Pip Pyle

Phillip "Pip" Pyle (* 4. April 1950 in Sawbridgeworth , Hertfordshire , † 28. August 2006 in Paris ) was an English drummer , the first in bands of the Canterbury sound blues rock and progressive rock later, and (especially in France) fusion music played . He was a member of Hatfield and the North and National Health , among others .

Live and act

Pyle, who already knew Phil Miller from kindergarten, founded Bruno's blues band with him and his brother Steve in 1966 , from which the blues-rock formation Delivery developed, in which Pyle played until 1970. Then he was the drummer for Chicken Shack and Khan for a short time . In 1971 his colleague Robert Wyatt asked him to take his place on Daevid Allen's solo album Banana Moon . Then Pyle played in Allen's group Gong for eight months and was also involved in their albums Camembert Électrique and Continental Circus (in the 1990s he played again in the band). In 1972 he accompanied the singer Paul Jones .

Then Pyle, Steve and Phil Miller got back together and formed - with Richard Sinclair and Dave Stewart - Delivery again, which they renamed Hatfield and the North shortly afterwards (after a highway sign ) . For the band, which released an album in 1974 and 1975, Pyle also wrote a lot of lyrics.

He then played with part of the band at National Health , but was also active with Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean in the Soft Heap project, where he dealt with the jazz idiom for the first time. He also played with Phil Miller's In Cahoot since 1982 . In 1984 he met the pianist Sophia Domancich , with whom he had a steady relationship for several years. She also became a member of his band Equip'Out , with whom he went on tour and recorded several albums, some of which Paul Rogers and Elton Dean were also involved in. In 1998 he released his critically acclaimed solo album "Seven Year Itch", which featured musicians such as Miller, Sinclair, Stewart, Dean, Hopper, Jakko Jakszyk, Barbara Gaskin, John Greaves , François Ovide, Lydia Domancich, Fred T. Baker , Paul Rogers , Michel Godard and Didier Malherbe participated.

In his group Bash! At the beginning of the 21st century, the French guitarist Patrice Meyer , keyboardist Alex Maguire and Fred T. Baker played. In 2005 and 2006 there was a revival of Hatfield and the North for some concerts . The group played their last concert on August 26th in Groningen , two days before Pyle's death in a Paris hotel.

Discographic notes

• Up! (1991, with Elton Dean, Sophia Domancich and Paul Rogers)
• 7 Years Itch (1991-1997)
• Equipe Out (1999)
• Bash! (2002-2003, partly with Elton Dean)

Web links

• Biography and Discography (English)
• Calyx Biography (English)
• Review of 7 Years Itch
• Review of Bash!
• Interview with Pip Pyle (English)
• Obituary in The Guardian