Dr. Feelgood
Wilko Johnson - Classic Rock Magazine (2005)

Propos recueillis par Ian Dickson © Classic Rock Magazine

The death of his wife and manager Irene in August 2004 prompted fromer Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson to take time out from the industry.
"I wasn’t sure if I wanted to still do music," he says. "There were a lot of people who felt a lot affection for my wife because she used to run our business-people who never even met her, but only spoke to her over the phone. She was a very friendly person. And so I decided to come back again because everybody has been really very supportive."
The newly released 'Going Back Home', a live DVD and CD recorded in 1975, captures Dr Feelgood and Wilko at their peak.

Did you have much input into the new DVD/CD?
Wilko Johnson : I first heard about it when it was getting under way and was told what was going to be put on it. But at the time, my wife Irene was very ill so couldn’t take part in putting the whole thing together.

Were any overdubs done to the recording later ?
The show originally was recorded with a mobile studio set up outside the gig. It was done very basic; we never really did any overdubs apart from a few spots where on Lee’s [Brilleaux] vocals there had been a technical fault - the mic had broken down.

Any chance of you touring with Dr Feelgood again ?
No, I have my own band. To be honest I really haven’t any contact with them [Feelgoodsj since 1977. I mean, the guys who are in the band now, I don’t even know. There’s been like four different bass players. I wouldn’t know anything about what’s happening with the band currently.

It's often been said that your split with Dr Feelgood was due to you wanting to move away from the three-chord structure of the band ?
No. That’s not correct, because if you see me now 30 years later I’m still sticking to the same three chords. It was really a result of a blazing row between me and the rest of the guys which ended up getting me thrown out of the band.

You've always been portrayed as mad and eccentric ?
Well I think I’m pretty sane, actually. But on stage I just got absorbed into the music and went with the moment.

The Feelgoods are very often credited with igniting the pub rock scene ?
This pub rock thing we started was just from some gigs in London. At the time, in the early 70s, there wasn’t a lot of just basic Rock’n’Roll happening.
About a year or two later the punk bands began to emerge, and a lot of them were turned on by seeing Dr Feelgood. What related to them was not a musical thing but more the whole idea of the simplicity and energy of it all.

What are your plans for 2005 ?
With my band, The Wilko johnson Band, we’re currently booking a lot of gigs, and will be touring Japan and doing some shows in Finland, China and Spain. We’re a three-piece, all ex- Blockheads that have played with lan Dury : Norman Watt-Roy on bass and Steve Monti on drums. We’re also looking to do a new record next year. The last thing we had out was a CD about a year ago called ‘Red Hot Rocking Blues’ that only came out in Japan.

Speaking of Ian Dury, what sort of memories do you have of your time with him ?
I’m just so glad I knew him and worked with him, because I had some great times with him, though at times things were a bit difficult too. You see, lan was a man who liked to drink, and the drink used to affect him quite strongly. Sometimes he would cause the most disgraceful scenes in hotels he had one too many. When he was really causing an outrage he could be very, very rude. Sometimes what some of the crew would do to prevent him from causing any more trouble to the other guests was get him to his room and then take the calliper of his leg so he couldn’t ’t stand up. And he’d be there screaming : "You bastards! You’re all fuckin’ sacked !"

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© Dr Feelgood & Lucie Lebens - Tous droits réservés
In Memory of Lee Brilleaux & Gypie Mayo