Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle
(born July 15, 1948 in Louisville, Kentucky)is an American musician best known for playing drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. [1] [2]
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ARTIMUS PYLE TICKETS
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Career
Early career
Pyle joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1974.
He survived the 1977 plane crash that killed
Ronnie Van Zant,
Cassie Gaines and
Steve Gaines.
Pyle emerged from the aircraft wreckage with several broken ribs and joined others traveling several hundred yards on foot to a farmhouse to try to get help.
The appearance of Pyle and his companions alarmed the residents of the farmhouse, who greeted them with guns and demanded they leave the premises. Eventually the Gillsburg Volunteer Fire Department arrived and assured the occupants that the men were survivors of a plane-crash.
Varying accounts have the farmer's son either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder with an air rifle.
[4]
After the crash
In 1982 Pyle began touring with the Artimus Pyle Band (A.P.B.),
[5] including Darryl Otis Smith, John Boerstler, and Steve Lockhart.
[6] A.P.B.'s albums include
A.P.B.
(1981),
Nightcaller
(1983) and
Live From Planet Earth
(2000).
Pyle took part in the Skynyrd Tribute Tour and joined the reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd in recording
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991
before departing the band during a show in Toronto in August of 1991.
[7]
Pyle currently plays solo and with various musicians, including previous members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute bands.
[8] In 2007, Pyle released a solo album,
Artimus Venomus
, on
Cleopatra Records.
In 2007, Pyle was touring with the band
Deep South.
Criminal conviction
According to Pyle, after he left Lynyrd Skynyrd, his longtime girlfriend (with whom he had two daughters) had him arrested on charges of capital
sexual battery, by claiming that he
sexually abused their daughter while giving her a bath. He claims that his former girlfriend told their two daughters that when their father gives them a bath, that "he is having sex with them." Pyle added that "It was that simple. The state never had a case. Their whole case was 'we think he touched his children.' I said, 'You're damn right I did. I changed their diapers...I've got six kids, I mean, what would you do?' And they go, 'O.K., so you admit it. You did touch your children.'"
[9]
In 1993, Pyle was arrested and charged in
Jacksonville Beach,
Florida with
sexual battery against both daughters, ages four and eight.
[10] Facing a potential
life sentence, Pyle arranged a
plea bargain with prosecutors to spare the children a trial.
[11] He received eight years of
probation,
[12] and he was entered into the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement's "
Sexual Offender" database.
[13] Pyle explains the motive of his former girlfriend's action. "Three days after I was thrown in jail, not one, but two of her boyfriends moved into my house. She gave them all of my cars. I had four beautiful automobiles. She gave them ten sets of drums that I had collected all over the world. And my home. Brand-new television set, brand new vacuum cleaner, 'cause I had gotten a settlement from Skynyrd and I bought everything for my family."
[ Pyle also claims that he spent nearly $500,000 on his legal defense but soon ran out of money, thus being forced to plead guilty to "touching his children." Pyle then summarizes the story: "This shouldn't have happened. When I left the band, I lost my star status, and that's when she decided to lower the boom. I put a new band together with my son and I was ready to go on. But to this girl, I wasn't a Rock-and-Roll star anymore." Pyle then added that he would have gladly given his former girlfriend all the material possessions and freedom: "We would've separated. I would've taken care of my children. But no, she has to charge me with a charge worse than murder." [14]
]
Little of this subject matter was covered in the press until November 19, 2007, when Pyle was arrested in St. Johns County, Florida for failure to register as a sex offender.Pyle was acquitted after a jury trial of all three charges steaming from this arrest on Aug. 28, 2009. [15]
References
- Vrabel, Jeff. (November 29, 2005). Rock the Hall ''The Florida Times-Union''. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- Vrable, Jeff. (November 29, 2005) All who have played in the band won't be inducted ''The Florida Times-Union''. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- Pettus, Gary. (October 20, 2002). The day 'Free Bird' fell from the sky Clarion Ledger. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- Boston, John. (September 7, 2006) The heart and soul of redneck American. ''The Signal''. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- "Lynyrd Skynyrd" ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Simon & Schuster, 2001). Reprinted at rollingstone.com. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- {{allmusicguide |id=jpfpxq95ld6e~T1}}
- {{allmusicguide |id=h9fexqq5ldhe~T2| label=Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991}}
- Flans, Robyn. Artimus Pyle: Still venomous after Lynyrd Skynyrd Modern Drummer Online. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- Brant, Marley (2002). Freebirds: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story. Billboard Books. p. 196. ISBN 0-8230-8321-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=mQO9RghlcZoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Freebirds:+The+Lynyrd+Skynyrd+Story#PPA196,M1. Retrieved on 2009-3-15.
- "National Briefs" ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', December 25, 1993, Page 19.
- "Nation in Brief". ''The Atlanta Journal''. December 25, 1993. Page Number A/5.
- "Artimus Pyle Plea-Bargains life term down to probation." ''Buffalo News''. December 26, 1993.
- Artimus Thomas Pyle. FDLE Offender Flyer. Accessed September 24, 2007.
- Brant, Marley (2002). Freebirds: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story. Billboard Books. p. 197. ISBN 0-8230-8321-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=mQO9RghlcZoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Freebirds:+The+Lynyrd+Skynyrd+Story#PPA197,M1. Retrieved on 2009-3-15.
- Lynyrd Skynyrd Drummer Arrested for Failing to Register as as Sex Offender
[1] First Coast News, Jacksonville, FL