My Effin’ Life – Geddy Lee – Book Review by Dawn Osborne

Sometimes you get the impression that biographies are sugar coating someone’s life, this is not one of those biographies. It is honest, humble, full of information and provides the backstory, not only to Geddy Lee’s life, but also to all of Rush’s albums and a lot of their tours. Whilst Geddy admits that he has a few blackout periods, where, for whatever reason, time or recreational activities, he cannot remember everything, they are relatively few, as the book is jam packed full of information making this a much more substantial publication than a lot of rock n roll biographies.

What people might not be expecting is that the book opens with a very full chapter on the Holocaust as Geddy’s parents were caught up in it and actually met each other in one of the Nazi death camps. Obviously these events were such that they made an indelible mark on their psyche and, therefore, on his. Not only that, but the resultant emigration of his parents away from Poland to Canada inevitably put him in the place that gave birth to Rush. Without the way these  momentous events turned out, neither Geddy nor Rush may have been born.

Being in Canada exposed Geddy to the British Invasion, the Beatles, Kinks and Stones and later The Grateful Dead, Cream, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Genesis. An accident of losing a lottery meant he took up the bass. All the events and influences that led up to the creation of Rush are detailed in the book, although strangely not how the name was chosen. So no confirmation of the story that the name came as a result of them running out of time when a name was needed, although the point is made that as the rock n roll lifestyle progressed the name became more apposite. The story of the brief period that the band was a foursome is told in full.

How the band progressed, changed line up, got a record deal and significant support slots is told in sufficient detail to demonstrate the hard work and dedication required to get to that stage, but the book is not short on touring war stories and the fun that was had along the way with characters like Ozzy making an appearance. There are a few Spinal Tap moments when things did not go as planned on stage and humorous stories about when the group inadvertently strayed into creating an image. There are no groupie stories, Geddy was married and stayed married to the same woman most of his life, but there’s plenty of evidence of indulgences of various medicinal sorts (they supported Aerosmith!) The stories about Gene Simmons alone make this book worth reading for anyone interested in KISS.

Downsides? Not many. Some of the photos and their captions are not very big, but there are also large photos and the rarity of them, many of them from Geddy’s own archive make this literally a small issue. I found the separation out of so many footnotes a bit distracting and would have preferred it all in the main text, again not really a killer. There is exhaustive detail about producers and time in the studio to get the right sounds which will make the book especially attractive to musicians, but most Rush fans will not only have the patience for this, but probably also be fascinated. I, particularly, found amazing how the band reflected sounds outdoors across lakes and mountains.

The book is especially valuable as an insight into Geddy’s character and he takes a long hard look at himself throughout. Full of details such as how the rest of the band were neat earth signs astrologically, but Geddy is a Leo living in disarray are charming and amusing. He displays a lot of self knowledge about his perfectionism and tendency to obsess on details which feeds into a lot of detail about albums and tours giving perfect insight into how Rush material developed. Describing as goofy many features of the later tours where inflatable bunnies, household appliances and chicken roasters were all employed on stage, how much fun the band were having between themselves and fans is all explained.

The story continues to the end. Health problems in the band, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the sad premature death of Neil Pearl due to a brain tumour and the personal effect on everyone around him including Geddy himself.

Set to be a definitive text on the band that each have asteroids named after them, the book is down to earth and real. Geddy never really acts or treats himself as a star. Ultimately his recognition of the band’s own humanity makes him an eminently likeable and interesting read.

Dawn Osborne