The 4 bands Geddy Lee said he would have liked to be part of

Geddy LeeGeddy Lee

Images from AXS Tv and Richard Sibbald

Rush is certainly one of the most influential bands of all time, and Alex Lifeson (guitar), Geddy Lee (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Neil Peart (drums, lyrics) were fundamental to the band’s amazing discography. Many famous musicians influenced by them would have loved to be part of the band. Interestingly, Geddy Lee also has a few bands he would have loved to join. He once revealed the four groups he dreamed of being a member of. He mentioned those groups in an interview with UDiscover Music in 2020 and Rock and Roll Garage selected what the musician said about them over the years.

The 4 bands Geddy Lee said he would have liked to be part of

Cream

Cream was a fundamental influence to Rush and especially Geddy Lee who went alone to see their show in Canada in the late 60s because none of his friends were interested. That night changed his life as he said many times and it was an inspiration for Rush later on which also became a power trio. The musician said that in an interview with Sirius XM Classic Vinyl Influences show in 2013 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “Cream sort of changed my life. They blew my mind and I remember they were coming to Toronto. I couldn’t get any of my friends interested to go see them. They were playing at Massey Hall and I went down and bought a ticket and I went by myself.”

“I just had to see them, they were such an important band to me. Jack Bruce’s bass playing was just out of this world. Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, I mean they were the ultimate trio. The most influential band in my entire career in many ways.”

“The day I bought the ticket I was walking through a department store, because it was chilly out. All the televisions in the TV department had shots of Robert Kennedy. It was the day that Robert Kennedy was shot. So it’s another thing that I sadly never forget, but Cream were a really incredible band to me. It was incredible to see them live back in the day,” Geddy Lee said.

Geddy has always been a big fan of the band’s bassist and singer Jack Bruce, including his solo career. In an interview with BBC in 2019, he even chose the late musician as his “Rock God”.

Led Zeppelin

Geddy Lee also would have liked to occupy John Paul Jones’ position in Led Zeppelin. The curious thing is that, besides being the group’s bassist, Jones was also the keyboardist, just like Geddy in Rush. It was also another band that he had the chance to see when he was a teenager in Canada and he recalled many times how that show was a magical experience. According to him, it looked they floated out of the stage.

“That was August 18, 1969. They were doing two shows. We were at the first show. I went with John Rutsey (Original Rush drummer) and Alex (Lifeson). It was general admission. We lined up for hours. We got in and we sat in the second row. And I swear they didn’t walk out on stage – they floated out. They literally brought the house down, because by the end of the night there was plaster falling from the ceiling,” Geddy Lee told Classic Rock in 2021.

Lee had the chance to meet John Paul Jones a little better when he interviewed the Led Zeppelin member for his “Big Beautiful Book of Bass” a few years ago. Jones was a big inspiration for Lee and he even said that he thinks he was the “unsung hero” in Led Zeppelin.

Back in 2019 he chose for Rolling Stone his “favorite bass songs”. One of them was “What It is and Never Should Be” released by Led Zeppelin on their second album “Led Zeppelin II” (1969). Lee noted that it is his favorite song of the band when it comes to bass playing.

Jefferson Airplane

The influential Californian band Jefferson Airplane was also another big inspiration for Geddy and a group he would like to have been part of. He would be filling Jack Casady’s shoes, the bassist he said was underrated.

“I always found Jack Casady from Jefferson Airplane to be very underrated. He played odd basses. like this Guild that was really modified. He was really into that mod stuff.”

“Listen to his playing from the early days or the live album ‘Bless Its Pointed Little Head’. You’ll hear something really twangy and aggressive for what essentially was a trippy Californian band. He had this heavy tone that pushed the band along. Jefferson Airplane went through a million configurations in their history, but Jack made those early versions of this band stand out for me.”

“I really gravitated towards his sound on the song called ‘The Other Side Of This Life’. There’s a live version of it that we used to cover way, way back in Rush when we were starting out. During the intro, he plays this angry circular pattern. If you listen to that, you’ll hear how there’s a nod to Jeff in my sound,” Geddy Lee told Music Radar in 2022.

Jefferson Airplane was active from 1965 until 1973, reuniting in 1989 and 1996. Casady was part of all the studio albums the band released. But he made more albums with Hot Tuna, the band he made after Airplane broke-up.

He also recorded Jefferson Starship in the 90s, a band that was formed by other ex-Jefferson Airplane members in the 70s.

Yes

“Chris Squire in Yes, did I think I could play with them? Fuck no (laughs). But I would have loved to have given it a shot,” Geddy Lee told UDiscover Music. He has always been a big Yes fan, and it was the only band for which he waited in line all night to get tickets.

Chris Squire was his hero and ended up paying tribute to him when Yes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Geddy and his bandmate Alex Lifeson were the ones who inducted the Progressive Rock group and Lee played with them a few songs since Squire had passed away two years before.

He also said to UDiscover music that in his opinion Squire was the greatest Progressive Rock bassist of all time.

“Judging bass players is really about the context of that bass player. (…) If I was to pick the greatest Progressive Rock bassist of all time it would have to be Chris Squire without a question”.

Rafael Polcaro: I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago. Music has always been a part of my life, helping me through tough times and being a support to celebrate the good ones. When I became a journalist, I knew I wanted to write about my passions. After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world! MTB: 0021377/MG
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