Billy Duffy
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| Billy Duffy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 May 1961 Manchester, England |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock Rock Alternative metal Post-punk |
| Affiliation(s) | The Cult |
| Label(s) | Virgin Records Situation Two Beggars Banquet Atlantic Records |
| Notable guitars | Gibson Les Paul Gretsch White Falcon |
| Years active | 1981 - present |
Billy Duffy (born William Henry Duffy, 12 May 1961, Hulme, Manchester) is best known as the guitarist of The Cult.
Contents |
[edit] Early days
He grew up in Manchester, where he began playing guitar at the age of fourteen. Duffy got his start playing in different punk line-ups in the late 1970s, but these earlier years were more notable for his introducing Johnny Marr (The Smiths) to the guitar and encouraging Morrissey to make his singing debut with Duffy in The Nosebleeds.
When the initial punk rock movement (led by the Sex Pistols) died out, Duffy eventually settled as guitarist for the moodier and more arty Theatre of Hate. He eventually met Ian Astbury (the front man for positive punk band Southern Death Cult) who was so impressed with Duffy's playing that he abandoned SDC to start a new band with him. Together, they exploited the Southern Death Cult's success by calling themselves Death Cult. After initial fanfare and a couple of singles, Duffy, following a trip to New York, influenced Astbury to agree to shortening the band's name to The Cult.
As early as The Cult's debut single "Spiritwalker", Duffy began establishing a distinctive flanged sound with an offbeat choice of guitar, a mid 1970's Gretsch White Falcon. His fusion of punk and rock riffs, intricately connected, inhabited a middle ground between U2's The Edge and Jimi Hendrix. Duffy's sound (unique, with a dark, mystic vibe) perfectly complemented Astbury's cultural eccentricity. With songs like "She Sells Sanctuary", "The Phoenix", and "Nirvana" (from their second album, 1985's critically acclaimed "Love"), Duffy would ultimately be guaranteed a slot as one of alternative rock's original guitarists.
[edit] Late 1980s
Duffy's charm was hardly cheapened by The Cult's wild departure into metal-blues on their third album, 1987's "Electric", the credit for which partially goes to an overzealous AC/DC fan, Rick Rubin. Fresh from his groundbreaking work producing the Beastie Boys' debut album Licensed to Ill, Rubin gave both Duffy and The Cult some much-needed new musical direction.
Along with his music, Duffy himself was becoming more Americanized; he moved to Los Angeles in 1988 with Astbury, where both remain. There, the two writing partners (with longtime bassist Jamie Stewart) turned to stadium rock and recorded their ambitious album "Sonic Temple". It was (by Astbury's account at least) supposed to be a marriage of their "Love" and "Electric" albums, but most diehard Cult fans seemed to prefer their older songs left by the wayside, "Zap City" and "Love Trooper". Duffy had traded in his Gretsch for a Les Paul, and with it, his signature sound for a more predictable one (with even more predictable, overblown theatrics). The Cult thus reached a larger, mainstream audience, but only to the extent of competing for attention with a dozen other hair metal bands. The attention from the public could not be sustained as The Cult floundered with their next album, "Ceremony", at the dawn of the grunge age.
Following the "Ceremonial Stomp" tour of 1992 (with Lenny Kravitz supporting), Astbury pressured Duffy to pull back on the rock shenanigans and get real. Duffy acquiesced, and the result was some of his best work ever, on The Cult's "black sheep" album. Ironically, it was Astbury who subjected many of the songs to lyrical deficiency, reflecting an overall weariness which would lead to his departure from Duffy and The Cult in 1995.
During The Cult's four-year hiatus, Billy Duffy played with Mike Peters of The Alarm in a project called 'Coloursound'. They got a good but small response in the UK.
[edit] Cult reformation
Duffy reformed The Cult with Astbury for their successful 1999 tour, which led to a new contract with Atlantic Records. This was capped off by a show at Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival in May of 2001, where over 60,000 people watched them perform, leading up to the release of their most recent album, Beyond Good and Evil.
Unfortunately, their single to promote it, "Rise", which reached #41 in the US and #2 on the mainstream rock charts, was removed from radio rotation a week after the album's release. Disappointing sales, reviews, and tour attendance ensued, and in 2002 a disappointed Ian Astbury sent The Cult onto a hiatus once more, when an offer to sing with The Doors came his way.
[edit] 2006 onwards
The Cult reformed in early 2006 and after playing several American shows toured Europe in the fall. The Cult now consists of Billy and Ian alongside Mike Dimkich on rhythym guitar, Chris Wyse (who contributed basslines to the Beyond Good and Evil record) on bass and the heavy metal drummer John Tempesta (who played for some bands like White Zombie, Testament and Exodus).
Duffy appears in Ethan Dettenmaier's film, Sin-Jin Smyth, which was released in October, 2006.
In early 2006 Duffy recorded a debut album with his new band, Circus Diablo. The album was recorded with Duffy playing lead guitar and former Cult touring bass player Billy Morrison handling lead vocals and bass guitar duties. Former The Almighty frontman, Ricky Warwick, plays rhythm guitar on the CD. The former Cult, current Velvet Revolver drummer, Matt Sorum also played on the record and appears courtesy of RCA Records.
After the completion of the album, former Fuel member Brett Scallions was added to be the bassist, so Morrison could focus on being the lead singer. Then, Jeremy Colson formerly with Steve Vai, was brought in to be the full time drummer for the band.
