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Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Mon, Mar 18, 2024

Rush The Lady Gone Electric live 1974 radio broadcast

Fri, Feb 27, 2015@11:17AM | comments

A live radio broadcast recording of a December, 1974 Rush appearance at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City will be released on CD in Europe this coming April. It's titled The Lady Gone Electric and was originally recorded in front of a small audience of around 10 people for FM radio broadcast. From the Amazon UK description:

... this sublime Rush performance was given in front of an audience of 8-12 people in the small studio, and thus provides a fine example of this remarkable band's early live sound. This was also the earliest recording made with Neil Peart on drums, Peart having replaced their former skins-man John Rutsy, a few months before this show. They perform material from their first album and new songs from the soon to be released Fly by Night LP. The show was undertaken to provide a live broadcast for FM Radio, and was transmitted across the airwaves prior to the release of Fly by Night. Neil had only been with the band for a few months at this point, but the playing is tight and precise. The FBN songs are still coming together, so some, notably Best I Can, contain some alternate lyrics. The structure of Fly by Night is different, with the guitar solo coming after the vocal bridge and a completely different ending. We get a rare treat in Working Man, when Alex delivers a guitar solo outside of the normal structure of the song. Bad Boy is introduced as a Beatles song, although it was originally written and performed by Larry Williams. It s amusing to hear the polite clapping of what sounds like about five or ten folks in the studio. Geddy s soft-spoken comments in between songs are a sharp contrast to the very hard-edged performance. Apparently, several mics were set up around the studio, with only a very basic soundboard feed. The result is a very well-mixed sound - so much so, in places it sounds as though it s lifted direct from the first album. The three bonus cuts included are from the group s first US television performance on the legendary Don Kirshner Rock Show programme in October 74.

It will likely be available in the US and Canada as an import only at some point - likely due to legal issues as it's not an official Rush release. It's similar to the Spirit of the Airwaves and Rush ABC 1974 live releases from a few years back, in that it is essentially a packaged release of a radio broadcast bootleg recording that's been around for many years. Here's the tracklisting as given by Amazon UK:

1. Finding My Way 05:19
2. Best I Can 03:11
3. In the Mood 03:42
4. Anthem 04:36
5. Need Some Love 03:30
6. Fly by Night 03:20
7. Here Again 09:17
8. Bad Boy 06:36
9. Working Man 12.22
10. Best I Can 02.55
11. In the Mood 03.17
12. Finding My Way 04.36

Thanks to Eric at Power Windows for the heads up.

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