HomeSince the Winter Olympics are back in the spotlight, I wanted to share something truly special—and quite rare—from the archives.
I originally posted this on my Freedom of Music website about 25 years ago. However, since SRO/Anthem asked me to take that site down shortly after, there is a good chance you haven't heard this.
In 1987, Alex Lifeson teamed up with Triumph's Rik Emmett, jazz legend Ed Bickert, and classical guitarist Liona Boyd. Calling themselves the Canadian Guitar Summit, they recorded "Beyond Borders" for a flexi-disc included in the July issue of Guitar Player magazine. While that specific recording is relatively easy to find online, what I have for you today is much more elusive.
The following year, Alex reunited with Rik and Liona to record "Hands of Man" for the tribute album Dream On The Horizon: A Tribute To The Olympic Spirit, released in support of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
The album contains a version with vocals by Joel Wade, and an instrumental version featuring just the three guitarists. The instrumental version is the one I’ve uploaded here. Though "Hands of Man" was briefly available as a 7" single, it has largely faded into obscurity. The track was written by Boyd, who later gave a "special thanks to Alex Lifeson" in the liner notes of her album Dancing On the Edge.
