Durham was born on 24 September 1936 in East Ardsley, West Yorkshire, where he spent his formative years, and died on 6 December 2013 in the town of Álora, Andalusia, Spain.
Durham's early London exhibitions were widely covered in the local press, bringing him into the media spotlight and to the attention of figures such as Bill Wyman, Muriel Spark, Lulu and Andrew Bown.
He formed friendships with Stuart Walton, a local artist specialising in northern street scenes, and with Austin Mitchell, who was at that time the presenter of the Yorkshire TV news programme Calendar.
During his time there, in addition to painting professionally, he had many successful exhibitions, was employed regularly as a mural painter and performed as vocalist for a rock and blues band.
One of his "Yellow Bird Walking" series is displayed in Rickenbakers Music Inn in Berlin and while he was there he met one of his jazz heroes, Coco Schumann, who expressed a great appreciation of and fondness for his work.
In 2003, Durham moved to Porto Seguro in the Bahia municipality of north-east Brazil, the vibrant colours, wildlife and tribal cultures of which influenced the paintings and sketches he would complete both during his time there and across the rest of his life.
The group appeared on the same bill as The Humblebums (Gerry Rafferty and Billy Connolly), Hawkwind, and Vinegar Joe (Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer).
Storyteller also appeared as a support act for a UK tour by Ralph McTell, beginning at the Royal Festival Hall, London, shortly after which they split up.