With great sadness, we announce the unexpected passing of our friend Chuck Pyle. Rest in peace, Zen Cowboy. A Celebration of Life honoring Chuck will be held on Saturday, November 14 beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts, 304 Hwy 105 in Palmer Lake, Colorado 80133.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Chuck Pyle Memorial Fund. Donations can be sent to:
Chuck Pyle Memorial Fund
PO Box 726
Palmer Lake, CO 80133
Chuck Pyle (January 28th, 1945 — November 6th, 2015) has won high praise from both fans and peers alike throughout an inspired performance career of over 40 years. When reviewers first gave him the “Zen Cowboy” moniker, he decided to, as he says, “Always ride the horse in the direction it’s going,” and took the nickname to heart, shaving his head and blending his upbeat perspective with old-fashioned horse sense. He mixes infectiously hum-able melodies with straight-from-the-saddle poetry, quoting bumper stickers, proverbs, world leaders and old cowboys.
An accomplished songwriter, Chuck’s songs have been recorded by John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Suzy Bogguss. Country fans know him best for writing, “Cadillac Cowboy”, recorded by the late Chris LeDoux, and “Jaded Lover”, recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker.
While fans love his recordings, they adore Chuck’s live performance. The first time he made an audience laugh, he was “hooked”. A nimble guitarist, critics say his sense of rhythm is more like a fine classical, or jazz, soloist, his songwriting musically sophisticated yet full of uncluttered space. The Chuck Pyle Finger-Style approach to guitar has distinguished him as a true original, earning him invitations to teach at such prestigious events as The Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and The Swannanoa Gathering. His music has made him a favorite of Bill & Melinda Gates who have had him play at their home in Seattle. Since writing the theme-song for a PBS series called Spirit of Colorado, he’s attained local fame, and even sings for the opening session of the Colorado State Legislature.
Chuck Pyle came from Iowa in 1965 when, “Boulder was mostly gravel streets”, and resides on the front range of Colorado. He does 100 dates a year all across the country, playing festivals and theaters, coffeehouses and house concerts.
Chuck’s new album Cover Stories is a collection of tunes by some lesser-known songwriters – like Pete & Lou Berryman, Walt Wilkins, Lynn Miles and Hayes Carll – songwriters whose work has been admired by other songwriters for years. These are 12 well-crafted songs beautifully rendered in 12 great performances by Chuck Pyle in his innovative finger-style, accompanied by Gordon Burt on fiddle and Don Richmond on steel guitar, dobro & mandolin.
http://www.chuckpyle.com/news.html
“I’m a short time here
And a long time gone”
Karen Jacovetta-Carroll, on Fb, 11/07/15: I woke up this morning to some very sad and shocking news posted on Facebook, my friend the Zen Cowboy Chuck Pyle was suddenly called home yesterday. It has taken me all day to write something about my friend through all the tears and made rush of memories that have poured through me. I first met Chuck when I was bartending at the Ramada Hotel he was playing in the bar’s lounge his voice and his music was so beautiful, my favorite song that he wrote was Drifter’s Wind and he would always play it for me when he played at the hotel. He always told stories of how his songs came to be. I lost touch with him but always followed his music and this summer I got see him again and visit with him for a bit and we talked about the Ramada days and how he filled the lounge when he was there. He sang Drifter’s Wind for me and it was wonderful. Chuck was and still is an amazing song writer and musician his music, his stories, his songs and the friendships he made along the way will live on forever. I know Chuck is Keepin’ Time by the River. R.I.P. Chuck it was an honor to know you.
Chris Daniels: What sad news tonight. Chuck Pyle, one of Colorado’s most powerful and gifted songwriters died on Friday. Chuck wrote a song called “Show Me The Way” years ago and it is simply the best song I ever heard about faith. He was a friend, a great guitar player, fantastic songwriter and had a kindness that was as deep and beautiful as the rivers he loved to fish. I’m sending all my love and prayers to his family. We will all miss the Zen Cowboy. Each day is a gift and Chuck’s songs were and are a gift to us all. Big hugs, CD
Rebecca Folsom: Truly saddened by the loss of our dear Chuck Pyle. This photo [on Facebook] was taken last month when we ran into each other in the security line at Denver’s airport both heading out to do shows. It felt serendipitous and special to run into each other, and now all the more poignant. I hope he can feel all our love and admiration pouring out to him!
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ALLEN TOUSSANT, SONGWRITER/COMPOSER, INFLUENTIAL MUSICIAN, DIES
Allen Toussaint (January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter/composer, record producer, and an influential figure in New Orleans R&B from the 1950s to the end of the century. Many other musicians recorded Toussaint’s compositions, including “Working in the Coal Mine”, “Ride Your Pony”, “Fortune Teller”, “Play Something Sweet”, “Southern Nights”, “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky”, “I’ll Take a Melody”, “Get Out of My Life, Woman”, “Mother-in-Law”, and “Here Come the Girls”.
Toussaint grew up in a shotgun house in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother, Naomi Neville (whose name he later adopted pseudonymously for some of his works), welcomed and fed all manner of musicians as they practiced and recorded with her son. He learned piano as a child, and in his teens played in a band with Snooks Eaglin. A significant early influence on Toussaint was the syncopated “second-line” piano style of Professor Longhair.
After a lucky break at age 17, in which he stood in for Huey “Piano” Smith at a performance with Earl King’s band in Prichard, Alabama, Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians led by Dave Bartholomew who performed regularly at a night club, the Dew Drop Inn, on Lasalle Street in Uptown. He began performing regularly in Bartholomew’s band, and recorded with Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Lee Allen and other leading New Orleans performers. He initially recorded for RCA Victor as Al Tousan and recorded an album of instrumentals, including the tune “Java”, which became a #1 hit for Al Hirt (also on RCA) in 1964.
In 1960, Joe Banashak of Minit Records, and later Instant Records, hired him as A&R man and record producer. He also did freelance work for other labels, such as Fury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid 1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Irma Thomas, Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey.
Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi. These include Benny Spellman’s 1961 original version of “Fortune Teller” and The Artwoods’ 1966 version of “Work, Work, Work”. In 2007 Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered “Fortune Teller” on their album Raising Sand.
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After his discharge [from the Army] in 1965, he joined forces with Marshall Sehorn. They started their own record label variously known as Tou-Sea, Sansu, Deesu or Kansu, and recorded with Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Betty Harris and others. Dorsey had hits with several of Toussaint’s songs, including “Ride Your Pony” (1965), “Working in the Coal Mine” (1966), and “Holy Cow” (1966).
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He also began to work with non-New Orleans artists such as B. J. Thomas, Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singer Frankie Miller (High Life) and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre. He arranged horn music for The Band’s 1971 album Cahoots, plus Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz film, in conjunction with arranging horn parts for their concert repertoire. Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint’s “What Do You Want the Girl to Do?” on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, which reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart. In 1976 he also collaborated with John Mayall on the album Notice to Appear.
In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created the Sea-Saint recording studio in Gentilly. Toussaint also launched his own solo career, which peaked in the 1970s with the albums From a Whisper to a Scream and Southern Nights. It was during this time that he teamed with Labelle, and produced their highly acclaimed 1975 album Nightbirds, which spawned the number one hit, “Lady Marmalade”. The same year, Toussaint collaborated with Paul McCartney and Wings for their hit album Venus and Mars and played on the song Rock Show. Two years later, Glen Campbell covered Toussaint’s “Southern Nights” and carried the song to number one on the Pop, Country and Adult-Contemporary charts. Along with many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s.
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His late-blooming career as a performer began when he accepted an offer to play a regular Sunday brunch session at an East Village pub. Interviewed in 2014 by The Guardian’s Richard Williams, he said: “I never thought of myself as a performer … My comfort zone is behind the scenes.” In 2013 he collaborated on a ballet with the choreographer Twyla Tharp.
Allen Toussaint receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2013
In 1998 Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2009 into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On May 9, 2011 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.
Toussaint died in the early hours of November 10, 2015 while on tour in Madrid, Spain. Following a concert at the Teatro Lara on Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, he suffered a heart attack at his hotel and was pronounced dead on his arrival at hospital. He was 77. He is survived by his two children, including son Clarence (better known as Reginald) and daughter Alison, and by several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in recent years.
Writing in The New York Times, Ben Sisario quoted Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: “In the pantheon of New Orleans music people, from Jelly Roll Morton to Mahalia Jackson to Fats — that’s the place where Allen Toussaint is in”. Paul Simon said: “We were friends and colleagues for almost 40 years … We played together at the New Orleans jazz festival. We played the benefits for Katrina relief. We were about to perform together on Dec. 8. I was just beginning to think about it; now I’ll have to think about his memorial. I am so sad.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Toussaint
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ANDREW “ANDY” WHITE, BEATLES TEMP DRUMMER, DIES
Andrew “Andy” White (27 July 1930 – 9 November 2015) was a Scottish drummer, best known for replacing Ringo Starr on drums on the Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do”. White featured on the American 7″ single release of the song, which also appeared on the band’s debut British album, Please Please Me. He also played on the “Love Me Do” single B-side, “P.S. I Love You”.
White played with many other prominent musicians and groups, including Chuck Berry, Billy Fury, Herman’s Hermits and Tom Jones. AllMusic called White “one of the busier drummers in England from the late ’50s through the mid-’70s”.
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In September 1962, White received a call from Ron Richards asking him to attend a Beatles recording session at the EMI Studios at Abbey Road in London. Richards was record producer and George Martin’s assistant at the time and had used White in the past. The Beatles had recorded “Love Me Do” twice already: at an EMI audition on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums when he was still a member of the group; and again on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums, Starr having replaced Best the previous month. Martin had disapproved of Best’s drumming and was now also unhappy with newcomer Starr’s drumming. On 11 September 1962 Richards, who was in charge of recording that day, wanted the song recorded again, and the Beatles played “Love Me Do” a third time, this time with White replacing Starr on drums and Starr relegated to playing tambourine. “P.S. I Love You” was also recorded during this session with White playing a “lightweight cha-cha-chá beat” and Starr playing maracas. White says he was paid £5 for the session and 10/- (50p) for bringing his drum kit, and did not earn any royalties from the sale of the records.
The version of “Love Me Do” with Starr playing drums was used on the early British pressings of the single in 1962. The version with White playing drums was used on the first American pressings of the single in 1964, all later releases of the single, on the Beatles’ debut British album, Please Please Me, in 1963, and most subsequent albums that included the song. The version with Starr on drums has also been reissued on occasion; it appeared on the Rarities (1980) compilation, which was released in North America, and received worldwide release on the Past Masters compilation in 1988. A 1992 single included both the Starr and White versions. An easy way to distinguish between the two versions is that White’s version features Starr on tambourine; Starr’s version does not include a tambourine. The Pete Best version of the song, initially thought to be lost, was released for the first time on Anthology 1 (1995). “P.S. I Love You”, with White drumming, was released on the “B” side of the “Love Me Do” single, and on the Please Please Me album.
In a 2012 BBC interview, White claimed that during 11 September session he also played on a recording of “Please Please Me” and this performance was used on the hit single: “From the drum sound I can tell that I was on it, because it was a vastly different sound to Ringo’s drumset at that time. This was before he got the Ludwig kit. Each drummer gets an individual sound, first of all by the way they tune the drums and then by the way they play the drums.”
This was the only time White played with the Beatles, but it was enough to get him “into the history books”, and the distinction of being one of the so-called “fifth Beatles”. White said that on that day in the studio the only members of the Beatles he worked with were Paul McCartney and John Lennon, because they were the songwriters. “They didn’t use any written music, and what I had to do was play the routines with them to get an idea what they wanted before we could even start recording.”
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Later, White played on hit records by Herman’s Hermits, and on Tom Jones’s hit song “It’s Not Unusual”. He also worked with many other musicians and groups, including Rod Stewart, Anthony Newley, Bert Weedon and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in Glasgow. In the mid-1960s White toured the United States with Marlene Dietrich and performed in her cabaret shows, under the musical direction of the then-unknown composer Burt Bacharach, and, from 1965 until he retired in 1975, the British pianist and composer William Blezard.
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White died of a stroke in New Jersey on 9 November 2015 at the age of 85.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_White_(drummer)
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EDWARD “FAST EDDIE” HOH, DRUMMER FOR THE MONKEES & POCO, DIES
Edward “Fast Eddie” Hoh (October 16, 1944 – November 7, 2015) was an American rock drummer who was active in the 1960s. Although primarily a studio session and touring drummer, Hoh exhibited a degree of originality and showmanship that set him apart and several of his contributions have been singled out for acknowledgment by music critics. Often uncredited and unknown to audiences, he played the drums on several well-known rock songs and albums, including those by Donovan and the Monkees. He also performed at the seminal 1967 Monterey Pop Festival as a member of the Mamas and the Papas touring band. In 1968, he participated in the recording of Super Session, the highly successful 1968 Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Stephen Stills collaboration album. However, his flurry of activity came to an end by the early 1970s and he since remained out of the public eye until his death in 2015.
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In the spring of 1966, Hoh contributed drums to Scottish singer Donovan’s third album, Sunshine Superman. The album was recorded at the CBS studios in Hollywood and included songs such as “Season of the Witch”, “Fat Angel”, and “The Trip” (the title track was previously recorded in London with a different drummer). Hoh accompanied Donovan during area engagements with ex-MFQ member Cyrus Faryar on electric violin. Donovan’s experiences at the Trip club were recounted in “The Trip” and Hoh’s “fine drumming” was noted in a review of the song . Sunshine Superman became Donovan’s most popular record and reached number eleven in the Billboard 200 album chart.
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Hoh became a part of the Mamas and the Papas touring group and on June 18, 1967 they appeared as the final act at the Monterey Pop Festival (singer John Philips was one of the event’s organizers). Although several songs were filmed, only “California Dreamin'” and “Got a Feelin'” made the final cut of the Monterey Pop concert film. The complete Mamas and the Papas set was released on an album in 1970 and additional film footage was included in The Complete Monterey Pop Festival DVD set in 2002. A review of the album described Hoh’s drumming as “first rate”. During the extended instrumental introduction to their first song, Eddie Hoh plays an improvised drum part; at the conclusion of their set, Hoh and top studio drummer Hal Blaine play in tandem as the singers leave the stage. While touring with the group, Hoh took part in after-hours club jams. Another touring musician recalled:
“I remember … going to some club with John [Philips] and Denny [Doherty] and … Eddie Hoh … We all jammed … Eddie Hoh had these luminous drumsticks, and at one point in the show it would go to a black-light or something, and there was just this blur of drumsticks — it was awesome, real showmanship.”
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Eddie Hoh also “became the Monkees’ second call studio drummer (after Hal Blaine)” and played on many of their songs. From their beginning in 1966, producers used a variety of session musicians to record the Monkees’ material, including Blaine and several others from the Wrecking Crew. It is unclear which, if any, of the songs on their first three albums include Hoh. However, starting with their fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. (with ex-MFQ member Chip Douglas now as their producer), Hoh has been identified as the drummer on many Monkees’ songs released in 1967 and 1968. Among his contributions are “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, the jazz-influenced “Goin’ Down”, “Daydream Believer”, the second studio version recording of “Words”, “Zor and Zam”, and “Star Collector”, which ends with extended improvised drumming.
In 1968, singer/organist Al Kooper, who was working for Columbia Records after he left Blood, Sweat & Tears, put together a recording session with former Paul Butterfield Blues Band/Electric Flag guitarist Mike Bloomfield. According to Kooper, Bloomfield chose Hoh as the drummer. When Bloomfield was unable to finish the session, Kooper called guitarist Stephen Stills, who was between gigs with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Upon hearing that Hoh was the drummer, Stills readily agreed, describing Hoh as “an old friend of mine”. The resulting album, titled Super Session, became an unlikely hit. The first half of the album features mostly electric blues-style instrumentals with Bloomfield, while the second with Stills is rock oriented with vocals. Hoh and bassist Harvey Brooks are the rhythm section for the whole album (Barry Goldberg contributes electric piano to one song). All of the Super Session participants had performed at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival — Hoh with the Mamas and the Papas, Kooper as a solo act, Stills with Buffalo Springfield, and Bloomfield, Brooks, and Goldberg with the Electric Flag.
One of the songs with Stills is an eleven-minute version of “Season of the Witch”, which Hoh had originally recorded with Donovan in 1966. It became a staple of late-sixties “underground” FM radio and a review of the song noted Hoh’s “flawless drumming which laid down as solid a groove as Stills and Kooper could have ever hoped for”. Another Kooper/Stills song is a rendition of Willie Cobbs’ blues classic “You Don’t Love Me”. Hoh’s drum part is prominent with the heavy use of flanging (a sound processing effect) on the track. Super Session reached number eleven in the album chart and became “among Columbia’s best-selling LPs of the period”. It was also the best-selling album of both Bloomfield’s and Kooper’s careers and Stills’ first gold record. Although Hoh had already played drums on several well-known songs, he was relatively unknown to audiences. However, with Super Session he acquired a higher public profile, with his name and photograph given equal prominence on the back album cover.
In addition to Super Session, Hoh participated in several album recording sessions for blues-oriented musicians from Chicago, including singer/harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, guitarist Harvey Mandel, and keyboard player Barry Goldberg. The three had recorded the Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s Southside Band album in 1967. With Hoh and new backing musicians, Musselwhite recorded his second album, Stone Blues. Hoh also contributed drums to the mostly instrumental fusion 1968 album by Mandel, Cristo Redentor, featuring another staple of late-sixties FM radio, “Wade in the Water”. As part of the Barry Goldberg Reunion, he was the drummer for There’s No Hole in My Soul. Other recordings with Mandel and Goldberg included Mighty Graham Bond, the Goldberg-produced album by the English blues-band leader/organist Graham Bond.
Eddie Hoh also contributed to singer/organist Lee Michaels’ debut album Carnival of Life (both he and Michaels earlier played with Joel Scott Hill). When Michaels’ album was released, the personnel listing seemed to indicate that Hoh had only recorded one of the songs, “My Friends”. However, a review of the album described “excellent performances by Michaels and especially drummer Eddie Hoh”. Later, Michaels and Hoh recorded four demos with Richie Furay, Jim Messina, and Rusty Young after their final recordings for Buffalo Springfield. With a new lineup, they became the country rock group Poco, but the material from the demo sessions has not been released. Hoh is also credited with the drums for Kim Fowley’s Outrageous album.
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Goldberg and Hoh participated in a demo session with ex-Sweetheart of the Rodeo-Byrds Gram Parsons, who was looking to form a new country rock group. The session yielded a remake of Parsons’ earlier song “Do You Know How It Feels”. When Parsons later hooked up with other musicians to form the Flying Burrito Brothers, he invited Hoh to become their drummer. He played on their early recording sessions, but by then had started to develop a substance abuse problem. According to the group’s Chris Hillman, “Eddie would come to the sessions and fall off of the drum stool he would be so out of it”. Only “Sin City” and the demo song with Parsons (with later overdubs) were used for the group’s debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Jon Corneal, who was brought in to drum on several of the album’s songs, recalled “As I understand it they gave Eddie Hoh an equal share of the cash advance [from the record company] and then he split. He ended up with my money”. Corneal’s account was echoed by Parsons.
Some time after a last album with Harvey Mandel (Games Guitars Play, released in 1970), Eddie Hoh apparently stopped recording and performing. In a 2002 book about the Mamas and the Papas, Denny Doherty stated that he had died. A 2006 biography in Great Rock Drummers of the Sixties concludes that he “reportedly has been out of the music business for some time, down on his luck”. Additional unsubstantiated accounts and confusion caused by the use of the nickname “Fast Eddie” by several musicians (including a much younger “Fast Eddie Hoh”) has contributed to uncertainty about Hoh’s later life As late as 2001, he was living in Pasadena, California. Hoh died in a nursing home in Westmont, Illinois on November 7, 2015.
Discography
Since most of Eddie Hoh’s recordings were as a session drummer, his credits are sometime unclear or nonexistent. Hoh also appears on several compilation and career retrospective albums by artists with whom he worked.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Hoh
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
November 2015
10: Allen Toussaint, 77, American musician, producer, songwriter (“Fortune Teller”, “Working in the Coal Mine”, “Southern Nights”) and arranger, heart attack.
9: Andy White, 85, British drummer (The Beatles), stroke.
8: Charlie Dick, 81, American record promoter; Bogdan Enache, Romanian drummer (Goodbye to Gravity), burns from the Colectiv nightclub fire; Andrei Eshpai, 90, Russian classical pianist, composer and scholar, stroke.
7: Brandon Carlisle, 37, American punk rock drummer (Teenage Bottlerocket); Eddie Hoh, 71, American rock drummer (The Mamas & the Papas, The Monkees).
6: José Ángel Espinoza, 96, Mexican singer, composer and actor; Ghulam Qadir Langoo, 100, Pakistani singer, court singer of Hari Singh; Bob Lester, 102, Brazilian musician and tap dancer; Kjell Öhman, 72, Swedish musician (death announced on this date); Chuck Pyle, 70, American country singer–songwriter.
5: Nora Brockstedt, 92, Norwegian singer; Theodore Cyrus Karp, 89, American musicologist; Guido Masanetz, 101, German composer.