for our student/client starts with us.

• The Ripple Effect

It is probably impossible to say how many drummers around the world Neil inspired to, as Dave Ghrol put it, “pick up two sticks and chase a dream.” The band had an enormous impact on so many professional bands. I personally had a passing fancy with the same but chose to stick with aviation as my professional best and stayed with air drumming at Rush concerts. However, it was Neil’s lyrics that first caught me when I read the liner notes to A Farewell to Kings. The list of books I have read (or a few still sitting waiting to be read) directly because of mention in the liner notes, lyrics, on Neil’s “Bubba’s Book Club” section of his website, or mentioned in his several books range from The Fountainhead, This is Your Brain on Music, Deer Hunting with Jesus, Candide, Absalom; need I go on? My life is richer because of his work. The outpouring of emotion on social media the past weekend was heartfelt and genuine. Many spoke of how Neil’s lyrics or Rush’s music work carried them thru some exceedingly difficult time. Neil often commented that in the end, when one left a concert or finished listening to a song or LP, that they knew care had been taken in the construction of the concert, song or LP.

Probably none of us will have a direct effect on millions as Neil had. Likewise, none of us knows the long-term effect we have on those we encounter. As we go about out work and life, take care.

The extra 30 minutes spent with a client may well save his life. The disciplined focus you inspire in another may well be passed on to his first officer later in his career. The effort and care that goes into the courseware, records, sales front desk all have effect that ripples out like pebbles tossed into a pond.

Closing

It was Neil’s lyrics that pulled me in, and always kept me engaged with Rush. However, as I grew older, I came to appreciate Alex and Geddy’s musical genius as much as I did Neil’s lyrical prowess and drumming skills. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t listen to at least one Rush song. While not nearly as obsessed as some fans, who have seen the band live literally hundreds of times, I do I have every book written by Neil, every book about Rush, every LP on vinyl, both original and reissued, as well as on CD, every VHS, DVD and Blu-ray, ticket stubs, tour books, and posters in our media room representing all the concerts I saw them play. Even as I sat with my father in his final moments on this earth, who never really knew of my respect for this band, I played him The Garden, which I had on my phone. This brief article barely touches on the depth of importance that the band and their work has meant to me.

Rush’s music, by some accounts, is certainly an acquired taste. However, if you’ve never had the inclination to listen, you might consider doing so. If I had to pick one song to suggest to someone who had never heard Rush, and one that tied in all the above, it would be The Garden, which is the last song on the band’s last LP, Clockwork Angels. As to Mr. Peart’s during a live performance, I suggest The Percussor, from the 2007 Clockwork Angels Live LP, a short, innovative drum solo. I promise your heart and soul will be richer for listening.

Fair winds and following seas Mr. Peart. Rest in peace Professor. 😌🙏

Endnote

This was originally published on my LinkedIn profile on January 7, 2021, my ninth article on that platform. Neil has been an inspiration for me to write for many years now, so this article honoring him is the first I republished here on my website on January 30, 2021.

Mark Stansell