By Jeff Elbel
Geddy Lee’s Big
Beautiful Book of Bass
(Harper Design)
Rush bassist Geddy Lee is
an admitted obsessive.
During the band’s 40+ year
career, devoted fans got
glimpses of Lee’s consum-
ing fascinations ranging
from baseball history to fine
wine. Upon the Canadian
prog-rock icons’ apparent
retirement following the
conclusion of 2015’s R40
tour, Lee dove headfirst into
a fixation that had always
been right under his fingers.
The result is a 400-page cof-
fee table book highlighting
Lee’s lifelong love of his
instrument, subtitled A
Compendium of the Rare,
Iconic, and Weird. Whatever
you do, don’t drop it on
your foot. Page after heavyweight page is
beautifully shot, illustrating coveted basses
from Lee’s own collection of hundreds in
revealing detail. The instruments are pre-
sented as workman’s tools, works of art,
and sometimes as mad experiments. A cov-
eted 1952 blonde Fender Precision is the
first bass featured. Before presenting his
sleek, headstock-free Steinberger bass seen
on Rush videos for synthesizer-era tracks
like “The Big Money,” Lee shows what
became of his original 1968 Fender
Precision bass. The bass would be the trea-
sure of any modern player in its original
form, but Lee takes the reader through the
process of modifying it into an alien
teardrop body shape with matching
teardrop accouterments, airbrushed dune-
buggy blue. Ample space is devoted to the
Rickenbacker basses Lee favored in the ‘70s
as a disciple of Yes bassist Chris Squire and
the 1972 Fender Jazz model toward which
he gravitated later in his career – earning
and developing his own signature model in
the process. As much as Lee’s musical pref-
erences are reflected in the book, he devotes
his tome to celebrating other players and
making studious examinations that expand
his own world. The book is divided into
chapters by manufacturer, and each fea-
tures profiles or interviews by Lee of
prominent peers and associates who favor
the brand. Motown legend James Jamerson
is the first player whose photograph
appears in chapter one, receiving Lee’s
praise alongside Duck Dunn and Brian
Wilson. The Fender chapter includes veter-
an guitar tech Alan Rogan of The Who ably
standing in for the late John Entwistle,
another of Lee’s acknowledged heroes. Lee
also talks with fellow collector Jeff Tweedy
from The Wilco Loft in Chicago and meets
Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones in London.
U2’s Adam Clayton also converses with
Lee in England. Bill Wyman of the Rolling
Stones is found among the Ampeg basses.
Innovative/oddball musician and Lee dis-
ciple Les Claypool of Primus is on hand to
discuss less conventional instruments.
Höfners and standup basses get their due,
in addition to reaching back hundreds of
years to describe historical forbears of the
modern bass. The book includes details on
construction in addition to the museum-
quality presentation. The result is a love let-
ter by Lee that is infused with his personal-
20 illinoisentertainer.com february 2019
ity, but relatable whether the reader is a
Rush diehard or only knows “Tom
Sawyer.” It’s also an immersive look into a
pivotal instrument that sometimes gets
short shrift. It’s true what they say, though
– the guitarist and singer may get all the
attention, but if there’s no bass, nobody’s
dancing.
Gunning for Hits: Music Thriller
By Jeff Rougvie with
Contributions from Moriat, Casey Silver
(Image Comics)
Gunning for Hits is a new comic book
series set in the high-flying days of the
record industry at its decadent peak. It’s
1987 in the MTV era, and money is no
object when you’re a hard-hustling A&R
man from New York City who’s deter-
mined to score the next big thing at any
cost. Writer Jeff Rougvie describes his anti-
hero Martin Mills as an amoral sociopath
with nothing to lose. Has Mills’ checkered
past played a role in his streak of good for-
tune in the music business? Revealing
twists unfold as the debut issue follows
unsigned rock ‘n’ roll prodigy Billy and his
band Stunted Growth, Billy’s ambitious
girlfriend/manager Diane, and her pursuit
of realizing a revenge fantasy against the
record label “weasels.” Gunning for Hits is
part music industry fable, part mob drama,
and a nostalgic (or perhaps relieved) back-
ward look at a time in the American enter-
tainment industry that could never be
repeated in the streaming age. The creative
artwork by Moriat shifts between height-
ened noir-ish realism and cartoonish exag-
geration, with asides rendered in chibi style
that breaks the fourth wall as Mills address-
es readers directly. Mills’ ace in the hole to
attract Stunted Growth into the fold is a
longstanding association with Billy’s idol
Brian Slade, a glam-rocker modeled upon
David Bowie – someone with whom
Rougvie worked in real life as a self-pro-
fessed “music industry weasel.” Rougvie’s
credentials also include work with Elvis
Costello, Big Star, Devo, the Replacements,
and other heavy hitters of the alternative
underground. Gunning for Hits’ first issue
arrived in January, so call your local comics
shop to hold a copy while waiting for the
arrival of issue two this month. As a minor
aside, modeling the book’s title visuals
after the once-ubiquitous “compact disc
digital audio” logo is a period-perfect
touch. (www.gunningforhits.com)