Dr Feelgood | Artist
Dr. Feelgood is a British pub rock band formed 1971 in Canvey Island, Essex, by Wilco Johnson (guitar), Lee Brilleaux (vocals, harmonica), John B. Sparks (bass) and John Martin (drums). The band still performs to the present day but without any original members. Dr Feelgood came out of the grimy pubs and clubs of Canvey Island, renowned as a petro-chemical industrial centre, and graduated to the London pub-rock circuit. Their sound was characterised by Wilco's choppy guitar style, their energetic vocals, short sharp songs, and a very tight rhythm section, making them pre-cursors of the Punk rock sound which peaked in '77. Wilco left after their third album Stupidity went to the top of the UK charts. Wilco was replaced by John "Gypie" Mayo but the band was never quite the same again. Wilco played with Ian Dury & The Blockheads then went on to have a successful career as a soloist and actor. Outstanding Dr Feelgood albums include Down by the Jetty (1975), Malpractice (1975), Stupidity (1976) and Be Seeing You (1977). Also highly recommended is the 2912 compilation set All Through the City (With Wilko 1974-1977). Despite Mayo's departure in 1981, and various subsequent line-up changes which left Brilleaux the only remaining original member, Dr. Feelgood continued touring and recording through the 1980s. The band then suffered an almost career-finishing blow when Brilleaux died of lymphoma on 7 April 1994. Following a successful solo career, including appearances in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, Wilco Johnson died on 21 November 2022, at his home in Westcliff-on-Sea, at the age of 75. Following the announcement of Johnson's death, Billy Bragg said, "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. Rotten, Strummer and Weller learned a lot from his edgy demeanour." A film by Julien Temple about the early days of the band, Oil City Confidential, premiered at the London Film Festival on 22 October 2009. The band took their name from a 1962 record by the American blues pianist and singer Willie Perryman called "Dr. Feel-Good", which Perryman recorded under the name of Dr. Feelgood & the Interns. The song was covered by several British beat groups in the 1960s, including Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. The term is also a slang term for a physician who is willing to over-prescribe drugs.
Artist Website: drfeelgood.org
Featured Albums: Dr Feelgood
Related Artists: The Count Bishops, Wilko Johnson, Doctor Feelgood
