I know you have stacks of old recordings in your shed that you’ve never really listened to, old song ideas, rehearsals etc. I have no idea whether there is very much left now, though. We never spent a lot of time in the studio in Dr Feelgood, which was unlike the way most bands were recording then. You do the album, do the tour, then go straight back to the next album. Why did you release the two albums in the same year, and is there much left in the vaults for what will presumably be an appropriate 50th anniversary celebration? It’s 45 years since the release of the first two Feelgoods albums. I’m having a massive operation whilst I’m having the best-selling album I’ve ever done, but not really taking it on-board as I was lying in a hospital bed drugged up with morphine (Laughs). It was crazy – like a dream, y’know? Making an album with Roger Daltrey, it was just fantastic. My life was so weird then my time for leaving this mortal coil was just about up as far as I knew. How about the prospect of a follow-up to Going Back Home?įor me that album was significant in so many ways, given the illness and that I thought I wouldn’t even live to see its release. I’m not aware of any demand from a record company for another album. That spurs me on to do something, but right now, as I don’t have a deadline, I’m not doing anything about writing or recording. No! I suppose it’s true to say that I only really write songs when there’s a deadline. Given the success of Blow Your Mind, have you got plans for a new album? ![]() It was more that I felt I was making my living as a live performer, I guess. Once I split from the Feelgoods, I didn’t really think that I needed to keep making records. I’ve never had a manager I’ve just let things happen. I think it’s the way I’ve organised my life. You’re right that I haven’t made a lot of records. You start thinking that this is a really expensive operation and you’re aware of a bit of pressure, but fortunately the songs started to come really quickly as we were recording.ĭo you think the fact that you’ve been relatively under-recorded, given the length of your career, has helped to keep the creative process fresh for you? It felt like 100 years since I’d made an album of new material with a big record company. It all came together really quickly, and I only had two songs as we were on the way to Rockfield to record it. It must be nice to be able to bring a few new songs into the live set since the release of Blow Your Mind… If you’re not getting off on it, it’s a ridiculous thing to be doing. If it ever became an effort, I’d just quit, man. The only time I feel happy is when I’m onstage, so I’m really looking forward to it. ![]() I’m a miserable so-and-so, and once I’ve been off the road for a few weeks I get so miserable. You’ll be going out on the road again soon, Covid-19 permitting, and you’ve been touring for over 50 years. Wilko’s last two albums – Going Back Home, recorded with Roger Daltrey, and his most recent, Blow Your Mind (2018) – are among the best of his career. ![]() His unlikely escape from the grasp of the grim reaper in 2013, following a terminal cancer diagnosis and his subsequent cure, is well-documented. Initially coming to prominence in Dr Feelgood, whose first two albums were released in 1975, he split from the band in ’77 and went on to forge a highly successful solo career. Wilko Johnson is one of those musicians who truly merits the description “icon”.
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