With Wilko being the only songwriter in the band all that pressure landed on him. The trouble with this quick rise to commercial success was the pressure by the record company for them to come up with new material as good as before. The album captured the Feelgoods at their ultimate best delivering a tsunami of high octane full-tilt in-your-face R&B. Their major breakthrough happened in 1976 when their live album, 'Stupidity', reached number one in the UK Albums Chart.
Another fine album brimming with energy and vitality, it proved to be highly successful, reaching number seventeen in the UK album charts, with the single 'Back in the Night', also written by Wilko, being released to critical acclaim. The second album 'Malpractice' was quickly recorded and released in the same year to monopolise on their widening profile. The band were immediately sent out on a hugely successful package tour entitled 'The Naughty Rhythms Tour' with Kokomo and Chilli Willi and The Red Hot Peppers. Produced by Vic Maile and recorded in Mono, it captures the band's raw energy perfectly and still sounds vital today. United Artists offered the best deal, the first single 'Roxette', written by Wilko, was released in late 1974 with their debut album 'Down By The Jetty' being released in early 1975. With their impressive performances and growing legions of fans flocking to the pubs of London the band started to get noticed by record companies eager to snap them up. They developed their chops and perfected their stage craft by relentlessly playing the local pubs in around Canvey Island before heading west to London to blow unsuspecting people's minds with their hard hitting R&B. The original Dr Feelgood line-up was Lee Brilleaux on vocals and harmonica, Wilko Johnson on guitar, 'Sparko' on bass and the 'Big Figure' on drums. He continues to manage the band to this day. The chemistry was instant and they were off and running! Chris Fenwick decided he would be better suited to managing rather than playing. The band were on the lookout for a decent drummer so Wilko introduced the others to his friend John 'Big Figure' Martin. The song was also covered by The Pirates, which featured Wilko's guitar hero and main influence Mick Green. By 1971 John Wilkinson (Wilko Johnson) joined them on guitar and from then on things got serious! With a mutual love of Rhythm 'n' Blues they decided to change their name to 'Dr Feelgood' after a 1962 record by the American Blues pianist and singer Willie Perryman (also known as "Piano Red") called ‘Dr. Calling the album 'Greatest Hits' is a bit misleading, as most of the songs on this collection were never really hits! In reality this is more a selection of some their best songs from their extensive back catalogue.įormed in 1971 on the infamous Thames Delta that is Canvey Island in Essex by school friends Lee Collinson (Lee Brilleaux), Chris White (Chris Fenwick) and John Sparkes (Sparko), they initially got together to play Skiffle music for fun, eventually settling on calling themselves The Pigboy Charlie Band.
The set was re-mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering, with sleeve notes by Stephen Foster and artwork by .uk. The compilation was put together by Kevin Morris, the bands current drummer and mainstay since 1983. They basically took the Blues and sped it up! 2021 marks their fiftieth year of existence, and to celebrate this momentous occasion they have just released a forty one song double CD 'Greatest Hits' collection on Grand Records. Dr Feelgood are a hard driving Punk/R&B British Institution! More punk than Punk! It could be argued that they actually invented Punk! What marks them out from other mainstream Punk bands is their superior musicality and deep-rooted love of Rhythm 'n' Blues.
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