Terribly sad news, Pip Pyle died in a Paris hotel at 2.00am on the morning of 28th August. He had stopped off while returning from a Hatfield & the North gig in the Netherlands by train.
We all loved Pip, everybody did. A big spirit, a big heart and a big musician. No-one who ever toured with him or counted him among their friends will ever forget the sheer joie de vivre with which he launched himself at life, and which so often sucked you along as well, I know they will all be devastated. As one of the Gongmaison musicians told me through the tears when I broke the news to him, "I had some of the best times of my life with Pip." He was at the centre and the heartbeat of so many bands and worked with so many musicians, it's like some mighty oak has fallen.
Although Pip's appearance at the Unconvention was never formalised between us (I kept putting off speaking to him because we didn't have the budget to do justice to what the Hatfields deserve), a Gong gathering without him being there was absolutely inconceivable. He was the outstanding mainstay of the 25th Birthday Party concerts in 1994, playing with nearly every band, hours of top-class drumming each day. No doubt, knowing the stature and nature of the man, he would have become central to the Melkweg event as well. Like all of us Pip had some real up and downs in his life, the past few years had seen joy of the birth of his son and the difficulty of a very serious major back operation, but throughout it all he remained just Pip, a great musician to his fingertips, always straight with you and always genuinely a brother. It is impossible to overstate just how much he will be missed. Love to all he leaves behind.
Tributes are being posted in the Forum in the Planet Gong section, that was mine. Jonny
We all loved Pip, everybody did. A big spirit, a big heart and a big musician. No-one who ever toured with him or counted him among their friends will ever forget the sheer joie de vivre with which he launched himself at life, and which so often sucked you along as well, I know they will all be devastated. As one of the Gongmaison musicians told me through the tears when I broke the news to him, "I had some of the best times of my life with Pip." He was at the centre and the heartbeat of so many bands and worked with so many musicians, it's like some mighty oak has fallen.
Although Pip's appearance at the Unconvention was never formalised between us (I kept putting off speaking to him because we didn't have the budget to do justice to what the Hatfields deserve), a Gong gathering without him being there was absolutely inconceivable. He was the outstanding mainstay of the 25th Birthday Party concerts in 1994, playing with nearly every band, hours of top-class drumming each day. No doubt, knowing the stature and nature of the man, he would have become central to the Melkweg event as well. Like all of us Pip had some real up and downs in his life, the past few years had seen joy of the birth of his son and the difficulty of a very serious major back operation, but throughout it all he remained just Pip, a great musician to his fingertips, always straight with you and always genuinely a brother. It is impossible to overstate just how much he will be missed. Love to all he leaves behind.
Tributes are being posted in the Forum in the Planet Gong section, that was mine. Jonny
E così scrive Daevid Allen:
Ahhh Pip! Yes our old mate came back to Paris from a top gig & died in his girlfriend's arms. A heroic way to go but please.... better not to go just yet! He was a totally original drum warrior & golden jester, very much loved by all of us. His contribution to the Gong band & so many of my projects was without parallel. I loved him like the true brother he was. His unfinished music & inspiring physical courage, honesty & outrageous escapades will be HUGELY missed. I'm still laughing at those mad moments through the tears. Feeling deeply particularly for old pal Pam & son Sam & for all his familiars & allies. We all send him huge THANKS!!!" - daevid
Ahhh Pip! Yes our old mate came back to Paris from a top gig & died in his girlfriend's arms. A heroic way to go but please.... better not to go just yet! He was a totally original drum warrior & golden jester, very much loved by all of us. His contribution to the Gong band & so many of my projects was without parallel. I loved him like the true brother he was. His unfinished music & inspiring physical courage, honesty & outrageous escapades will be HUGELY missed. I'm still laughing at those mad moments through the tears. Feeling deeply particularly for old pal Pam & son Sam & for all his familiars & allies. We all send him huge THANKS!!!" - daevid
Hugh Hopper: "Pip could be in turn irritating as shit and then a totally lovable teddy bear. I have experienced some of the best music of my life with him, and at other times he has been such a pain in the ass that I never wanted to see him again. Like Elton Dean, he went out as he lived - doing what he wanted, the silly bugger. I won't say Rest in Peace, because I can't imagine Pip resting in peace anywhere for more than a few minutes. He's steaming away up there with Elton and Alan Gowen. "
Dave Stewart (con Barbara Gaskin): "Barbara and I are still reeling from the shock, but these messages are a consolation. Pip had a big character, big heart and big talent, and his departure leaves an equally big, unfillable vacancy. Goodbye to a dear old friend."
Patrice Meyer: "From 94 to 2003 we've been having a regular trio practice, Elton, Pip and myself in Pip's attic at Chennevières. We reached sometimes that point of fusion which occurs when three improvisers stimulate each other to incandescence, you musicians know what I'm talking about. In these moments, none of us would ever want to be in any other place. When Elton left, Pip and I played our souls out for our missing mate. When Pip left, I stood in front of an empty drummer seat. May this house be forever haunted with all the great music that has been resounding between its walls, my band is gone."
Downtown Music Gallery diffonde questa nota:
SAD NEWS for CANTERBURY FANS WORLDWIDE ... THE PASSING OF PIP PYLE, DRUMMER EXTRAORDINAIRE for HATFIELD & THE NORTH, PIP PYLE'S EQUIP OUT, NATIONAL HEALTH, IN CAHOOTS, & THE ORIGINAL GONG!
We in New York, and so many, many others around the world, are devastated by the loss of Pip Pyle. Only recently, many lucky United-Statesians had the good fortune to see Hatfield & The North perform here. At the NYC Bowery Poetry gig, Pip looked - and played! - the picture of health, and in truly great spirits, taking good care of himself after his recent back operation and especially happy at the birth of his son.His death occurred this past Monday after checking into a Parisian hotel following a train ride from the most recent Hatfield gig in Amsterdam.Coming so soon after the taking of Elton Dean, a fellow Legend in Canterbury Music, also before his time (Pip was only 56, Elton was 61) marks 2006 an especially black year. He WILL be missed. WE already do miss him. - BLG & MannyLunch
SAD NEWS for CANTERBURY FANS WORLDWIDE ... THE PASSING OF PIP PYLE, DRUMMER EXTRAORDINAIRE for HATFIELD & THE NORTH, PIP PYLE'S EQUIP OUT, NATIONAL HEALTH, IN CAHOOTS, & THE ORIGINAL GONG!
We in New York, and so many, many others around the world, are devastated by the loss of Pip Pyle. Only recently, many lucky United-Statesians had the good fortune to see Hatfield & The North perform here. At the NYC Bowery Poetry gig, Pip looked - and played! - the picture of health, and in truly great spirits, taking good care of himself after his recent back operation and especially happy at the birth of his son.His death occurred this past Monday after checking into a Parisian hotel following a train ride from the most recent Hatfield gig in Amsterdam.Coming so soon after the taking of Elton Dean, a fellow Legend in Canterbury Music, also before his time (Pip was only 56, Elton was 61) marks 2006 an especially black year. He WILL be missed. WE already do miss him. - BLG & MannyLunch