Primal Scream lead singer Bobby Gillespie has paid tribute to has band mate and “beautiful soul” Martin Duffy.
Martin Duffy who served as keyboardist for Primal Scream died from a brain injury, following a fall at his home last weekend (December 18). He was 55 years old.
More on this report here.
“polite platitudes”
Paying tribute to Duffy himself, Bobby Gillespie released this statement.
“Hard to write this”, he said. “We never know how to speak around death other than polite platitudes. 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”.
Gillespie continued, “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”.
“the most musically talented”
Continuing the tribute, Bobby Gillespie admitted that Duffy was “the most musically talented of all of us”.
According to Gillespie, Duffy was not just “feted by his peers in British music”, but “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”.
He also added, “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.”
“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”.
“in tears writing this”
Echoing those sentiments, bassist Simone Marie Butler said that Duffy was loved by anyone who met or knew him, calling him a “pure genuine soul”.
Y”day was the worst day of the year, today i’m also in tears writing this. “You would struggle to find a more genuine, gifted, funny, kind hearted, caring, naturally talented person who played like no one else”, he said.
See his statement in full here.
