[A Talk with Ian Grandy - Rush's First Roadie]
If you are familiar with early Rush history, you may have heard of Ian Grandy - Rush's first roadie who worked with the band from 1969 up through 1983. Skip Daly (of RushPetition.com) tracked down Ian and interviewed him for a recent article at GuitarInternational.com. Ian shares his firsthand knowledge of Rush history as he remembers it and has some very interesting tales to tell. His point of view of the band's history is highly unique since he was present from when Rush played high school gyms in the late '60s and early '70s on through to when they were selling out massive arenas in the early '80s. In this excerpt Ian describes being present for Neil Peart's audition for Rush:
... We had American gigs lined up and no drummer. We were set up at a rehearsal place and three drummers tried out. The first guy was nowhere, the second guy was a guy they knew and liked but I think all of us knew he wasn't good enough. Then this guy Neil shows up. Geddy looks at me and says "He's a greaseball", because Neil had what came to be called his "submariner" hair style (apparently there is a comic book character named that whose hairstyle reminded Alex & Geddy of what Neil had). Neil had this small, funky, grey drum kit and set it up himself. They proceeded to jam for about forty minutes and I recorded it as best I could with three microphones. After that, Geddy asked me was this guy as good as they thought he was, and I couldn't do anything but agree because I don't think I had ever seen/heard anyone play like he did. They talked together by themselves for quite a while and presto - we had a new drummer. Looking back I'd have to say that worked out pretty well. ...
Grandy also talks in detail about some of the earlier Rush gigs, Rush's manager Ray Danniels, John Rutsey and shares some old photographs including this Neil Peart penned hotel room assignment for Rush's band and crew circa 1976 when there were only 8 people on the road including the band. This article is a fantastic read for any Rush fan; you definitely need to read the whole thing. Kudos to Skip for putting this together.
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