Drummer Pip Pyle Dies
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Drummer Philip “Pip” Pyle died in a Paris hotel room on Monday aged 56. Born in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire in 1950, he was a key member of the Canterbury scene and played in Hatfield and the North, Gong and National Health, three bands that traced their evolution back to the work of Soft Machine and Caravan. His career, combining progressive rock and jazz, spanned a lifetime’s worth of music. His death came three days after performing with a reformed Hatfield and the North in Holland.
Beyond his role as a percussionist Pyle was a noted lyricist, penning many of Hatfield of the North’s songs, including their only single 'Let’s Eat (Real Soon).' After years of touring and recording with Soft Machine alumni Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper he issued his only solo album, Seven Years Itch, in 1998. For that album, Pyle managed to assemble a group of artists synonymous with the Canterbury scene, John Greaves, Richard Sinclair, Dave Stewart, Phil Miller, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and Barbra Gaskin, to name a few. Throughout the 1990s, Pyle continued to tour with Gong and joined US progressive trio Absolute Zero in 1999. His last tour came about as a result of Hatfield and the North's reforming in 2005. Fellow band member Richard Sinclair told The Independent that Pyle’s final concert in Groningen was the best the band had performed since it had got back together, Pyle, by all accounts, played particularly well that evening. He is survived by a son and a daughter.