Ed Stenger sensibly suggested I put each chapter as a new post saving readers scrolling down all the time. didn't know I could do that. Thanks again, Ed.
Legends of Brocklehurst - Chapter 4
It was a long
letter getting me up to date with his life since we had last met.On the first page Neil wrote.
" How wonderful to hear from you, how terrible to hear from you where you are ! I hope you are serving your incarceration with your sense of humour intact. I am glad to hear a modest post card could do you some good in there as I will never forget your generosity ( how I appreciated and needed those occasional " fivers " you pressed upon me ) Not to mention your refusal to consider my request to get involved in your clandestine occupations. Fear of destitution will remove any principals of ethics and morals. I certainly learned that and but for your open heartedness I may have ended up where you are now. No condescension meant here, as I say it could easily have been me, more than once it has been the lack of nerve that has kept me honest. "
My
request for a few signed post cards was also answered. However when
it came to the geezer who was such a fan that he changed his name,
Neil wrote “I am glad my father never
named me after one of his favourites like Frank or Bing. Remember fan
is short for fanatic, and a fanatic shot John Lennon. Keep this guy
away from me “ There was no signed post card for Mr. Rush !
For those who
know of Neil’s “letters to Brutus”, another friend of his who
also ended up in prison, you will realize what a wonderful writer of
letters Neil is, and how his script cheered me up.
When I was
released from prison I returned to Manchester, and was able to write
some longer letters to Neil. In prison I had been limited to four
sides of fairly small paper. Neil’s excellently written scripts,
over a period of time, changed from being hand written to being
printed on a word processor. I seem to recall some of the early ones
being in a peculiar purple colour. I was slowly becoming aware that
Rush were a very successful band. To quote Mr. Peart “We have been
successful on our own terms, which is nice” I understood this to
mean they only recorded material they had written. I had also
discovered that my old mate was responsible for the lyrics to their
music.
Some time during the next year, I guess around May 1985, I heard
from Neil that Rush were visiting England to do some recording at the
Manor Studio in Oxford. (Power Windows ?) He also informed me that he
would like to travel up to Manchester one Saturday, and spend an
evening with Jackie, and I. At last I was to meet my old friend. I
have to admit I was very excited, not that he was now a member of a
recording band, but just the thought of seeing my lanky Canadian
friend again.
The day eventually arrived. I stood in
Piccadilly train station wondering if I would recognize him after all
those years. Would he have all the trappings of a rock star? Adorned
with long hair, and wild clothes? We recognized
each other immediately. However Neil looked nothing like your typical
rock musician. He had very short hair, baggy dark trousers, and a
light blue kagool. We hugged each other, smiled a little nervously,
but within minutes it felt like we had never been apart. A situation
that would manifest itself each time we were to meet, no matter how
long it had been since we had last seen each other.
We drove back to
my flat in an old van I had borrowed. Neil told me what a pleasure it
had been to travel on a train, and no one knew who he was. Something, he
said, wouldn’t be possible back home in Toronto. I couldn’t help
wondering if he was slightly over stating his band’s popularity. We arrived at my
ground floor flat, and Neil met my live in girl friend, Jackie. I had
previously told him that the basement flat was inhabited by a 60’s
pop drummer. A guy called Bernie Dwyer who had played with Freddie
and the Dreamers. After getting up to date with what had been
happening in each others lives, Neil announced he would like to
take us for a meal that night. However he seemed to be very
interested to meet Bernie. I suggested we popped down to my local
pub, The Barleycorn, where I knew Bernie would be. True to form
Bernie was sat on his usual stool by the bar holding court. He was a
lovely, lovely guy with a wicked sense of humour. Generous to a fault
but not guy you would take liberties with. Bernie could look after
himself. Sadly he passed away a few years ago. Amazingly Neil
seemed a little in awe of this 60’s pop star, but Bernie soon made
him very welcome, and they got on like a house on fire, swapping tales
of touring with bands. Once again Neil said how good it was to be
able to have a drink, and relax without being bothered by fans. Again
I thought this was a little over the top. As far as I knew, no one in
the pub had even heard of Rush, never mind knew what Neil looked
like.
I couldn’t
have been more wrong ! A very good friend of mine called Chris Lea
was a massive fan. I had no idea at the time, and Chris, who was in
The Barleycorn that evening hadn’t a clue his hero was stood by the
bar. I saw Chris a couple of times but thought maybe because I was in
company he didn’t come over. Chris remembers the situation rather
differently. He says he can’t recall seeing the four of us, but
even if he had, the thought that Neil Peart could possibly be in his
local, would never have crossed his mind.
I will tell more of
that later in this story.
We had an enjoyable meal
at a small inexpensive local restaurant that I chose. I often wondered
in later years when I found out just how wealthy Neil was, what he
thought of my choice.We returned to our flat, and had a drink as
we reminisced. We had only one bed room, but Neil insisted he would be
alright sleeping on a single mattress in the living room. As Jackie
and I went to bed we left this famous drummer reading a book. I was
to find out later Neil was a prolific reader, and very knowledgeable
about all sorts of authors and their history. I still wasn’t
aware that one of the best rock drummers in the world was curled up
on my living room floor. The next day after breakfast, rather than
let Neil travel by train, I drove him back to Oxford in the borrowed
van. This was the reason I had borrowed it so we could travel back to the recording studio. It was just like the old days, my Canadian friend, and I
travelling along the motorways. Nothing had changed, we talked all
the way there, and Neil acted as navigator in the latter stages.
The Manor studio
was a lot different to the tiny one English Rose had used back those
days in London. It was set in its own grounds, and was an impressive
old building. Richard Branson was the owner, and it was interesting to hear
the staff say when he visited the studio, he knew all their names and
chatted with them. A story I was to hear many times over the years
with his various companies.
Neil was recording that afternoon
so he asked if I would like to hang around, and watch. He also
introduced me to the other two members of Rush, Alex Lifeson and
Geddy Lee, plus some people connected with the band. Just before he
started recording Neil gave me a cheque as repayment for those odd
fivers I had given in him London all those years ago. I won't say
what the amount was but the rate of interest was much more than I
would have got from a bank ! I stayed a while
but as Neil was working, and it wasn't really my kind of music, I said my goodbyes, and headed home to
Manchester.
Later that year Rush came back over to London to, I
think, mix the new album. I am not sure but maybe it was at a studio
called Sarne Street East. I travelled down to London, and we had a
wonderful meal in a little French restaurant. That was one occasion
when I hoped to spend all evening with Neil but he had to back in the
studio by around ten, so our evening ended a little early for me.
The telephone
has never been Neil’s favoured mode of contact, I have only spoken
to him by phone a few times in all the years we have known each
other, but we kept in touch regularly by post over the next few
months.. No internet in those days.
Legends of Brocklehurst - Chapter 5
Later that year,
probably in the summer, the Barleycorn social club went on a boozy
weekend trip to the Isle of Man, a small island off the N. W. of England. There was around forty of us
including regulars and staff.
On the Saturday
evening I was sat in the hotel bar with the rest of our group. Chris
Lea was beside me and Bernie Dwyer ( the old Freddie and the Dreamers drummer ) a couple of seats away. Chris’s
version is slightly different to mine, but I defer to his excellent
memory. I knew Chris was a graphic designer, and some how in the
conversation I mentioned I knew someone who had got in trouble who
designed album covers, Neil had told me Hugh Syme, the guy
responsible for their album artwork, had been jailed for fraud. Neil
seems to have a few good friends who fell foul of the law !
When Chris asked
me who I was referring to, I told him. Immediately Chris’s attitude
changed. He seemed suspicious that I had even heard of Hugh Syme.
Bernie, being the loveable rogue he was, caught on, and started to
wind Chris up by asking me who else I knew from Canada. By now Bernie
was aware that Chris was into Rush, but not to what degree.
Sensing there
could be a laugh to be had, but not sure why, I went on to tell Chris,
I didn’t know the unfortunate Mr. Syme, but was an old friend of the
group’s drummer. Convinced now that this was a wind up, probably
instigated by his work mates who knew of his love of all things Rush,
and were on the trip. Chris started to ask me questions. Like what
the drummer was called ? “Neil Peart”, I replied pronouncing it correctly. What were the
names of their albums etc? I couldn’t name one, but assured him I
was telling the truth. More questions bombarded me, but the clincher
was when Chris asked me if Neil wrote to me, and if so what was
special about the writing paper. My reply floored him.
“The paper has
from “The desk of Neil Peart” printed on the top”, I answered.
Apparently year’s earlier, letters to a magazine from Neil, had
shown this to be true.
Mr Lea totally
bewildered, but now convinced I really did know this god of rock, just
sat there in disbelief, shaking his head. Bernie, with perfect timing,
then went on to drop the bomb shell, not only had he met Neil in
Manchester earlier that year, but they had had a drink in the
Barleycorn. To make matters even worse he added that Chris had been
in the pub on the night in question, and had only been a few feet away
from Neil. Chris’s face was a picture.
Crestfallen, distraught,
unbelieving and in a total state of shock the poor guy just kept
repeating “Never, never, I can’t believe it, Neil Peart was in my
pub, AND I was there without knowing”
Ironically this
bit of good natured leg pulling was to have a profound effect on
Chris’s life in the future .
After a couple
of stiff drinks and a little time Chris pulled himself together and
went on to tell me just how brilliant and successful a band Rush
were. He also told me my old mate was one of the best rock drummers
in the world, if not the best. Now it was my
turn to be gob smacked. Chris reeled off album after album. The fact
that Rush were extraordinarily highly regarded in rock circles the
world over was beginning to sink in. We talked, and drank into the
early hours, oblivious to the rest of our party. I wanted to know
every little detail about Neil and his band.
When Chris
eventually went to bed that Sunday morning, he could be heard
mumbling “Neil Peart was in my pub”, shaking his head in
disbelief. I in turn could hardly take in just what my colonial
cousin had achieved,
Neil and I kept
in touch over the next year or so. He sent me all sorts of printed
matter about the band, a brochure of The Chalet Studio, where they
recorded, and kept me up to date with their progress. Copies of
Drummer magazine, where not only was he a regular writer, but also
had his picture on one of the covers. My friend really was a rock
star. In return I kept Neil up to date with my life, and my criminal enterprises. By now I was involved in a crime called L F's. Long firm fraud, which is company fraud aimed at building up maximum credit, then disappearing leaving unpaid accounts. For obvious reasons I couldn't go into too many details, so in some ways Neil wasn't totally aware of the level of criminality I was operating at.
In the meantime
on arrival home from The Isle of Man, Chris came round to my flat
laden with Rush albums, and over a period of weeks we listened to them
with Chris explaining all he could about each song. To be honest, the
music wasn’t my cup of tea, and I found a lot of it very heavy
going. But my friend was playing the drums and had written the words,
so I had an avid interest from that point of view.
Each time Neil
wrote he always finished by writing “say hello to Bernie”. In my
letters I told of this guy in Manchester who was a big fan, and was
kindly leading me through their music. Also knowing Neil’s
wonderful sense of humour, I related the story of that night in The
Isle of Man when Bernie, and I had wound Chris up, and his reaction to
realizing Neil had been in the Barleycorn without Chris knowing.
With typical
Peart humour, and loving the story, Neil in one of his missives added
to his usual “hello to Bernie,” “and say hi to Chris “ When I showed
this to Chris, his reaction was priceless. I could never have
believed those few words could have meant so much. I suspect Neil
did, and typical of the man, that was probably why he wrote them.
Neil and Chris
are very similar in many ways. Both have artistic ability, and
interest in most things connected to art. Both have excellent recall.
Very funny guys who once they have decided you are a friend, then it
is for life. Unlike many people I know they also accept my many
mistakes in life, and are not judgemental about my criminal past. I
gauge my friends by how I feel when we meet. Whether I saw them last
week, or many months or even years ago, I always get a warm feeling
meeting certain people. These two are very high on that particular
list.
Oh, and did I
forget to say they both play the drums?
Also they were
to have a very tragic time in their lives within a few months of each
other.
The trans
Atlantic mail continued to flow. I felt very sorry for Neil having to
try and decipher my atrocious hand writing, but he seemed to do so
without too much complaint. No word processor for me in those days. One morning sometime in 1987, I received a telegram from Neill.
Rush were touring Canada, and North America, and he wanted me to ring
him in America. The person I had to ask for was called, Hank
Kimble.
I made the call,
asked for Mr. Kimble, and was put through. Not really knowing what to
say I sort of mumbled that Neil Peart had asked me to speak to this
guy Kimble. A recognizable laugh boomed down the phone as Neil
announced he was Mr. Kimble. This was the name he was using on the
tour as not to be bothered by fans. A ploy I was to find out was used
by all three members of Rush while on the road. After a little
small talk ( I said Neil wasn’t one for talking on the phone, ) he
announced that Rush were to tour Great Britain, and Europe the coming
spring, and would I be interested in some work ? I said “yes” and
with no more ado Neil told me the details would be posted to me, bade
farewell and hung up.
As I sat there
reflecting what I may have let myself in for, I felt sure I was too
old for humping gear around, I thought of Chris. We arranged to meet
in the Barleycorn that evening, and I told him of my news.
Understandably his first reaction was he would see his favourite band
again. Then he got excited for me as well. We sat drinking and trying
to guess what my duties would be, where they would play, and a hundred
other thoughts on this news. Over the next
few weeks Chris, and I spent a lot of time trying to work out where
Rush would play, how many shows, and how long “my tour” would be.
I then had a
letter from Neil telling me my job in fact was to drive him
independently of the rest of the band. While Alex, Geddy, and the
main players of the Rush entourage would either travel by limo, train,
or fly, we were to do the whole trip by road. Neil and I would be
travelling together in a car. The financial arrangements were Neil
could spend half of Alex and Geddy’s expenses on his travel
expenses. This was to be the first time Neil had travelled
independently of the others while touring anywhere.
Now I got really
excited, the thought of us driving possibly thousands of miles
together would just be like an improved version of those old days. Mr
Peart’s thinking was we could travel in a “smallish saloon”,
while Alex and Geddy were chauffeur driven in a limo, and thus avoid
the attention of the fans. I knew a guy who had a fairly new Audi. I
suggested to Neil we could maybe hire it for the duration of the
tour. For some reason that idea got no reply in the next letter
I received
I was soon to
find out why.
A few days later
a package arrived in the post. It had a booklet in with all the tour
locations, which hotels we would stay in. All the information was
there about each venue, and when Neil and I ( and the others ) would
be travelling, and how.
On the front it
said
Rush Hold
Your Fire Tour ‘88 Europe & UK
The
dates were as follows.
April
Thurs. 21st NEC Birmingham
Sat,
23rd NEC Birmingham
Sun. 24th NEC Birmingham
Tues, 26th SEC
Glasgow
Thur. 28th Wembley Arena, London
Fri. 29th Wembley
Arena, London
Sat. 30th, Wembley Arena, London
May
Mon.
2nd Ahoy Sportshall Rotterdam
Wed 4th Festhalle, Frankfurt
Thur.
5th Hans Martin Schleyer Hall, Stuttgart.
Three nights in the
NEC, three nights at Wembley arena, just how big are these guys?
I would find out
in April.
I have posted two chapters this time as I have commitments next week, so there won't be another post for a fornight.
