All The World's A Stage

Recording
Recorded at Massey Hall, Toronto
June 11, 12, 13, 1976
Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
Engineered by Terry Brown
Recorded by the Fedco Mobile Unit
Mixed at Toronto Sound Studios, Toronto, Canada
Tape operator - Ken Morris

The Show
Roadmaster and stage lighting director
Howard (Herns) Ungerleider
Concert sound engineer and centre stage technician
Major Ian Grandy
Stage right technician - Liam (Leebee) Birt
Stage left technician - Skip (Slider) Gildersleeve
Concert sound by National Sound Inc.
Tom (Joe) Linthicum
Julian (Julio) Wilkes
Jim (Bozo) Swartz
Mike (Lurch) Hirsch
Concert lighting by Atlantis Systems
Tim Pace
Tom (Domenic) D'Ambrosia
Mark (Angelo) Cherry
Concert Presentation by CHUM FM and Martin Onrot
Booking Agency - ICM (International Creative Management)
Responsible agent - Greg McCutcheon
Canada - Music Shoppe International
Responsible agent - Doug Brown
Personal Management - Ray Danniels and Vic Wilson
Executive production - Moon Records

Graphics - Hugh Syme
Photography - David Street

A personal thank you to good times on the road, to the cities and people of Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland, Detroit, and (of course) Toronto. Also to Larry Bailey, Rick Ringer, Shelley Grafman, Steve Sybesma and Sunshine, Windy City, Joe Anthony, Lou Roney, Mel Sharp, Charlie Applegate, Roger and Ginny Sayles, Jim and Julie Stritmatter, Uncle Cliff Burnstein, Mike Bone, Jim Taylor, Peter Talbot and the Vashon Islanders, Steve Shutt, Rod Serling, Rhonda Ross, The Sunset Marquis, June and Ward Cleaver, The Sleeping Broon, Miss Anne, The Bag, The Lizzies, Chivas Regal, Tennis, Dead Fly Cookies, and Becker's Chocolate Milk.

Also thanks to Walt Johnston and Gibson Guitars for musical instrument contributions.

This album consists of the show which we brought to you during our North American Tours of 1976. It is an anthology of what we feel to be the high points of our concerts and recordings up to this time.

It is not perfect, but it is faithful to us and to you. We have tried to strike a careful balance between perfection and authenticity, and to create a finished work that you may enjoy, and we may be proud of. This album to us, signifies the end of the beginning, a milestone to mark the close of chapter one, in the annals of Rush.

To all our friends everywhere, we we thank you for your friendship and support, and wish you success in all your aspirations.

Alex     Geddy     Neil

© 1976 Mercury Records © 1976 Anthem Entertainment

Notes

  • Mercury/Polygram, September 29, 1976
  • Highest Billboard Chart Position: 40 - Certified Gold by RIAA: November 16, 1977 - Certified Platinum: March 4, 1981
  • The first double live Canadian album to be certified gold in Canada.
  • The live "Fly By Night"/"In The Mood" promo single, backed by "Something For Nothing", was released November 29, 1977.
  • "What You're Doing" was dropped due to space limitations from the original CD release of All the World's A Stage, while "A Passage To Bangkok" was similarly dropped from Exit...Stage Left. Both tracks were brought back on the Rush Remasters and subsequent reissues which use newer CD technology with larger capacity. Those tracks first appeared on CD on the Chronicles compilation in 1990.
  • While introducing Rush during the "Canada For Asia" charity television telethon which aired January 13th, 2005, actor/comedian Mike Myers claimed that at 4:01 of "Bastille Day" on All The World's A Stage, the voice that screams out when the music abruptly stops is that of his brother who is yelling "Nighthawk!", the name of his then-current band.
  • The chrome Slingerland drumkit pictured on the cover was the first kit purchased by Neil Peart after joining Rush, and is heard on Fly By Night through 2112. The kit was retired by Neil at the close of the All The World's A Stage tour in June '77, replacing it with the black chrome kit first used on A Farewell To Kings. The kit was awarded to the winner of a Modern Drummer drum solo contest in July, 1987, which was judged by Neil. The original winner eventually auctioned off the chrome kit at Main Drag Music in Brooklyn New York on August 9th, 2009, for $25,100.
  • Reissued March 17, 2015 by Universal Music Enterprises on 200-gram, heavyweight vinyl with a download code for a 320kbps MP4 vinyl ripped Digital Audio album as well as high resolution Digital Audio editions in DSD (2.8mHz), 192khz / 24-bit, 96kHz / 24-bit.
  • Click here for the 'All The World's A Stage' Transcript Archive.

In Their Own Words

"With 2112, we felt we had reached a first plateau. We had realized the goals we set for ourselves before the second album (when Peart replaced the band's former drummer, John Rutsey). Musically, it looked like a logical place to do a live album. We had four albums' worth of material honed down into a live show. And the record company was hot for a live album." - Neil Peart, Circus Magazine, November 25, 1976
"I personally was in favour of a single live album, not a two record set, but the argument was put forward, seeing as how our gigs last for one-and-a-half hours - 'If it's good enough to play live, why not put it on record?' There was no answer to that, so I acquiesced. In retrospect, I'm glad we did it, I don't find it oppressive being a double and I love the packaging. I would be very happy to own an album of that type if I was a man-on-the-street, and I guess that's what counts." - Neil Peart, Sounds, July 16, 1977
"My snare drum broke in the middle of '2112' and my playing got so intense because I was so mad. I was just so beside myself. And I learned a long time ago that anger is an excellent inspiration. I remember that the window of my car was broken, and I had to cover it with plastic - it was parked outside Massey Hall. I remember so much of the time and what it was like." - Neil Peart, RollingStone.com, June 30, 2015
"Notoriously the live album had much better versions than the studio record [cites live albums by Peter Frampton, Thin Lizzy, UFO, KISS, Rush and Cheap Trick]. For people in our generation, they absolutely were career breakers...Rush broke England on All The World's A Stage, and for us growing up as kids in England, these albums started people's careers off, then you'd go back and get the studio albums, and you'd listen to them and go 'oh dear, they're not as good as the live albums'...I think it's what you hear first is what you get used to." - Def Leppard's Joe Elliot, Rockline, May 11, 2011

Promos

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