Wilko johnson whipple5/1/2023 ![]() "Oil City Confidential" also told a familiar rock 'n' roll story - the close-knit band of brothers torn apart by the pressures of the road. Feelgood liked to call it the Thames Delta, playing up its exoticism for eager journalists. Johnson recalls Canvey in his youth as "a cowboy town," with dirt roads and wooden bungalows built on reclaimed marshland beside an oil refinery. The movie also burnished the mythology of Johnson's hometown of Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary of southeast England. Feelgood to its rightful place as punk precursor - with Johnson as its wide-eyed shaman and storyteller. He has built significant fan bases in Britain and in Japan, where he has played many times over the past 30 years.Ī wider audience got to know him through Julian Temple's 2009 documentary "Oil City Confidential," which restored Dr. "And then punk came up," Johnson said, "and we kind of got swallowed in the aftermath."Īfter that near-miss with the big time, Johnson played with Ian Dury's band, The Blockheads, before going solo with the Wilko Johnson band. Then came the catastrophic argument that saw Johnson stalk out of the band for good in 1977. chart-topper, tours of the U.S., a deal with CBS records. "We looked like kind of shoddy bank robbers."įor a time, it went like a rock 'n' roll dream - a growing following, four albums including a U.K. "We didn't look like the other bands around here - they were all wearing frocks and talking about going to Mars," Johnson said. Video clips of the band performing tracks such as "Roxette" reveal the explosive chemistry of charismatic singer Lee Brilleaux's raw vocals and Johnson's choppy guitar style, rooster strut and thousand-yard glare. At a time of flamboyant glam and indulgent prog rock, they were something different - scrappers in cheap suits, playing a then-unfashionable brand of blues and R&B. ![]() Feelgood, which burst to fame in the early 70s, then blew apart - but not before energizing many of the musicians who went on to create Britain's punk explosion. Johnson's menacing stare was a memorable feature of Dr. "They said, all you've got to do is stand around and look menacing," said Johnson of his acting debut. Recently his following has grown to include viewers of HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones," in which the sepulchral-looking Johnson appeared as silent executioner Ilyn Payne. Feelgood, he is a cult hero - more influential than famous, and cherished by his fans. Wilko Johnson - a play on John Wilkinson, the name he was born with in 1947 - is a mix of clown, curmudgeon, showman and scholar whose life is both inspiration and caution for would-be rock stars.Īn unlikely rocker who studied Anglo-Saxon literature and worked as a schoolteacher before joining Dr. We're not going to twiddle with anything." It's going to be rough and ready, because we've got about three or four days and we're just going to go in and to bash it down. "After getting this diagnosis, I suddenly find myself writing bloody songs again," said a relaxed and garrulous Johnson in an interview at his home, a modest two-story row house in a faded, windblown seaside town of Westcliff-On-Sea, 40 miles (64 kilometres) miles east of London and just a few miles from where he grew up. He's even going back into the studio to record a new album. He has responded to his diagnosis with a surge of creativity, playing gigs in Japan and planning a goodbye tour of Britain for March. Johnson has said no to chemotherapy treatment that doctors say may prolong his life by a matter of months. You're 'Oh, look at that leaf!' You're looking around and you think, 'I'm alive. ![]() "You walk down the street and you feel intensely alive. I'd be worrying about the taxman or all the things that we worry about that get in the way of the real things. "I suddenly found myself in a position where nothing matters anymore," he said.
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