Pre-order Blow Your Mind with a signed print or as a standard CD and vinyl. Producer Dave Eringa puts it succinctly: “I never expected to be making another Wilko Johnson album after Going Back Home but what a pleasure & a privilege it was to be able to capture Wilko’s first new songs for 30 years! He is one of music’s true gentleman – literate, intelligent, & articulate but still rock’n’roll as f_k!” It’s actually quite a cheerful one, too!” One of those songs, that’s a reflection of that time, about sitting around the house at night knowing that death’s coming we’ve recorded it, and it’ll be on the album. “I didn’t really intend to ever use them and, obviously, I didn’t know if I’d ever get back into the studio. On going back into the studio after everything that he’d been through, Wilko has this to say about the 12 tracks that make up ‘Blow Your Mind’. The introspection of some of the tracks on the album is more than balanced out by the good time upbeat party feel of the title track, ‘Beauty’ and ‘I Love The Way You Do’ that have the urgency of the artist’s earliest work with Dr Feelgood. Read the family’s death announcement and see some tributes to Johnson an d aclassic 1975 performance below.Anyone expecting that Wilko Johnson’s particular brand of R&B to be softened by such heartfelt lyrics is in for a surprise, if anything his guitar style of “the chop” as he calls it, is even more aggressive. Johnson continued playing shows until just weeks before his passing and at press time no cause of death had been revealed. I really admired him and we’ll all miss him. This show was originally billed as his farewell tour, but, thankfully, he continued performing and thrilling crowds until recently. I saw Wilko perform at Koko in Camden in May 2013 and the atmosphere was electric. “I’m sad to hear today of the passing of Wilko Johnson, the Dr Feelgood guitarist and singer/songwriter. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page also paid homage to the player whose unique style was beloved among his fellow six-stringers. He does it right RIP.” Blondie guitarist Chris Stein also weighed in, writing, “I frequently remind people how Dr Feelgood was an influence on the early New York and CBGBs music scene. Rotten, Strummer and Weller learned a lot from his edgy demeanour. His guitar playing was angry and angular, but his presence – twitchy, confrontational, out of control – was something we’d never beheld before in UK pop. He released what was deemed his “final” album Going Back Home with the Who’s Roger Daltrey in March 2014 and then revealed that he had been misdiagnosed and was cancer-free later that year after undergoing a lengthy surgery to remove a massive tumor in his abdomen.Īmong those paying tribute were fellow British rocker Billy Bragg, who said that Johnson was a “precursor of punk. 2013, opting to skip chemotherapy after doctors told him he had less than a year to live. 2012 due to illness, Johnson shared that he was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer in Jan. Between his signature slashing style and thousand-yard stare on stage, Johnson is credited with influencing a generation of performers in British punk and post-punk bands (Sex Pistols, Gang of Four, The Jam, The Clash) who sometimes mimicked his bug-eyed look and quirky style on stage.Īfter cancelling a show last minute in Nov. He continued to perform and record with his eponymous band through the 2000s, releasing more a dozen albums and EPs, while also occasionally taking on acting roles, including a quirky slot as mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne on four episodes of Game of Thrones. Johnson went on to form the bands the Solid Senders, as well as the Wilko Johnson Band, before briefly joining English pub punker Ian Dury’s band, the Blockheads, in 1980. The group - whose albums were a mix of covers and blues standards along with originals largely written by Johnson during his tenure - has released more than a dozen albums to date Johnson only appeared on their first three studio efforts ( Down By the Jetty (1975), Malpractice (1975) and Sneakin’ Suspicion (1977) and Stupidity, before splitting from the group in 1977 amid reported conflicts with singer Brilleaux. He created his iconic style called the 'Duck Walk' where he zig-zagged across the stage while playing his vintage 1962 Fender Telecaster. Though they bristled at the term “pub rock,” the band were known for their raucous, energetic performances, best captured on their UK No. The live album 'Stupidity' reached number 1 on the UK album chart.
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