Chuck Pyle (January 28, 1945 – November 6, 2015) also known as the "Zen Cowboy" was an American

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singer-songwriter and guitarist whose career spanned more than 40 years, during which he recorded 13 albums.

Early years

Chuck Pyle was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and raised in Newton, Iowa where he sang in the school choir. He was the adopted son of Lyle, a railroad conductor, and Julie, a school teacher. Pyle dropped out of college in his home state of Iowa and moved to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

in 1965, hoping to build a career in music.

Career

In 1970, having made minor progress as a musician, he was invited to a cabin in Gold Hill that was owned by songwriter Steve Fromholtz. There, he met the musicians John Cable and Richard Dean. Soon, Cable and Pyle joined forces in the five-piece band Colours, with Pyle as a bass player. Pyle's vocal abilities and songwriting talents made him well known in country music songwriting circles. Pyle wrote "Cadillac Cowboy" for Chris LeDoux (it appeared on LeDoux’s 1988 album ''Chris LeDoux and the Saddle Boogie Band''). He also wrote Jerry Jeff Walker's "Jaded Lover" (which appeared on Walker's 1975 album ''Ridin' High''). During his career, Pyle wrote songs recorded by

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

Suzy Bogguss Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

, Gary P. Nunn, the

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

Owen Temple Owen Temple (born September 4, 1976 in Kerrville, Texas) is an American folk and country music songwriter and musician based in Austin, Texas. Career Work with producer and pedal steel guitar musician Lloyd Maines led to 1997's '' General St ...

. He also made numerous appearances on radio and television over the years to include Colorado Public Radio and Austin City Limits. In January 2015, Chuck Pyle released his last album, ''Cover Stories''. It is a collection of 12 songs from lesser-known songwriters he admired, Hayes Carll, Lynn Miles, and Walt Wilkins, Pete & Lou Berryman's among others. On the album, Pyle was accompanied by Gordon Burt on fiddle and Don Richmond on steel guitar, dobro and mandolin. Nevertheless, Chuck Pyle never gained widespread acclaim. He only had a minor chart success in 1985 with "Drifter’s Wind" taken from his album ''Drifter’s Wind''. The song reached #60 on the ''

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charts. Other self-produced albums followed in the years after, ''Endless Sky'', ''Camel Rock'', ''Affected By The Moon''. Pyle also composed and sang the theme to Rocky Mountain PBS's long running documentary series ''The Spirit of Colorado''.

Death

Chuck Pyle died on November 6, 2015, at the age of 70. Pyle was found floating face down on Palmer Lake. He was pronounced dead at Penrose Hospital,

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. According to an autopsy report released by the El Paso Country Coroner's Office, Chuck Pyle drowned just after 8 p.m. while fly-fishing near his home in Palmer Lake, Colorado, atherosclerosis - a disease in the arteries - could have also contributed to his death.

References

Archival Materials

Chuck Pyle papers, 1970-2009, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

External links

Personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Chuck American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters 1945 births 2015 deaths Musicians from Pittsburgh Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Country musicians from Pennsylvania