Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Death, Where is Thy Ring-a-Ding Ding?

The short version: Wilko Johnson, the great guitarist of pub rock notables Dr. Feelgood, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January of 2013.

A couple of years earlier (2010, to be precise) he found himself seated next to Roger Daltrey, at some awards show or something, and the Who singer turned out to be a fan of the Feelgoods. At which point, the two a) bonded over their mutual love for Brit rock pioneers Johnny Kidd and the Pirates (auteurs of the original "Shakin' All Over") and b) vowed to work together while Wilko still remained on this mortal coil.

Here's a live version of a song from the resulting album, which has just been released...


...and as I'm wont to say, words fail me.



Let me repeat -- Wilko is dying. And yet this is some of the most life-affirming stuff I've ever seen.

I should add that I am soooo ordering the album over at HERE and you should too.

As of this writing, Wilko is still with us, BTW.

Long may you choppy power chord, my friend.





10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's great! The current Who should rock like this.

Wilko is always a favorite of mine. You turned me on to him when you gave me Dr. Feelgood's second album.

Allan R.

Gummo said...

Well, that kicks all sorts of tasty ass.

Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

Hello all...no, please remain seated,
What a terriffic performance. Bunch of ol' pros can still walk the walk.
RichD

FD13NYC said...

I'm impressed, this is very good!

Anonymous said...

I like old Roger Daltrey's voice much better than young Roger Daltrey's voice. Now he's got a reason for that limited range of notes and feeling. Also, where he's lost the bottom in his pants, he's gained a nice bottom to his voice.

Roadmaster said...

Am I the first to notice the late Chess era horse head graphic on the upper left of the cover?

buzzbabyjesus said...

Is this the High Numbers circa 1964?
Seriously rockin!

Sam Walters said...

This is goddamn great. And, I gotta say, I prefer Daltrey's voice in his lower register. He sounds boffo.

LP Steve said...

Started listening and said to myself, fuck, this doesn't sound like Roger Daltrey. It's GOOD. Now I see from the other comments that I'm not alone in thinking old Roger is the best Roger. This is badass stuff. Thanks for posting.

ag said...

Holy Who-bashers, this is awesome! Daltrey comes alive! Long live Wilko!