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Wilko Johnson (1947-2022): "I've always been able to throw angry looks"
Photo: Awakening/Getty Images
If you watch performances by the pub rock band Dr.
Feelgood on, from British television around 1975, Wilko Johnson immediately catches the eye.
Mostly dressed in black, the guitarist stoically walks back and forth, just as precise and rhythmic as he hits his chords.
Drooping solos, expressive poses, flowing hair – none of the insignia of the rock dinosaurs of the 1970s were to be expected from Wilko Johnson.
That's why his band Dr.
Feelgood for the music-historical bridge between the English rhythm & blues scene of the late sixties and the all-shattering punk from 1976 onwards. Paul Weller, one of the punk protagonists with The Jam, ennobled Wilko Johnson as one of the greatest guitarists.
He was born on July 12, 1947 as John Peter Wilkinson.
In the seventies he gave up the hated first name;
the name Wilko sounds great when a large audience shouts at it: »Wilko!
Wilko!
Wilko!” he told SPIEGEL in an interview in 2017.
His birthplace Canvey Island in the English county of Essex was considered the country's »Oil City« because of its petrochemical industry.
There he played in various blues and skiffle bands in the sixties before Dr.
Feelgood came together - in addition to Wilko Johnson, the singer Lee Brilleaux, the bassist »Sparko« and the drummer »The Big Figure«.
Dispute over album setlist
dr
Feelgood soon made a name for themselves on London's growing pub rock scene with their fast-paced rhythm and blues.
In 1974 they were able to record their first album, "Down by the Jetty", the best-known titles of which are the songs "Roxette" and "She Does it Right", written by Wilko Johnson.
The album »Malpractice« (1975) is also recognized as formative.
In a dispute over the setlist of an album, Wilko Johnson left the band in 1977. He was subsequently well booked as a session musician;
more enduring was his involvement as a member of Ian Dury's backing band The Blockheads.
He wrote about his life in an autobiography that was also published in German in 2017.
By then, Johnson had already made his acting debut, playing the executioner Ser Ilyn Payne on Game of Thrones.
Apparently, his facial expression helped him: "Even as a child, I was pretty good at throwing angry looks at me," he told SPIEGEL.
Because of cancer, he had to end his series outing prematurely.
The music magazine »Q« presented Wilko Johnson with its »Icon Award« in 2014, when the cancer seemed to be over.
Wilko Johnson's death was announced on his social media channels on Wednesday morning.
He died at home at the age of 75.
Feb