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RIP Wilko
Nov 23, 2022 11:50:02 GMT
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Post by catsmiler on Nov 23, 2022 11:50:02 GMT
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RIP Wilko
Nov 23, 2022 13:14:24 GMT
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Nov 23, 2022 13:14:24 GMT
Oh no, more sad news. This is getting close to home now. Thanks for the music, fun and allowing us to play on the same bill a few times - Brentwood Hermitage Festival a particularly great memory. Sleep well.
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 23, 2022 14:55:04 GMT
Very sad to hear that Wilco Johnson has died. By Mark Savage BBC Music Correspondent
Wilko Johnson, whose machine-gun guitar style and manic stage presence was a major influence on punk, has died.
The musician found fame with the 1970s pub-rock band Dr Feelgood, and later played with Ian Dury before embarking on a four-decade solo career.He also starred in two series of Game Of Thrones as the mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne. Ten years ago he survived what was initially diagnosed as a terminal case of pancreatic cancer.
Obituary: Wilko Johnson
The musician refused chemotherapy to embark on a farewell tour. "The decision was quite easy - chemotherapy could do no more than extend my life for a relatively short period and I thought I'd just rather enjoy the health that was left to me," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. However, later tests discovered that the guitarist's pancreatic cancer was in fact a rare and less aggressive neuroendocrine tumour. He underwent a radical, 11-hour operation that removed his pancreas, spleen and parts of his stomach and intestines, and was declared cancer-free in 2014. "Now, I'm spending my time gradually coming to terms with the idea that my death is not imminent, that I am going to live on," he said at that year's Q awards. The musician continued to play live until last month, hosting his final gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on 18 October. Johnson's death was confirmed to the BBC by his representatives.
In a statement posted on social media, they added: "This is the announcement we never wanted to make, and we do so, on behalf of Wilko's family and the band, with a very heavy heart. "Wilko Johnson has died. He passed away at home on Monday evening, 21 November 2022.
"Thank you for respecting Wilko's family's privacy at this very sad time, and thank you all for having been such a tremendous support throughout Wilko's incredible life." The Who's Roger Daltrey, who recorded a top three album with Johnson in 2014, said his friend's music would "live on". "More than anything Wilko wanted to be a poet," he said in a statement. "I was lucky to have known him and have him as a friend. His music lives on but there's no escaping the final curtain this time." Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page tweeted that he was "sad to hear of the passing of Wilko Johnson", recalling how the atmosphere was "electric" when he saw the late guitarist perform in Camden in 2013
Guitar Hero
Born in Canvey Island, Essex, Johnson developed a distinctive, finger-picked style that blended percussive stabs and fluid licks, allowing him to play lead and rhythm guitar at the same time. "It's a bit like riding a bike," he told Radio 4 in 2013. "It's easy to do but difficult to describe".
He perfected the style with Dr Feelgood, where his intense and unhinged stage persona gave the band a menacing energy. Johnson recorded three studio albums with the band but, fittingly, it was the live record Stupidity that became their only number one. Steve Howley, of Classic Rock magazine, once said Johnson's confrontational style led directly to punk, calling him "one of the quintessential English guitar heroes." "Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but he's right up there," agreed Paul Weller in an interview with Uncut magazine.
"There are a lot of people who'll say the same. I can hear Wilko in lots of places. It's some legacy."
Space Enthusiast
Arguments with Dr Feelgood's lead singer Lee Brileaux led to Johnson's departure in 1977. He formed a short-lived band called Solid Senders, who released on album on Virgin Records, before Johnson joined Ian Dury's backing group The Blockheads.
After Dury's drug problems prompted the dissolution of that group, the guitarist set out on a solo career, with albums including Ice On The Motorway, Call It What You Want and Barbed Wire Blues - which introduced his regular backing group The Wilko Johnson Band.
They toured relentlessly, receiving a fresh wave of interest in the 21st Century thanks to Julien Temple's Oil City Confidential, a Dr Feelgood documentary that presented Johnson as a loveable, loopy, quintessentially British guitar god.
On the back of the film's success, two volumes of The Best of Wilko Johnson were released in 2010, and the musician started writing his autobiography, Looking Back on Me, where he detailed his love of astronomy - going so far as to build his own observatory in Southend.
"I really would like to go into the galaxies, to be in the intergalactic void," he wrote. After recovering from cancer, he continued to play and record, supporting Status Quo on their 2014 tour and releasing his last album, Blow Your Mind in 2018.
News of his death was greeted with sadness on Twitter, with musicians including Blur's Graham Coxon, Blondie's Clem Burke and The Charlatans' Tim Burgess paying tribute. "Very sad to hear Wilko Johnson has died," wrote Alex Kapranos of the indie band Franz FerdinandHere's a few videos... ------------------------------------------------------- Wilko Johnson >RIP Shine On Michael
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Post by mark1977 on Nov 23, 2022 16:45:13 GMT
Sad news indeed. I was lucky enough to see Dr Feelgood with Wilko Johnson in 1975 and they were brilliant. I owe him and the band a debt of gratitude for 'Back in the Night' which kickstarted my interest in and love of slide guitar. I was amazed to learn today from one of the videos posted by Michael that he was left handed but learned to play right handed. RIP.
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Post by vent on Nov 23, 2022 17:15:37 GMT
Very sad news, inspirational guitar player. He signed the tribute reso Andy Solloway built for me as well as a custom-built Chickenbone John 3 stringer. There's a dog-bowl reso built by Shane Wagstaff of Rock Hill Guitars too. Been seeing him since early-mid '70s in venues great and small - always great in the smaller ones. Last saw him joining the New York 3-piece Daddy Long Legs for an encore late on a Sunday afternoon at the Railway Hotel, Sarfend, about 3 years ago.
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 23, 2022 19:42:16 GMT
Love this poster by my friend, Martin Bedford. Shine On Michael
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Post by davetracey on Nov 25, 2022 9:47:23 GMT
I was very sad to learn of the death of Wilko Johnson earlier this week. The first time I saw Dr Feelgood was in December 1974, when they were supporting Hawkwind. In those days, if my memory serves me right, a lot of people waiting for Hawkwind to come on would lie on the floor (maybe it was just me). When Dr Feelgood revved up it was a case of "wakey wakey". I had never seen anything like it. I saw Wilko live a couple of times every decade after that, and every time, in large hall or small bar, within minutes of him plugging in the whole joint was jumping. He never gave less than 110%. My idea of a great man.
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