On this day 46 years ago in 1977 RUSH A Farewell To Kings was released by Mercury Records.

** Note: Three new photos are added at the end of this publication from the show I attend at the Calgary Stampede Corral on Sunday, September 11, 1977.

Please use this document to prove this fact and share everywhere today in celebration of the 46th Anniversary. Thank you, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart aka The Holy Triumvirate. I remember.

Image taken from r/rush on Reddit.

Canadian Tour ad.

"The release date is also on the copyright record", comment and record copy courtesy Claire of This Day in Rush History on Twitter 𝕏. The Sault Star news ad also with thanks to Claire provided to me August 20th, 2023, "online source is a paid source called Newspapers.com. [N]ewspaper for Sault Saint Marie which is the Sault Star News August 16, 1977 issue". North Bay news ad as well.

The very first picture on the RPM archives.

Billboard Album Radio Action

Playlist Top Ad Ons •Top Requests/Airplay★Regional & National Breakouts

**BASED ON STATION PLAYLISTS THROUGH Wednesday 8/31/1977**

· Top Ad Ons:

Midwest Region

RUSH A Farewell to Kings (Mercury)

KADI-FM St. Louis (Peter Parisi)

KWST-FM Los Angeles (Charlie Kendall)

WABX-FM Detroit (Dennis Cavender)

WJKL-FM Elgin/Chicago (Tom Marker/Wally Leisering)

WMMR-FM (Paul Fuhr)

WMMS-FM Cleveland (John Gorman)

WRAS-FM Atlanta (John Wynne)

WZMF-FM Milwaukee (Don Rockwell)

P. 26 Billboard Magazine September 10, 1977

Billboard’s Recommended LP’s

Pop

RUSH-A Farewell To Kings, Mercury SRM 11184.This trio has

abated its heavy metal thunder somewhat for a lavishly or-

chestrated extravaganza that has a rock opera feel to it. Only

six tracks but each deftly interwoven with mythological, ga-

lactic imagery backed by a raft of guitar and synthesizer. Best

cuts: "A Farewell To Kings," "Xanadu," "Closer To The

Heart," "Cygnus X-1."

P. 60 of Top Album Picks

CASHBOX Ad Ons – Saturday September 3, 1977

WIOO-FM-PHILADELPHIA-Helen Leich

P. 22

Record World – Saturday August 20, 1977

Fall Product Previewed at Mercury Meet

CHICAGO-

The six album Au-

gust release for Phonogram, Inc./

Mercury Records was unveiled

During an audio/visual presenta-

tion Friday evening, August5, at

the Phonogram/Mercury national

promotion meeting. The release

includes Ips by Rush, ThinLizzy,

Con Funk Shun, City Boy, Reba

McEntire, and Patrick Gleeson's

electronic interpretation of the

music from "Star Wars."On Sat-

urday (6),future albums for fall

release were previewed...

The new Rush album, "A Fare-

Well To Kings, "will be released

Late in the month, and is the fol-

Low up to their near-gold "All

The World's A Stage."The mar-

keting compaign will include

trade advertising as well as a

heavy consumer print campaign,

and also local print ads. There

will also be a special on the

group in Performance Magazine

following release of "A Farewell

To Kings."Rush, which recently

Switched to ATI for bookings, be-

Gins a cross-country headlining

Tour in late September.

P.22.

On Saturday August 19th, 2023 I put out the question to the Facebook page RUSH Facts N’ Photos run Donald Gadziola that I was searching for resources regarding the release of A Farewell to Kings which I knew was not the common online celebration of September 1, 1977. More and more, a number of us fans are dedicating personal time to find back up evidence through archives and personal memorabilia as we wish to correct misconceptions and bad data reading publications and release dates of RUSH records.

This is a personal anecdotal conversation of which I am still looking for more information:

Ten days countdown begins towards the 46th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest RUSH records of all time...

On that note, I am searching for resources for this particular event. If anyone here can get me in contact with someone who may know about this or even have the footage, posters, advertisements etc., please connect with me.

A Toronto based film called "A World of Rock" with Rush (directed by Bruce Gowers). Associate producers Candi Cazau and Beverley Bowen), Ian Thomas (Hugh Syme played in this band) and The Stampeders. Introduced by a one hour show titled "Rock Times Three" (Rush, Anthem Records). This was done by Mel Shaw Productions and GlobaI Television Ontario.

RPM Magazine January 21, 1978.

By the date of this publication RUSH A Farewell to Kings album sat at number 18 on the Canadian charts up from 22 the week before and was on the top 100 for 8 weeks by then.

Anthem (Polydor) ANR-1010 (also recorded as ANB-1010Q and AN4-1010Q. this is a picture of my original Canadian pressing.

Vic Wilson Producer went to MIDEM in California representing Anthem and his companies Core Entertainment and Mark-Caine Music. Credited for helping to bring AFTK to Platinum Status.

There are no RPM mags uploaded online between July 16, 1977 and January 1978 that I can find.

A Farewell To Kings by Mercury SRM-11184 show as add ons the week of September 10th on US radio stations "based on station playlists through Wednesday 08/31**" and was put on WMMS-FM Cleveland by john Gorman this week and is listed as a "Top Add On in the Midwest Region". So this make it clear AFTK was issued in August 1977 and not September.

Anybody got copies of SRO, Anthem and/or Mercury dox you would be willing to give copies to me?

On Cygnus-X1 it' is listed that AFTK Tour began August 20, 1977 in Sudbury and also states August 20th in RUSH: Wandering the Face of The Earth (p. 11) but an ad in Billboard states the tour began September 6, 1977 in Thunder Bay. However, in RUSH WTFOTHE p. 136 at the show August 23, 1977 at the CNE it is quoted that "GEDDY (ONSTAGE): "This is a song that takes place u there. In the constellation of Cygnus". By this, we can make a probable conclusion that RUSH bumped up the date of the AFTK tour and the Billboard was made null and void. What do you think considering the August 20th "NOTES" state "The opening date of the A Farewell To Kings Tour 'presumably' featured the live debut of 'A Farewell To Kings', 'Closer to The Heart' and 'Cygnus-X1'". The only way to prove any of this is from copies of original Setlists and/or Bootlegs recordings. I'm going to bring this further to my friend who may be able to assist with bootleg recordings but he is not on Facebook.

I am collaborating with another fan who runs the This Day in Rush History on Twitter as we are both your basic "Rush historians researchers chicks" and while amateurs in a humble acclamation (for me anyways), we work together now and then to locate and cite historical documents and resources. We both are advocating for the true release date of A Farewell To Kings and want to normalize this fact on social media and eliminate the September 1977 accepted norm that is untrue. Feel free to respond in the replies here or DM me on FB or Twitter (@AliceLooknGlass).

This is my Anthem original pressing.

Ron Wilmot (Article review from Ron's personal collection provided to me over Facebook Rush Facts N' Photos August 19th, 2023. Thank you, Ron!).

The tour did start prior to album release. This review of the Aug 23rd 1977 CNE Grandstand show with 20,800 in attendance was part of the A Farewell To Kings tour. And the review mentions the album coming out the following week.

Alice Csuka

"crack the shell of their hard rock image"! "Almost half of their new show was devoted to the new advances they have made since 2112 at the turn of 1976, and in spite of intermittent drizzle, the new ideas seemed to command the allegiance of the giant crowd".

"This is still such a virgin show", Alex Lifeson told us backstage.

But it still looked like a classy lady of leisure. !!!

"Last night was different".

Here is the concert recording from August 23rd, 1977 courtesy William (By-Tor-X1 now known as “Rush Archives on YouTube and his excellent Website Forum that you can find the link in the description).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FocMe3fUzMY

Conclusion:

The evidence in this presentation unequivocally indicates that the RUSH A Farewell To Kings record was released on Monday August 29th, 1977 on Mercury Records. Please do get in touch with me if you have anything at all with regards to hard copies from the Canadian release.

Why did I want to record this information? I believe the first RUSH concert I attended was on their A Farewell To Kings tour. At least it is the show I had in the back of my mind for decades. The one I now know for certain because I found the picture taken by Ian Mark that Sunday evening of September 11, 1977 at the Calgary Stampede Corral. With much thanks to Bob Wegner who runs his Max Webster Live Website. That’s me at the front of the stage between the two boys, the one to my left in leather, to my right in plaid. I turned 13 years old that summer. Second photo is Geddy on the stage dressed as Groucho Marx and yes, Kim Mitchell is wearing pyjamas! That wouldn’t be Alex dressed up in the curly, bald headed wig and giant glasses, would it? No idea so tell me.

https://www.maxwebsterlive.ca/1977-09-11-calgary

Calgary Herald article from the show that night. Taken from Bob Wegner's Website.

The unclaimed picture that started this all that I found while searching for cached photos, retrieved and copied once discovered on Sunday evening August 14, 2022. The one that made me cry then bawl my eyes out because I knew I was there. Oh, and I think we snuck in, sorry RUSH! Two freebies for me, thanks for that. The most plausible reasoning I was given by a fellow I’ve forgotten who wrote to me, is how because this photograph is vastly different in texture, tone and clarity, as I wrote, may be picture taken by Andrew McNaughtan. It makes sense. I also have a vague and distant memory of talking to some guy in the audience about his taking pictures, so who knows, maybe I did talk to him. I sure wasn’t shy about meeting people even then.

UPDATE!

This direct quote from Donna Halper helps to clarify the question regarding the possible origin of this beautiful photograph taken at the Stampede Corral Sunday September 11, 1977 during the RUSH A Farewell To Kings tour.

Citation: Correspondence between Donna and myself, Wednesday, September 30, 2023 via Twitter 𝕏. Thank you very much, Donna.

In the music industry at that time, record companies would send out press kits to key radio stations in support of major new releases. We music directors and program directors would receive a photo (or photos) along with the press kit. These press kits also went to the key trade publications-- including Billboard, Radio & Records, and Record World. Unfortunately, the names of the staff photographers who took the photos were not usually included in the press kit. I have some of the photos in my personal collection, but the only credit on them is the name of the record company.

Here are a few more pictures from my collection in no particular order.

Taken from Mark Rotunno Different Stages Facebook page. I found this intriguing and wonder if it is an original colour photo.

**These three photographs of Alex Lifeson were added to the Facebook page "Different Stages" run by Tim Edick. "corbis" was a stock photograph company created in 1989 by Bill Gates. All pictures from that company that does not exist today are owned exclusively by Getty Images. These first two photographs are from before that takeover. The third is of unknown origin at this time.

In memory of Neil Peart, brother from another mother to Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of the "Best Band in the Galaxy" RUSH.

Thank you for my "RUSH A Farewell To Kings Journey" over the past year, guys. Love you forever, then, now and always.