Dr Feelgood – Still Lovin’ It

”I don’t know how any celebrity can hang around night clubs etc. It’s not for me, I’d rather go to a dog meeting.” Lee Brilleaux passed away in 1994 but his down to earth approach to life and to music lives on in the band fondly referred to  in the UK as “The best pub band in the world”. On Thursday ‘the pub’ was Bonns’ Harmonie so grab a beer and join me ‘down at the doctors’

This week saw the British release of Julian Temple’s ‘Oil City Confidential’ – a film recalling the early days of Dr Feelgood. The film is part of a trilogy on British music of the 70’s and the fact that the other films feature iconic figures The Sex Pistols and Joe Strummer is an indication of how influential (and powerful) a musical force the band were in their prime.

The Feelgoods had all the power of Punkrock before anyone knew what Punkrock even was and incredibly they still pack a hefty punch live. Now in his sixties, John ‘The Big Figure’ Martin sits at the drums like they were the Xmas present he always wanted even after all these years. I love watching his eyes – he’s always watching and listening and above all smiling. I asked him three years ago why he still played and he said ‘Because I love it’ and clearly he still does.   Phil Mitchell on bass has more the look of a man enjoying a quiet cigarette as he, like Martin, watches and plays. The two men are the bands engine and they (literally) keep guitarist Steve Walwyn and singer/Harp player Robert Cane on the move.

And do these guys move!   Cane leaves the stage a couple of times, presumably to collapse in an exhausted heap in the outside courtyard before bouncing back in to pogo around the stage like his shoes are on fire. At one point he swings a leg completely over a half crouching Walwyn before lifting the entire mike plus stand aloft and leaning it out into the audience who howl back down it with the beloved band refrain ‘Down at the Doctors’. The show is apparently being recorded live for the radio but the sound is so powerful all they really need do is open the door and the whole of Bonn will be shouting back.

I saw the Feelgood’s some 25 years ago in the Lee Brilleaux days and I saw ex Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson many times in the ‘70’s. The band were never subtle, surviving on their raw power and enthusiasm (not to mention Wilko’s catchy pop tunes) to make them special. Now 25 years and without Brilleaux or Johnson they still hit hard. It’s down to Cane’s  hyper manic stage presence and Walwyns sheer animal aggression on guitar (what a contrast to last weekend and the trancelike expressions from Ana Popovic during her solos). Walwyn looks like he’s a dentist pulling teeth rather than a guitarist picking strings.

There are a handful of songs you recognize after three chords and welcome them like long parted friends at a reunion. Lizzy’s ‘Jailbreak’ or Purples ‘Smoke on the Water’. Those thick notes that kick start ‘Milk & Alchohol’ are like that too. When it starts I only have to close my eyes and I can see Wilko leaning over  Lee Brilleaux’ shoulder and staring his maniac smile into a camera lens as Brilleaux spits the notes from his harp. The memory is a grainy black and white and fits them perfectly.
It also sums up Dr Feelgood – a band rough and ready around the edges even after all these years – and all the better for it.

Long may the Doctors Surgery stay open for business!

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