![]() ![]() Fly straight Wilko, fond adieu RIP x Johnson, the guitarist with British blues-rock band Dr. Following today’s awful news of the passing of the legendary RnB guitar hero Wilko Johnson, here he is with his old friend & flatmate JJ a few years ago. Throwback Wednesday: For obvious sad reasons, a day early this week. Will play a track on the radio show tonight with full tribute to follow. Those early #DrFeelgood sides will live forever. An utterly unique guitarist and a truly decent man. So sad to hear that Wilko Johnson has passed on. 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. His contribution was immense – and will always be remembered." In the long run, he just got better as a guitar player. In his sense of style, his onstage character and the noise he extracted from his Fender Telecaster, he paved the way for punk. In reality, when you met him you realised pretty quickly that – eccentric as he might have seemed – more than anything else, he was a unique talent, a highly intelligent individual, who approached the business of playing the guitar with a singularity that was utterly original to him. Accused of suffering from some sort of personality disorder. You never knew what contortion was coming next! Nowadays, Wilko would be stuck in one box or another. It added a different element of visual interest – and sometimes anxiety – to watching Dr. ![]() He was all angular, jerky, wired movements, as if he were being pinged around the stage by a series of electric shocks. ![]() "His onstage demeanour was completely different to other guitar heroes of the time. "Wilko was a phenomenon," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. Tributes have been pouring in from Wilko admirers old and new-ish. He also gained cult acting acclaim appearing as Ser Ilyn Payne in the first two seasons of Game Of Thrones. In 2013 he was given just months to live but miraculously kicked his cancer, allowing him to resume a hectic gigging schedule. So it's goodnight to Mad Carew, the uncompromising Bard of Canvey." His music lives on but there's no escaping the final curtain this time. "I was lucky to have known him and have him as a friend. "More than anything Wilko wanted to be a poet," Daltrey reflects today. More recently, he joined forces with Roger Daltrey on Going Back Home, which got to number three in the UK. Feelgood in the late '70s, Wilko formed the Solid Senders whilst also doing his thing with Ian Dury & The Blockheads, kindred spirits if there ever were. In turn, he loved Rory Gallagher and played at the International Rory Tribute Festival in Ballyshannon in 2019.Īfter parting company with Dr. Feelgood were also a huge influence on the nascent Boomtown Rats and, more recently, were the glue that bonded Roscommon tykes The Strypes together. "And there are a lot of people who'll say the same. "Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but he's right up there," Paul Weller noted in the past. 1975's Downy By The Jetty and Malpractice and '77s Sneakin' Suspicion are as good a first three albums you'll hear from any band. Feelgood, who once played 330 gigs in a year, helped pave the way for punk in the '70s with their scabrous Canvey Island blues. One of the most distinctive guitarists of his generation, Wilko and the rest of Dr. Thank you for respecting the family's privacy at this very sad time. He passed away at his home in Westcliff On Sea on Monday 21st November. The official announcement on his socials reads: "This is the announcement we never wanted to make, and we do so with a very heavy heart: Wilko Johnson has died. Feelgood man Wilko Johnson has passed away at the age of 75. The sad news coming out of England this morning is that former Dr. ![]()
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