The Durutti Column was primarily the vehicle of
Vini Reilly, a guitarist born in Manchester, England, in 1953. As a child,
Reilly first took up the piano, drawing inspiration from greats like
Art Tatum and
Fats Waller, before learning to play guitar at the age of ten. Despite an early affection for folk and jazz,
Reilly ultimately became swept up by the punk movement, and in 1977 he joined the group
Ed Banger & the Nosebleeds. In 1978, Factory Records founder
Tony Wilson invited
Reilly to join a group dubbed
the Durutti Column, the name inspired by the Spanish Civil War anarchist Buenaventura Durruti and a Situationists Internationale comic strip of the 1960s. Along with
Reilly, the nascent band included guitarist
Dave Rowbotham, drummer
Chris Joyce, vocalist
Phil Rainford, and bassist
Tony Bowers; following a handful of performances,
Rainford was fired, and after recording a pair of tracks for the EP
A Factory Sampler,
Rowbotham,
Joyce, and
Bowers broke off to form
the Moth Men, leaving
the Durutti Column the sole province of
Vini Reilly. (
Joyce and
Bowers would later join the more popular
Simply Red.)
Recorded with the aid of a few session musicians and released in a sandpaper sleeve, the debut
The Return of the Durutti Column, a collection of atmospheric instrumentals, appeared in 1980. With 1981's pastoral
LC, recorded with drummer
Bruce Mitchell (who remained a frequent collaborator),
Reilly attempted vocals on a few tracks, and continued expanding his palette with a pair of explorations of chamber music, 1982's
Another Setting and 1984's
Without Mercy. Electronic rhythms, meanwhile, emerged as the pivotal element of 1985's
Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say. After 1985's live effort
Domo Arigato,
Circuses and Bread marked a return to the densely constructed guitar textures of previous works, while 1987's eclectic
The Guitar and Other Machines ranked among
the Durutti Column's most ambitious works to date. In 1988,
Reilly backed
Morrissey (also an alumnus of
the Nosebleeds) on his solo debut,
Viva Hate, before returning to
the Durutti Column for the release of a 1989 LP titled
Vini Reilly, another diverse affair that incorporated vocal samples from
Otis Redding,
Annie Lennox,
Tracy Chapman, and opera star
Joan Sutherland.
Released in 1990, the aggressive
Obey the Time preceded 1991's
Lips That Would Kiss Form Prayers to Broken Stone, a collection of singles, rarities, and unreleased material. After a long layoff (during which
Rowbotham happened to be slain by an axe murderer, inspiring
the Happy Mondays' "Cowboy Dave"),
the Durutti Column returned in 1995 with
Sex and Death, followed a year later by
Fidelity, which fused dance beats with
Reilly's guitar lines.
Reilly issued several albums throughout the 2000s, from archival concert recordings to such studio efforts as
Treatise on the Steppenwolf, a soundtrack augmenting the experimental theater production of the same name, as well as 2009's heart-wrenching effort
Love in the Time of Recession. The instrumental suite
Paean to Wilson, composed in 2009, was some of
Reilly's most personal work, written for his late friend and most passionate supporter, the late
Tony Wilson. Initially scheduled for limited release in 2009, it was granted wider distribution early the following year.
–
Jason Ankeny, Rovi