Martin Duffy, who performed keyboards for Primal Scream and Felt, has died aged 55, his former Charlatans bandmate Tim Burgess has confirmed.
The musician was born in Birmingham, UK on 18 May 1967 and grew up in Rednal. He joined the indie band Felt in 1985 after frontman Lawrence put up a discover within the Birmingham department of Virgin information promoting for a guitarist that learn: “Do you want to be a rock’n’roll star?” and Duffy was advisable to him.
Duffy’s sound turned central to the band within the mid-80s as they signed to Creation Records, for 1986’s The Seventeenth Century, and launched into what followers contemplate their imperial part. The second aspect of their 1988 album The Pictorial Jackson Review options two Duffy instrumentals.
Burgess beforehand cited the album as proof that Duffy was “actually the only musical genius I have ever met … me and [My Bloody Valentine’s] Kevin Shields sat up all night once with open mouths praising his natural ability,” he advised the Quietus.
Duffy remained a member of the band till their cut up in 1989 – when Lawrence stated he had fulfilled his intention of releasing 10 singles and 10 albums in 10 years.
In the interim, Duffy had performed on Primal Scream’s first two albums, 1987’s Sonic Flower Groove and 1989’s Primal Scream. He joined the band full-time on the finish of that 12 months.
Mojo’s Tim Tooher described the keyboardists as “probably the purest musician in the band, bringing in echoes of Thelonious Monk, Johnnie Johnson, Jerry Lee and Cecil Taylor. His voice sounds like his throat was pickled in whisky before he was even born. Martin brings the blues to Primal Scream.”
Duffy would additionally play with The Charlatans following the dying of founding member Rob Collins, getting into his footwear when the band supported Oasis at Knebworth in August 1996. He additionally contributed to their 1997 album Tellin’ Stories. He would additionally collaborate with artists together with Beth Orton, Steve Mason, the Pop Group’s Mark Stewart, The Chemical Brothers, Paul Weller, Vic Godard and Subway Sect and Jessie Buckley, on the soundtrack to the 2018 movie Wild Rose.
Duffy launched a solo album, Assorted Promenades, on Tim Burgess’s O Genesis label in 2014, which included music relationship again to 1997. The album’s launch was impressed by Duffy and Burgess witnessing a automobile catching hearth by the aspect of the highway, Duffy advised the Quietus. The pair had simply been listening to the John Foxx track “Burning Car.” Duffy stated, “Tim saw it as a sign.”
Primal Scream’s most up-to-date studio album, Chaosmosis, was launched in 2016. Duffy additionally carried out on frontman Bobby Gillespie’s 2021 collaborative album Utopian Ashes.
Burgess paid tribute to Duffy on Twitter: “Another tragic loss of a beautiful soul. Martin Duffy stepped in to save the Charlatans when we lost Rob – he played with us at Knebworth and was a true friend. He toured with me in my solo band too – he was a pleasure to spend time with. Safe travels Duffy.”