Martin Duffy, the keyboard player for The Charlatans and Primal Scream has died after suffering a brain injury at his home. He was 55.
Duffy was a founding member of UK indie rock band Felt from 1975 to when the band broke up in 1989. He had already played on the first two Primal Scream albums and at that time became a permanent member of the band.
Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream wrote, “Hard to write this. We never know how to speak around death other than polite platidudes. All I want to say is that our soul brother Martin Duffy passed away on Sunday. He suffered a brain injury due to a fall at his home in Brighton. We in Primal Scream are all so sad. I’ve known Martin since he was a teenager in Felt. He played keyboards on every album of ours from the first to the last. Finally joining the band in 1991. Martin was a very special character. He had a love and understanding of music on a deep spiritual level. Music meant everything to him. He loved literature and was well read and erudite. An autodidact. A deep thinker, curious about the world and other cultures. Always visiting museums in every city we played or looking for Neolithic stones in remote places. Opinionated and stubborn in his views. He could play piano to the level where he was feted not just by his peers in British music, but old school master American musicians such as James Luther Dickinson, Roger Hawkins & David Hood & producer Tom Dowd. I witnessed a session at Abbey Rd in 1997 for a Dr John album where his record company had assembled a bunch of young Indie Brit musicians where Mac Rebenac ( Dr John ) seemed bored and uninterested in the session until Martin started playing, then suddenly the good Dr started knocking some funky piano chops and I instantly knew it was because his ears had pricked up when he heard Martin play and the session at last came alive. Martin was the most musically talented of all of us. His style combined elements of country, blues and soul, all of which he had a God given natural feel for. He never played the same thing twice, ever. He was all about ‘the moment’, better have that ‘record’ button on when Duffy was on fire. His timing was unique, funky and ALWAYS behind the beat. George Clinton also dug Martin. I remember a session in Chicago where George said to him ” go to church Duffy !” , and he did. Martin was also in possession of a unique wit. He had a swift eye for the absurd, the surreal and the ridiculous. He lived to laugh and play music. He was loved by all of us in the Scream. A beautiful soul. We will miss him”.
Duffy joined The Charlatans to replace Rob Collins who died in a car accident in 1996. Martin was on loan from Primal Scream until a permanent replacement could be found but he did contribute to the ‘Tellin’ Stories’ album of 1997. He performed with The Charlatans at Knebworth in 1996 after having had just three weeks to learn the band’s catalogue.
In a statement Tim Burgess of The Charlatans said, “A 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.”
Duffy was also a member of The Chavs, a 2004 “supergroup” also featuring Carl Barat of The Libertines. He has played on albums for Paul Weller, Beth Orton and the Chemical Brothers.
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