My Effin' Life

My Effin' Life by Geddy Lee

Before jumping into his rock and roll memoir, Geddy starts with a narrative of his parents' experience in the holocaust. They were Polish Jews who survived the experience (unlike many of their family members that were killed.) After their immigration to Canada, Geddy's experience in the Toronto suburbs begin. Geddy Lee is a mangling of the English version of his original Yiddish name. As a Jew he was on the outcast of youth culture. He took to the bass, while also smoking and eventually doing drugs. He was in the same class as Rick Moranis, but they were not super close. He did befriend future Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (who also changed his name from the Serbian original.) After bouncing around a few bands, they formed Rush, only for Geddy to be kicked out and later rejoin. John Rustey, their original drummer left the band shortly after their first album. (He was having trouble and there seemed to be a mixture of him stressing and the other bandmates not liking his behavior.) They auditioned drummers and lined up Neil Peart, and the rest his history. They had plenty of the usual rock and roll things. There were plenty of drugs. (Though Geddy admits enough was enough and he ended up quitting drugs and smoking.) All the band members were married and stayed together, with the only second marriage being after Peart's first wife's death. The touring life while married was challenging, but they were able to get through it after counseling.  There were various challenges on the tour, including roadies that had various personal issues. They also had challenges with recording and the business side of things. Rush is a little different from the typical rock band, and this memoir is a bit different, though much is similar to others.