The Daily Doug Analyzes Tom Sawyer (Rush) [studio and live versions] (Episode 257) 

I admire how unlike so many other iconic artists, these guys once they realized that they couldn't give their 100% on stage anymore, they called it quits, so that even in the end they still had so much class and professionalism.

Le Studio, which used to be located in the beautiful Laurentian Mountains, north of Montreal, Qc, Canada.

😎👍✨ Next one from RUSH - Red Sector A = song about Holocaust . Geddy Lee parents was survive to holocaust .. Neil Peart deep lyrics .. 😎👍🎶

Heard this song SO MANY times in my life, but it remains in my personal top 5 of all time. Great episode Doug! I very much look forward to more Rush.

Yes, Max Webster are Canadian as well and used to tour with Rush in the early years. Check out the song Battlescar where both Max Webster and Rush play together. Cheers 🇨🇦

Sadly, the studio it was recorded in has been left abandoned for decades. There is a cool documentary hidden somewhere on RU-vid about it.

Max Webster (Kim Mitchell) is a great Canadian band - love them to death - check out the songs Battle Scar (with the boys from Rush); Toronto Tontos: Hangover: Diamonds Diamonds: Blue River Liquor Shine: Paradise Skies: and so many other cuts - the band never broke in the US but were huge in Southern Ontario

I agree with D. When Max Webster was opening for Rush, Rush joined them onstage to perform the Max Webster song Battlescar. There's a audio/video here on youtube. It's a very powerful and relevant song.

Hey Doug, Neil has said many times that getting this song right was incredibly difficult and a good gauge of how his playing was holding up. So, yeah, he played it the same as the original record. He could have simplified it on a rough night but 1,000 air drummers would have noticed 🤘🏼

That beautiful studio they recorded this in (Le Studio) was completely dilapidated and burned down to a fire. Its dow been fully bulldozed, which is very sad. That studio was used to record for countless legendary artists, such as chicago, the police, the beegees, david bowie, queensryche, celine dion, and a well kept canadian secret called the tea party. There was a kickstarter a few years back to raise money to turn Le Studio into a rush museum of sorts, but basically nobody pledged much money and the place was eventually pulled down.

Rush actually played at my high school in the early 70's - a few years before I got there. Moving Pictures came out while I was in high school and the songs were everywhere - it's still one of my favourite albums. I did eventually see them in Toronto on the Grace Under Pressure tour - just amazing. Thanks for some great insights (palindrome time?) for a song I grew up with!

Rush are amazing. I saw them perform in Red Deer AB back in 2013 or 2014. They were originally supposed to perform in Calgary. However, Calgary had a massive flood in 2013 and they had to postpone it since the stadium was flooded. The concert rescheduled to Red Deer became a benefit concert where all proceeds went to the flood relief for Calgary. Rush didn't use opening bands at that time. They would come out, play for an hour and a half, take a 20-30 minute break then play another set for an hour and a half or so. For the Red Deer show, they played the first half of the show with no in-ear monitors. There was a technical error and they couldn't get it to work. They fixed it for the second half, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. It was a great show.

Your right they tape this at Morein-Heights,at Le Studio.Sadly the place does not exist anymore.Morein-Heights is a paradise for cross country skiing.Back then everybody around kept the secret about the location of the studio...

Hi Doug, thanks for doing this. I like all kinds of music, but Rush is definitely one of my favourite bands since i first saw them back in 1978. I had all the records, tapes, and cd's and was always excited when a new record came out. I saw one show from every single tour since then, i think 19 times in all. About 6 years ago, I was walking around exploring inside of Le Studio morin heights, and by then it was falling apart, but i remember the feeling of being in that room thinking, this is the room that is in the Tom Sawyer video, this is where permanent waves, and moving pictures and signals were recorded, was pretty cool day, mixed emotions, now the building is gone.

It's odd listening to Rush now, without Neil in the world. I've been listening to these songs for decades and while my appreciation and understanding of them has grown over the years... the dramatic change in the experience of listening to them now is fundamentally different for me. Rush has always been music of purest emotions, quite often joy. Now every song has an additional twinge of loss, with the knowledge that the Professor has concluded his lessons. 🤘🧙‍♂️🤘 Rich the Ancient Metal Beast

Definitely a Quebec winter outside. I've lived that.

I was really impressed to know that they are using the chords from both E major scale and E minor scale even in E major key. It’s intriguing. Your videos always stimulate my intellectual curiosity. Thank you so much, Doug!

A musical palindrome? I’m still learning more of songs I’ve listened to for years. Thank you.

I saw every tour in the Chicago/Wisconsin area starting with this album. Then in 2005 we caught them a couple of times in the Atlanta area. Great shows always! They will be missed for sure. No other band could reach their level of professionalism.

Doug I’ve seen Rush 30 times since 1982 signals tour And I’ve got to say I feel so lucky to be on earth at the same time they were

Max Webster is definitely worth a listen if you’ve never heard them, very unique. Max Webster was the support band on the Moving Pictures tour.

April Wine from Canada also recorded here!! You have to check out that band too sometime!!!! Thanks for the reactions love and support from Halifax, Canada :)

I don't have to imagine getting this album and being blown away.

Hey Doug this concert is on DVD. I was at all three shows in Cleveland in 2011. Seen rush over 20 times in Cleveland over 20 years.

The reason why we guys with high voices like to play bass is because we then command the entire harmonic spectrum. Everyone in the band has to adjust to what we're doing both at the top and the low end. ULTIMATE POWEEERRRRRR.

The band members are such professional musicians. Seen them 10 times and they always sound just like the album. #RIPNeil

I love RUSH! I read that because Geddy Lee was the vocalist and the bass player, his bass lines are more melodic, in contrast to say AC/DC. RUSH rocks, yeah! Didn't know that thing about Pi Dubois. RUSH lyrics, very deep. You rock Doug! That was fu**ing Amazing listening to you analyze this. Geddy Lee's voice finally went to shit, so that sucks. Oh well. I still think RUSH is amazing. No other comparable band.

Love when you throw your keys into it. Not a student of music but i appreciate it. Father joe taught me violin in catholic school. Wish i could remember that now. I just do tab on the guitar.

Le Studio saw so many great artists. I saw Rush 7 times, always great

I saw the Time Machine tour in Tulsa a month or so later. The only time I saw Rush, unfortunately. But, glad I got to go, for sure!!

Geddy's voice had reached the "No speaking on off days" stage in the last years. Consistency has its costs... [ p/s: "Working Man - Live in Cleveland" is a super live track. Playing it where they "broke" gave them an energy, and especially the ending, that's the best they ever put into that piece. Admittedly, I haven't seen every performance of it they ever did. ]

Im a drummer who thinks he is a guitarist as well but, I gotta learn the keys.I feel it but finger place-ment is next

I think it was mixed at Morin Heights Studio in Quebec Canada

What a shame, Rush were one of the best live bands ever. I saw them 78 Tampa, 80 in Tallahassee, then in London - 81, 4 more times including this tour and their last tour in 2015 (7 total)! Truly amazing and pretty much time and note perfect without too many changes.

Doug your kool as shit bruh.........keyboarding to the song is rt on.........

Rush is the perfect drug. Take it, and it will send you on a trip and actually make you smarter and live a better life with no ill effects.

Tom Sawyer remains the only song that all of my cover bands has had to play. My band Purple City (from Edmonton) opened for Kim Mitchell in 2018. Met him backstage. He and his bassist Peter Fradette were very cool to hang and talk with. I play the bass, keys, and bass pedals in this one and it is one of my favourites but I actually much prefer The Camera Eye on this album. Would love to hear your take on that epic song.

Doug's delighted smile says it all! Great reaction to truly great music!

I was at the Time Machine tour in Cleveland. It was so cool.

It's ironic that Rush making shorter songs got them more radio play, because their first radio hit (Working Man) was originally chosen by a Cleveland radio station because it was the longest song on the album.

want to be blown away... do the same with working man original version then their live in cleveland version of it and see them go all in

Hi Doug, Nice reaction. RUSH are amazing! I'm kind of an old school RUSH fan but totally understood that you have to record song's Playable for radio in order to make a good living.... Personally I prefer the earlier day's vocal tone by Geddy up to Their Hemispheres album... But musically they have been always at the top, if not on the top! It's always been solid from their beginning right up to their last album release.... Oh man, I feel for you. Seeing RUSH live is truly an experience that will last forever.... I consider myself lucky to have seen them so many times... As for Max Webster, They were a great Canadian band with lead guitarist & vocals by Kim Mitchel who also had a pretty successful Solo career. Definitely recommending you check them out as well... A few song's to listen/react too are (Here Among The Cats) (Gravity) (Coming Off The Moon) (Research, At Beach Resorts) (Hangover) Here's a couple of their more softer tune's (Blowing The Blues Away) (Diamonds Diamonds) You just might be pleasantly surprised as well.... Thanks Kevin

and its Neil PIER-T not Pert........

Yes, Max Webster is a Canadian band, and they KICK ASS

Kim Mitchell (patio lanterns fame) was the lead singer for Max Webster. Max Webster and Rush were joined at the hip earlier in their carriers. Max would open for Rush and sometimes Rush would open for Max. Worth checking out. Also, keeping Canadian, check out Zon. You will not be disappointed. Zon were a cross between Yes, Led Zeppelin and Rush.

The chords at the end are definitely an E and F#... though the voicings on guitar are kind of like an E power chord that's doubled in two octaves (root-fifth-root-fifth), and an F#sus4 chord (root-fifth-root-sus4th), but the way the second chord is arpeggiated, it kind of gives an illusion of sounding like a B. As for the live take, Alex's solo is actually mostly the same. Some of the faster parts are a little more off-the-cuff, but the biggest difference is the guitar tone, which is much, much dirtier on the live version.

There will never be another bank like RUSH! Their sound is unique and their talent and innovation nothing short of amazing. I am so grateful that this amazing trio contributed so much great music to the soundtrack of my young adulthood and coming of age.

Rush es otra de las más Icónicas Bandas del Rock Progresivo!! Tom Sawyer es mi tema N.1 de estos Máster's!! 💖💖🖤🖤💖💖🖤🖤

Dude, I'm subscribed. You're modest frame of reference is very refreshing. Thanks for sharing!

Great Canadian band and song!!

RIP le Studio

Neil has often said that the most difficult thing about his drum parts is playing them exactly the same every time. He made it seem easy but we all know his parts are incredibly thoughtful and intricate. By the way I have the same aroma diffuser as you do, Doug!

Very well done, Doug. I have been following Rush since the beginning. It's too bad you never saw them live as they were always Excellent. I saw them several times, mostly in the earlier years and was always amazed. Cheers!

Hi Doug,I´m Harry writing and listening from Sweden I just love your programs , would like to hear your reaction on Budgie 😀

The song and album the cemented all of their work before… I’ll always side with lifeson in that they should have made 2 more albums in this synth friendly yet guitar heavy formula, WHILE they were hot off this album! Clicks were used on this album, and likely, clicks used live, if only for the count ins! Neil wanted always to be in time, and admits he’d rather have a conductor than sound wrong or too fast or slow… my 5 cents. I once worked with terry Brown long enough to ask a few questions and see his amazing tape/edit/click techniques used with Rush!

As others have mentioned, the studio "LeStudio" where this was recorded and filmed is an interesting study in itself. Its a legendary studio. Plenty of little documentaries and home video available to look at to understand how amazing that studio was. Bands would stay there for weeks at a time when recording. It a remote retreat. Many huge albums by big names came out of there. Id say its one of the top 10 studios of importance in music history. For Rush it was known as their "Abby Road". I believe they recorded 5 albums there (maybe more). Another fantastic music video filmed in the same studio in very much the same atmosphere is "I Like to Rock" by April Wine. If you spent an hour understanding the history of the studio you wouldnt regret it. It would have been such a cool place to visit. Unfortunately its all but destroyed in recent times by vandals and fire.

Reagrding Doug's comment at about 12:55 ....... Sting once spoke about singing and bass playing. He liked the fact that his voice occupied the high register, his instrument the low, and the rest of the band sat inbetween.

Oops, you blew it! I love your ear and how you're easily able to pick up the chords and voicings and shifting music but you got it wrong this time.... Unfortunately you're almost 100% wrong on Alex's solo here. It's almost exactly like the studio version except there's some differences because of live sound.

Nothing simple about the drums. My son's a fantastic drummer and percussionist (trained at the Jacob's School, IN University), and he attests that it's an exhausting drum piece. By the way, Le Studio is no more. It went bankrupt and then burned down.

Peart (Peer-t), not Pear-t….pear is a fruit. Sorry, being a person with a simple last name that gets mispronounced all the time, just a pet peeve of mine. He’s the GOAT, his name deserves to be pronounced correctly. Don’t worry, you’re in the majority. Still love your commentary 😀

Sounds pretty simular to me, however, I lve practiced alex guitar and he plays around with the rythem a bit on the solos...the SOUL-os

My favorite band is Led Zeppelin. I used to mock bands like Rush for adhering so closely to the studio versions of their tunes, but having over the years listened to more than enough live Zeppelin, I think I prefer the way Rush does it. In Zeppelin's case, they often screw around a bit too much in their jamming (mostly Robert Plant trying to keep the spotlight on himself with his vamping or Jimmy Page getting lost while turning an epic album solo into 10+ minutes of screwing around). Kindly let the record show I'm not mocking Robert Plant or Jimmy Page with that last statement.

I remember when this was new. Took me a long time to get into Rush, now they are one of my favorite bands. Saw them on the Time Machine tour in Ft Lauderdale. Incredible concert.

Neil once said that playing Tom Sawyer was his penultimate song because the fills were so involved.

Rush is life.

On the 7 beat (?) parts of this song, I have a feeling that they’re alternating between 3 and 4 beats per bar rather than playing a bar of 7. I just get this from the stress on the beats. I might be totally wrong here but would love others to comment on their thoughts and educate me if I’m wrong. Does anyone have the sheet music to prove or disprove my thoughts? I absolutely love the older Rush music but think they started sounding a bit formulaic and, dare I say it, like Pop Rock around the time of Power Windows and on. Again, I’d respect others’ comments.

Quite a different guitar solo? Really? Any difference i notice is that he is playing live and thus doesn’t have the luxury of multiple takes to get the solo exact. He has to transition from rhythm to solo in real-time. To me that explains any change, but certainly not quite different. Just IMO. 😀

You really need to listen to Max Webster!!! The first 2 albums are well worth a listen!!! 😀

Try some of their longer more complex songs such as: hemispheres, Cygnus x1, la Villa satraignato, Xanadu. I'm super happy to see you dissecting some Rush

A couple points: You say the tempo is the same but to me it sounds just a tad slower live. Not much, but just enough to notice by people that have heard the studio version thousands of times. Also, you said alex's solo is different, which is true, but it's ~90-95% of what's on the album. Early he omits a couple notes and at the end he's a bit off a bit. I don't have super good ears but it sounds like a couple wrong notes near the end there on the fast past.

Filmed at Le Studio in Morin Heights Québec.

You mentioned bassists having high voices. Take a listen to Type O Negative. Peter Steele sang in the bass-baritone range.

rush and max webster played at my high school in the 70's

I'm such a caveman, I can't understand how you can keep 3 different beats with your feet and both hands.

Its Tom Sawyer not Tom Sire 😁 and this whole album is great.

Do "subdivisions", that's my favorite 👌

Alex was heavily influenced by Jimmy Page

Max Webster, considered by many as the greatest Canadian Band

Last name Peart is pronounced "PEER-t".

R.I.P. Le Studio Morin Heights!

Lemmy from Motorhead is one bassist/lead vocalist from a power trio who does not hit those high notes :)

Please listen to goodbye pork pie hat as played by master Jeff beck

Battle scar by MAX Webster with RUSH

Rip, Neil, Rip "le studio"

RIP Neil Peart (pronounced Peer-t).

Nah, Alex kept the live solo close to the original, too! 🙂

Max Webster is Kim Mitchell. FYI

Neil said this was the toughest song for him to play

Alternating measures of 7 and 6

maybe some Greenslade drownig man

Its a great one. Dig into Max Webster an Saga.

The band were 27 or 28 when this was recorded

incredible...insight

I'm a big fan of Rush - Xanadu and La Villa Strangiato are far better candidates for this show. Not that I don't love Tom Sawyer....

Really cool reaction 🤘

That Neil Peart was a legend... inspiration for so many drummers

One word awesome.....

I am thankful to have seen Rush live 3 times, although the last time was for the Test For Echo Tour in 1996 or so. I regret not seeing them towards the end of touring.They were amazing live. All their music is amazing. I would recommend you listen to every song you haven't Doug, because each one is worth listening to, even if they aren't all masterpieces.

Check out Brad Mehldau's recent album 'Jacob's Ladder' which features a great interpretation of Tom Sawyer (Mehldau being one of the best jazz pianists in the world).

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