ART58Koen goes off piste with this splendid tribute to the late Wilko Johnson...
As posted last week, Wilko shuffled off the mortal coil and now is
probably causing mayhem somewhere in Paradise, which is a bit ironic
considering that track was supposedly the cause for him leaving Dr
Feelgood as Lee Brilleaux and the other Feelgoods had issues with a song
about Wilko’s love for his wife and girlfriend…
Obviously they had never been in Thailand ‘cause there (here for me!) nobody would be bothered about it!
Anyway, I guess that most of the regular visitors here are familiar with Dr Feelgood and Wilko’s machine gun style of playing guitar, but a brief overview can never do any harm.
Wilko’s first job as guitar slinger was for Heinz (of all people!) at The London Rock N Roll Show, Wembley Stadium in 1972.
A
bit later Wilko teamed up with Lee, Sparko, and The Big Figure and all
hell broke loose. Four groundbreaking albums, Down By The Jetty,
Malpractice, Stupidity (a UK no. 1 chart-topper) and Sneakin’ Suspicion,
put Wilko and the Feelgoods firmly on the rock landscape from 1974 to
1977. In that era of turgid progressive and fey glam-rock, their
high-energy dirty R&B and be-suited appearance was a
mini-revolution, bringing rock’n’roll back to the roots and giving
inspiration to both the UK and US fledgling punk scenes.
After
leaving the Feelgoods,, Wilko formed the Solid Senders and signed to
Virgin for an eponymous album. Then under his own name he released
further albums, including Ice On The Motorway, Barbed Wire Blues and
Going Back Home, and finding a live audience particularly in Europe and
Japan for his frantic, exciting gigs.
For a while Wilko became a member of Ian Dury’s Blockheads which lead to a partnership with Norman Watt-Roy, a much-revered bassist on future albums.
In 2009 Julien Temple released a pretty cool documentary about Dr Feelgood: Oil City Confidential (trailer below) which put Wilko back into the limelight.
Being
an avid fantasy & sci-fi fan (unbelievable, right?) I watched Game
of Thrones as soon as it came on screen (2010) and got a bit of a
surprise when seeing the episode with the mute executioner Ser Ilyn
Payne giving his ‘cold death-glare’, nobody else but Wilko of course!
Also
in 2010 Wilko met Roger Daltrey (The Who’s lead singer as if you didn’t
know that already! You didn’t? Get out of The Good Old Major's Hole
right now!) and decided to work together. Daltrey said, "It turned out
we both loved Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. They'd been a big influence
on both our bands. That heavy power-trio sound, backing up a singer;
it's a British institution. No-one does that better than us."
As usual it took quite a while before this event actually happened…
In the meantime Wilko was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2013, but was well enough to press ahead with the collaboration when The Who finished their world tour. Going Back Home was recorded in the space of a week in November 2013 and it rocks from beginning to end, although seeing the video of "Going Back Home" (below) with flashbacks of both Wilko & Roger from years ago made me a bit uncomfortable, realizing how old we’re all getting…
In
his review for Mojo magazine, Mark Blake wrote that "Johnson's chopping
rhythm guitar and Daltrey's geezerish growl make perfect bedfellows."
Blake described Going Back Home as a "joyful, celebratory affair", and I
fully agree.
Luckily Wilko’s cancer was less aggressive (although very unusual) and following radical surgery he was later declared cancer-free.
Wilko continued touring and releasing occasional records until his death…
A great tribute documentary has just been made available on YouTube:The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson.
Although there have been several Dr Feelgood compilation albums, Wilko
has only one: Back In The Night (Best Of) by Wilko Johnson (CD, 2002)
In 2010 The Best Of Wilko Johnson, Volume 1 & 2 were released BUT the songs included are all rerecorded versions…
For our devoted Good Old Major's Hole’s members (I know, gross!) I’m in process of compiling a decent selection of odds & sods...
Just answer ART58Koen's laughably simple question in the comments below and his Wilko compilation could be yours!
ART58Koen sez:
ReplyDeleteIn order to get a copy of this painstakingly put-together selection please let us know your own Wilko (with or without Feelgoods) experience or at least your favorite song/album.
My own is rather embarrassing I’m afraid. Back sometime in the mid-70s Dr Feelgood was also very popular in Holland and scheduled to appear at the legendary Paradiso in Amsterdam. Therefore my uncle and I got on his moped (remember those?) in the early evening for a 50 km ride to Amsterdam only to discover upon arrival that their concert was canceled…
Over to you!
Nice screed Art. I was lucky enough to see the Wilko band on a couple of occasions and they were great live. Also 9 years ago The Norman Watt-Roy band played locally and Wilko turned up and played some tunes with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bambi. Seen him several times... I'm jealous!
DeleteWARNING - the Oil City Confidential (trailer), is linking to the wrong video.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the heads up, Bambi. YouTube has been a sod today. I can't link to some of the videos like I usually can. I think that's a trailer for the right film now!
DeleteI'm embarrassed to say, the only experience I've had with Wilko and Dr. Feelgood, is seeing Dr. Feelgood open for (iirc) The J. Geils Band, around '74-'75, and seeing Wilco on Game of Thrones.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm looking forward to hearing them.
At least you have seen them once, that's more than I can say ;-)
DeleteI never got to see Wilko (except on the small screen), but his sound and his stage presence were a massive influence on some of my favorite punk era guitarists, especially Andy Gill from Gang of Four and Bill Carter from the Screaming Blue Messiahs.
ReplyDeleteA treasured possession is the Pearl Harbour single he produced and played on. The a-side is a cover of Lavern Baker's "Voodoo Voodoo".
Thanks for mentioning this, I wasn't aware of his part with Pearl Harbour.
DeleteThat single and more Pearl Harbour music is available over at my blog. Thanks for the Wilko!
DeleteThanks Jonder, I checked it! Glad you like the Wilko collection, but also check out thos Makoto Ayukawa With Wilko Johnson Band: London Session 1 & 2!
DeleteMany thanks for this, ART58Koen. A lovely screed!
ReplyDeleteI first became aware of Wilko and the Feelgoods in about 1975 - they appeared on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. Really made me sit up and take notice, as blues and R&B was out of favour at the time. Never saw the band live with Wilko, although I saw the band with Steve Walwyn on guitar before Lee passed away.
Here's a strange Wilko appearance with Joe Ely (Dublin 1988) that people may be unaware of. Grissom's no slouch on guitar. either. Wilko also sang and played on "She Does It Right". I have a very good recording of the whole show if anyone's interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeGI__MK4y4
Just watching the clip, cool! So yes I'm interested.
DeleteJoe Ely - Dublin 1988.
DeleteIn the quieter passages - particularly between the songs - you can hear some crosstalk. there might have been a problem with the erase head of whatever machine this was taped on.
Fair quality though - very listenable indeed.
https://workupload.com/file/387aVgdXxUc
If you hunt around on YouTube you can see more video of this show.
DeleteThanks again Steve
DeleteFeelgoods without Wilko in october 1977; Lee Brilleaux drunk and spent most of the time doing obscene things with a beer bottle. Wilko's Solid Senders several times, me in even more disarray than the beand, and Wilko on axe-duty with Ian Dury and the Blockheads in 1980.
ReplyDeleteImpressive!
ReplyDeleteOK guys, it took a bit longer than expected but here is a 20 song collection, 'Machine Gun Guitar', complete with cover-art, hope you like it:
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/file/KUkGVQwK#B1l1vNo-efHB0KFSGZvsGw_shjsAhkFIRj5fe1LTwPM
Many thanks! Looks great - listening NOW!
DeleteGreat comp! I had it on while I was taking a friend to their kinetherapy RDV. Good stuff
DeleteGlad you like it Steve!
DeleteFinished it on the way back. Love that Catfish Blues track - pure Mick Green!
DeleteThanks Art, will give this a listen at the weekend
DeleteOh, and a bonus question, who's 鮎川誠 (track 13 & 14)?!
ReplyDeleteThe correct answer will be rewarded with ......
Ooh, I know this. Been trying to get hold of the two albums they made together. I have the two on a couple of Wilko live albums recorded in Japan.
DeleteI got both CDs ripped, scanned, zipped & ready...!
DeleteYou're a star!
DeleteI'm guessing: Makoto Ayukawa?
DeleteBingo! Here's your price:
DeleteMakoto Ayukawa With Wilko Johnson Band: London Session 1 & 2
https://mega.nz/file/jE8jQYZK#JUoewpoqW4S537LPQfecvXca2XsoSJ4oOub-HUOv49U
Lovely stuff! Do you have Wilko in Japan 1986 and 2000? If not, I have them.
DeleteThanks in advance Steve, I only have the 1986 Made in Japan bootleg.
DeleteWilko in Japan - 1986 and 2000. Both in one zip file in case anyone wants the two albums.
Deletehttps://workupload.com/file/3ZxX8RnjJxP
Got it, much appreciated Steve!
DeleteArt, Machine Gun Guitar is a nice comp thanks.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it Bambi.
DeleteClosest I ever got was seeing a free concert by Jeff Tweedy when visiting NY a few years back. I know, wrong Wilco but I'm hoping that will qualify me to download this hand-crafted bespoke collection. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely stretching it, but no worries, here you go:
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/file/KUkGVQwK#B1l1vNo-efHB0KFSGZvsGw_shjsAhkFIRj5fe1LTwPM
Sadly, I missed the Dr. Feelgood/Wilko Johnson phenomena at the time, but I did a bit of catching up after watching Oil City Confidential.
ReplyDeleteFavourite track: “Caravan Man” by Wilko Johnson And Lew Lewis Band.
As mentioned earlier, I missed my one opportunity to see them live, c'est la vie!
DeleteRest in Peace Wilko Johnson 🕊️. A couple of years ago he gave me permission to write his biography in French. I released it in May 2022 😎🎸
ReplyDeleteI've only seen an English kind of bio, but I'm sure you did a good job!
DeleteIts an "I remember when story"...! Saw Wilko several times when I was living in England. Loved his work and live always good value. However an 80's gig at a venue I forget the name of in Aldershot - Wilko was said to have arrived earlier and then gone off somewhere!? Support band played.....NO Wilko!.....Support band played again.....NO Wilko! Story had a twist that he had arrived earlier and collected (at least) some of his fee!!! Felt ripped off...But it was Wilko! Cheers Stephen
ReplyDeleteSometimes our musical heroes show their warts and all... Not pleasant, but usually their music remains great!
DeleteShame on me: as a roots blues guitarrist Wilco and DF was a nogo for years. It took me several decades to understand the wonderful music behind it. dr feelgood's pub rock is the logical continuation of Charlie Patton and many others.
ReplyDeleteI was directed here by Jonderblog. Cool joint you've got here!
ReplyDelete