Dr. Feelgood (band)

For other uses of the term, see Dr. Feelgood (disam-biguation).

Dr. Feelgood are a British pub rock band formed in1971. Hailing from Canvey Island, Essex, they are bestknown for early singles like "Back in the Night" and"Roxette". The group’s original distinctively British R&Bsound was centred on Wilko Johnson's choppy guitarstyle. Along with Johnson, the original band line-up in-cluded singer Lee Brilleaux and the rhythm section ofJohn B. Sparks, known as “Sparko”, on bass guitar[1] andJohn Martin, known as “The Big Figure”, on drums. Al-though their most commercially productive years werethe early to mid-1970s, and in spite of Brilleaux’s death in1994 of lymphoma, a version of the band (featuring noneof the original members) continues to tour and record tothis day.

1 Career

1.1 Early years

The band was formed in Canvey Island in 1971 by John-son, Brilleaux and Sparks, who had all been membersof existing R&B bands, and soon added drummer JohnMartin. They took their name from a 1962 record by theAmerican blues pianist and singer Willie Perryman (alsoknown as “Piano Red”) called “Dr. Feel-Good”, whichPerryman recorded under the name of Dr. Feelgood &The Interns. The song was covered by several British beatgroups in the 1960s, including Johnny Kidd & The Pi-rates. The term is also a slang term for heroin or for adoctor who is willing to overprescribe drugs.[2]

By late 1973, the band’s driving R&B hadmade them oneof the most popular bands on the growing London pubrock circuit, and they recorded their debut album, Downby the Jetty, for United Artists in 1974.[3] Like many pubrock acts, Dr Feelgood were known primarily for theirhigh energy live performances honed through constanttouring and regular performances, although their studioalbums like Down by the Jetty and Malpractice (1975)were also popular.Their breakthrough 1976 live album, Stupidity, reachednumber one in the UK Albums Chart (their only chart-topper). But after the follow-up Sneakin' Suspicion, John-son left the group because of conflicts with Lee Brilleaux.He was replaced by John 'Gypie' Mayo. With Mayo, the

band was never as popular as with Johnson, but still en-joyed their only Top Ten hit single in 1979, with "Milkand Alcohol". Johnson never achieved any great successoutside of the band, apart from a brief spell with Ian Duryand The Blockheads from 1980. Fans always speculatedabout a return by Johnson that never occurred.

Guitarist Steve Walwyn in Barcelona, 18 March 2009

1.2 Later years

Despite Mayo’s departure in 1981, and various subse-quent line-up changes which left Brilleaux the only re-maining original member, Dr Feelgood continued tour-ing and recording through the 1980s. However, the bandthen suffered an almost career-finishing blow when Bril-leaux died of cancer on 7 April 1994.As Brilleaux had insisted prior to his death, Dr Feelgoodreunited in May 1995, initially with vocalist Pete Gage

1

2 2 PERSONNEL

(not to be confused with guitarist Pete Gage of GenoWashington and Vinegar Joe), and recommenced touringin 1996. Though the band contained no original membersat this point, the musicians backing Gage had all previ-ously played as members of Dr. Feelgood for at least fiveyears, and in some cases for over a decade. In 1999 Gagewas replaced by Robert Kane, formerly of The AnimalsII and The Alligators, who celebrated his 1,000th gig asthe frontman of Dr. Feelgood in April 2007.

Current vocalist Robert Kane performing in Barcelona, 18March2009

Every year since Brilleaux’s death, a special concertknown as the Lee Brilleaux Birthday Memorial has beenheld on Canvey Island, where former and current Feelgo-ods celebrate the music of Dr Feelgood, and raise moneyfor The Fair Havens Hospice in Westcliff-on-Sea. Fansattend from all over the globe, and the 17th event washeld on 7 May 2010. Still based in the UK, Dr Feelgoodcontinue to play across the world, with concerts in 2010 inAustria, Bahrain, Belgium, Finland, France, the Nether-lands, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.Band manager Chris Fenwick organises an annual walkaround Canvey to commemorate Brilleaux’s life, as wellas additional walking tours during which he points out

landmarks from the band’s career. These include the jettyfeatured in the photograph on the band’s first album cover,and venues where they played early in their career, suchas The Lobster Smack inn, The Monaco Nightclub andThe Canvey Club (disguised as 'The Alibi Club' on thesleeve of the album Sneakin' Suspicion).[4]

A film by Julien Temple about the early days of theband, Oil City Confidential, premiered at the London FilmFestival on 22 October 2009, and received a standingovation.[5] Guest of honour was Lee Brilleaux’s motherJoan Collinson, along with his widow Shirley and childrenKelly and Nick. All the surviving members of the origi-nal band were present along withmanager Chris Fenwick,former tour manager and Stiff Records boss Jake Rivieraand other friends and colleagues of the band. The filmhas its own Facebook page.[6] Reviewing the film for TheIndependent, Nick Hasted concluded: “Feelgood are re-membered in rock history, if at all, as John the Baptiststo punk’s messiahs”.[7] On general release from 1 Febru-ary 2010, the film was critically well received, with Pe-ter Bradshaw of The Guardian describing it as "...a vividstudy of period, music and place”.[8] The film was firstbroadcast on BBC Four in April 2010.A major exhibition of memorabilia celebrating the band’scareer ran at The Canvey Club between May and July2013, having been extended several times.[9]

2 Personnel

2.1 Current members

• Kevin Morris (b. Kevin John Morris, London, 15 May1955) [10] – drums (March 1983 – present)

• P H (Phil) Mitchell (b. Philip Henry Mitchell, London,19 March 1953) [11] – bass (March 1983-March 1991,May 1995-present)

• Steve Walwyn (b. Stephen Martin Walwyn, Southam,Warkwickshire, 8 June 1956) [12] – lead guitar (June1989 – present)

• Robert Kane (b. 6 December 1954) [13] – vocals (1999–present)

2.2 Former members

• Lee Brilleaux (b. Lee Collinson, 10 May 1952, Durban,South Africa, died 7 April 1994) [14] – vocals, harmon-ica, occasional slide guitar (January 1971-April 1994)

• John B Sparks[1] (b. 22 February 1953) [14] – bass gui-tar (January 1971 to April 1982)[15]

• The Big Figure (b. John Martin, 8 November 1946) [14]– drums (January 1971-April 1982) [15]

3

• Wilko Johnson (b. John Wilkinson, 12 July 1947, Can-vey Island) [14] – lead guitar (January 1971-March 1977)

• Gypie Mayo – (b. John Phillip Cawthra, 24 July 1951,Hammersmith, died 23 October 2013) lead guitar (April1977-March 1981; substitute for Gordon Russell March1989-April 1989)

• Johnny Guitar – lead guitar (March 1981-December1982)

• Buzz Barwell – drums (April 1982-December 1982)

• Pat McMullen – bass (April 1982-December 1982)

• Gordon Russell (born 4 June 1958, Hammersmith, WestLondon) – lead guitar (March 1983-May 1989)

• Dave Bronze – bass (March 1991-September 1991,May 1992-April 1994)

• Craig Rhind – bass (September 1991-May 1992)

• Pete Gage (b. Peter Gage, 2 December 1946, St Mary’sHospital, Paddington, London) [16] – vocals (May 1995-September 1999)

Substitute musicians

• Henry McCullough – lead guitar (March 1977-April1977; following Wilko Johnson’s departure)

• Barry Martin – lead guitar (May 1989-June 1989; fol-lowing Gordon Russell’s departure)

2.3 Timeline

3 Gallery

• Robert Kane

• Steve Walwyn

• Phil Mitchell

• Kevin Morris

4 UK discography

4.1 Albums

(Including compilations and retrospectives)[19]

4.2 Singles[19][20]

5 References[1] The spelling is Sparks on all the album credits, but is

spelt Sparkes in a few references, and he is also knownas “Sparko”.

[2] “Doctor Feelgood”. Segen’s Medical Dictionary. 2012.

[3] Stephen Thomas Erlewine. “Dr. Feelgood | Biography &History”. AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

[4] “News | Review: Dr Feelgood Exhibition/Lee BrilleauxMemorial Walk”. The Quietus. Retrieved 2013-06-30.

[5] “Oil City Confidential release”. Drfeelgood.org. Re-trieved 2011-11-05.

[6] “Oil City Confidential - The Dr. Feelgood Story”. Face-book. Retrieved 2011-11-05.

[7] “The Dr Feelgood factor - Features - Music”. The Inde-pendent. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2013-06-30.

[8] Peter Bradshaw (4 February 2010). “Oil City Confiden-tial”. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2011-11-05.

[9] “New Dr Feelgood Exhibition Hits Canvey Island « Everyrecord tells a story”. Everyrecordtellsastory.com. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-30.

[10] “DR FEELGOOD - Kevin Morris Questionaire”. Drfeel-good.de. 1955-05-15. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

[11] “DR FEELGOOD - Phil Mitchell Questionaire”. Drfeel-good.de. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

[12] “DR FEELGOOD - SteveWalwynQuestionaire”. Drfeel-good.de. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

[13] “DR FEELGOOD - Robert Kane Questionaire”. Drfeel-good.de. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

[14] Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.).London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 128. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.

[15] Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.).London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 368. CN5585.

[16] Warburg, John. “Early Days – Dr Feelgood”. Slimsblues.Retrieved 4 September 2010.

[17] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 162.ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

[18] Stephen Thomas Erlewine (2013-06-25). “Taking NoPrisoners (With Gypie 1977-1981) - Dr. Feelgood |Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards”. AllMusic. Retrieved2013-08-06.

[19] Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography(5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 290–292. ISBN1-84195-017-3.

[20] Moon, Tony (2002). Down By The Jetty – The Dr Feel-good Story (2nd ed.). Borden, Hants: Northdown Publish-ing Ltd. pp. 122–123. ISBN 1-900711-15-X.

4 7 EXTERNAL LINKS

6 Bibliography• Jost, Roland; Nättilä, Teppo, Mäkinen, Rauno –From Roxette To Ramona, Dr Feelgood And WilkoJohnson On Record – ISBN 3-033-00460-1

• Down By The Jetty – The Dr Feelgood Story by TonyMoon – Northdown Publishing 1997 (Rev 2002) –ISBN 1-900711-15-X

7 External links• Official website

• Wilko Johnson official site

• Archive of former official website

• Hometown website

• Dr. Feelgood biography at the Allmusic.com web-site

• 2006 interview with Wilko Johnson

• Official site of the Julien Temple film on the earlyyears

• Review of Oil City Confidential movie

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8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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