Bandmates, former colleagues and fans expressed shock and
sadness when the guitarist/keyboard player nicknamed ‘Kipper’ and best
known for a variety of roles in bands including UFO, the Michael Schenker
Group and Waysted, suffered a fatal heart attack. He passed away a little
over a week after UFO wrapped the first
leg of their final world tour, dubbed Last
Orders: 50th Anniversary. Raymond, who
had four spells with the UFO (1976-1980,
1984-1986, 1993-1999 and 2003-2019)
performed his final show with them at
London’s Forum on April 5. He was 73
years old.
The news was announced on
Raymond’s Facebook page by his partner
Sandra, who posted: “With a desperate
and broken heart, fully in tears and pains
that feel like they will kill me, I have to tell
you that my most beautiful and beloved
darling Paul has passed away today. The
doctors tried to reanimate him and with
success at first but then his system shot
down again and there was nothing more
they could do, he died of a heart attack.”
Before his first band, Plastic Penny, St
Albans-born Raymond started out playing
jazz piano in the 60s. This led to him
joining Chicken Shack in 1969 as the
replacement for keyboard player/singer
Christine McVie, and he played on their
albums 100 Ton Chicken and Accept. By
1971, having added rhythm guitar as
another string to his bow, he joined blues-
rockers Savoy Brown for the first of two
stints that began with the celebrated
album Street Corner Talking.
But it was as a member of the hard
rockers UFO, who he joined in 1976 as
a replacement for Danny Peyronel, that
Raymond really found his calling. They
toured alongside AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Blue
Öyster Cult and Rush, and the genius of the
two studio records that followed – Lights
Out and Obsession – nudged them into the
US charts, while 1979’s Strangers In The
Night remains one of the genre’s
quintessential double live albums.
However, as UFO’s success grew they
began to treat their talismanic guitarist
Michael Schenker with kid gloves. “He was
often allowed to fly back to LA after a gig,
which cost us a lot of money,” Raymond
told Classic Rock years later. And with
Schenker becoming “quiet and more
detached than ever” from the rest of the
group by Obsession, it was only a matter of
time before they parted ways.
Raymond aligned himself with Schenker
when he formed the Michael Schenker
Group, although not until Schenker ha d been replaced by former Lone Star
man Paul ‘Tonka’ Chapman for the No Place To Run album in 1980.
Years later, in a tantalising glimpse of what might have been, Raymond
told Classic Rock that Edward Van Halen had toyed with applying for theposition. “We were in a Seattle hotel bar with Van Halen, up late and
messing around,” he confided. “Eddie said he’d wanted to come down and
audition for us after Michael left. But he didn’t have the bottle. He just didn’t
think he was good enough. But [had he done so] the entire course of rock
history could have been re-written.”
Raymond thrived with Schenker, and
his ballad Never Trust A Stranger became
a highlight of MSG’s self-titled second
album. By 1983 Raymond had thrown
himself from one erratic scenario into
another, joining UFO’s hard-drinking
co-founding bass player Pete Way in
Waysted for their debut album, Vices.
The arrangement was, predictably,
short-lived, and Raymond spent the
remainder of the decade either with UFO
or making his own records as the Paul
Raymond Project. The signs had looked
good when Schenker agreed to rejoin
UFO, completing a reunion of their best-
loved line-up for the Walk On Water album
in 1995, although their tour ended
prematurely at the second of three sold-
out shows in Tokyo when Schenker
attacked Raymond backstage with a metal
chair, and later walked off stage 40 minutes
into the gig at Sun Plaza Hall. There were
subsequent reconciliations with Schenker,
although they failed to capture the magic
of their albums of the 70s.
As with the rest of UFO’s latter-day
incarnations, Raymond enjoyed being part
of a more stable line-up, which included
Vinnie Moore on guitar.
Raymond’s unexpected death prompted
an array of emotions.
“I won’t pretend that Paul and I were
always the best of friends but I am
completely shattered to hear this,”
commented Pete Way. Michael Schenker
added: “[This news] is unbelievable. Paul
Raymond was a great musician and loved
rock and roll. Rest in peace my friend.”
“I have known Paul for many years and
over that time we’ve had our differences,”
said current UFO drummer Andy Parker.
“But even if we didn’t see eye to eye, we
remained good friends. He was always
one to make his opinions known and
could be very stubborn at times, but that
was only because he was so passionate
about his craft. I will miss his acid wit
and his wicked sense of humour, his
love of Hancock, The Goons and of jazz,
but most of all I will miss his
professionalism and dedication to his art.”
UFO have announced that Neil Carter,
“a member of the family between 1981
and 1983”, will play keyboards and guitar with them for the remainder of
their live commitments, which are outside of the UK. “Moving forward
with the tour is the right thing to do,” they say. “This is what Paul would
have wanted.” DL
GET
TY
Paul Raymond
November 16, 1945 – April 13, 2019
TRIBUTES FROM
FRIENDS AND
BANDMATES
“Make more heavy metal in heaven, bro!”
Kirk Hammett, Metallica“We send love to Paul’s family and fans. We played
many shows with UFO and remember him as
a brilliant musician and friend.”
Judas Priest“It seems that UFO have come to a very sad and premature
end. It’s a shock when our heroes die.”
Joe Elliott, Def Leppard“Our sympathies and thoughts go out to Paul’s family, our
friends in UFO and their fans all over the world.”
Saxon“On stage he was the ultimate anchoring musician with
his incredible tone, vocals, versatility and chops.
UFO helped define my own formative musical years.”
David Ellefson, Megadeth“Paul was a brilliant musician and a lovely chap. We were
with him only a few weeks ago in Cardiff. He looked
so well and happy.”
Former UFO member Paul Gray, The Damned“Paul’s stage spot was on the back line with his keys, but
the fans loved it when he joined the stage frontline. He
played his left-handed Gibson Firebird with the strings
upside down, which gave a unique tonal balance.”
‘Atomik’ Tommy McClendon, guitarist on
UFO’s Misdemeanor album“This is so sad and such a shock. Paul was an iconic
musician, the backbone of UFO and a wonderful guy.”
John Gallagher, Raven“Our thoughts are with Paul’s family and those
close to him.”
Foghat“We were friends and he was an extremely talented
musician and a real good guy.”
Brian Wheat, Tesla“One of my all-time favourite bands. Rock in peace, Paul.”
Matt Sorum, Deadland RitualThis month The Dirt was compiled by Simon Bradley, Polly Glass, Dave Ling, Grant Moon, Philip Wilding, Henry YatesCLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM 11