Jimmy Doyle (musician)

James Vivian Alfred "Jimmy" Doyle (14 October 1945 – 5 May 2006) was an Australian musician, best known as a founding member, and guitarist in Ayers Rock (1973–81), a jazz fusion, progressive rock band.^[1][2] As a member of Ayers Rock, Doyle appeared on all three of their studio albums, Big Red Rock (1974), Beyond (1976) and Hot Spell (1980). They toured both nationally and internationally including through the United States, where they supported Bachman–Turner Overdrive (July 1975) at a stadium concert with an audience of 35,000 people in Seattle.^[3] For the group's third album, Hot Spell, Doyle wrote or co-wrote four tracks.^[4]

Doyle's musical career began at the age of 15, spanned 45 years, and covered a wide range of music from blues to pop/rock to jazz. He was musical director, and guitarist for Winifred Atwell for more than two years,^[5] and a member of the backing bands for The Delltones, and Dig Richards.^[4] From the late 1960s to 1970, Doyle performed with Col Nolan and the Soul Syndicate,^[6] Aesop's Fables (1968–69),^[7][8] Moonstone and King Harvest (1970).^[4][9] In the 1980's, United Kingdom jazz singer, and keyboardist Georgie Fame invited Doyle to play as a member of The Aussie Blue Flames, which was the Australian line-up of Fame's backing band on his national tours.^[10]

Elvin Bishop, a United States blues musician, was impressed with Doyle during Bishop's first tour of Australia in 1986, "Jimmy Doyle is a hell of a guitar player — I love him".^[11] In his later years, Doyle presented a regular radio program called "In the Deep with Jim" on North Shore's FM99.3 (2NSB), a community radio station in Sydney.

On 5 May 2006 Jimmy Doyle died, from liver cancer, in the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.^[2][4] A tribute concert in his honour, on 26 May, raised money for his family.^[12] Musicians performing included Billy Field, Col Loughnan (ex-Ayers Rock) and Mother Earth featuring lead vocals by Renée Geyer.^[12]

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