I practically wore out the grooves of Malpractice
(1975), the band’s second album, and my first purchase. After that, and up to A
Case of the Shakes, I bought all the albums though not necessarily as they
were released. I bought Be Seeing You
(1977) and Private Practice (1978) as soon as they appeared in my local
record store. Let it Roll (1979) and A Case of the Shakes (1980) came
from sale bins.
To me, the first four Feelgoods albums, Down by the
Jetty (1975), Malpractice, Stupidity (1976) and Sneakin’ Suspicion
(1977), are by far the best records the band put out, because of Wilko Johnson’s
song writing and guitar playing. Both these factors made Dr Feelgood distinctive,
interesting and highly entertaining. It was also useful, for a break from Lee
Brilleaux’s growl, that Johnson took some vocals.
From Be Seeing You. Dr Feelgood became
just an ordinary British R & B band albeit with more of a pedigree than
most, and I’d wager the band lasted as long as it did, changing guitarists, losing
the original rhythm section and eventually Brilleaux passing away, yet with the
band carrying on regardless, because of the massive impetus, influence and name
it gained from the Wilko Johnson years. I’d also bet that the most loved Feelgoods
tunes were written by Johnson.
In about 2006 I acquired CD copies of the first four
albums, and when I signed up for Apple Music, I downloaded those albums, with “bonus
materials,” to my phone. I had no
interest in the other albums I used to own but now I’ve gone to the trouble of listening
to the four albums from Be Seeing You to A Case of the Shakes for
the first time probably since the Eighties. Even then I didn’t play the later
albums as often as the first four.
My recollection had been that I liked A Case of the
Shakes best because the songs were top drawer and the production, and
music, gave the record a tough Eighties new wave rock edge and sharpness that
made it a joy to listen to. I didn’t listen to the record much at the time
because the surface of the vinyl had deteriorated rapidly, leaving jumps and
scratches that made the listening experience challenging.
Now, with pristine digital sound, my first impression
of the album is reinforced. The band sounds
tough and committed to the material (which is the best in a while) and John Mayo
is at the top of his game. Even lee Brilleaux relies less on his gruff growl
and sings a bit more, especially on “Violent Love.”
Private Practice is the second best of the four. Where Be Seeing
You was quick product to introduce John Mayo to the fans on record, the
album that followed it was a more considered affair and Mayo was allowed to do
play for more guitar than before. The original Feelgoods' sound was a simple instrumental trio, with some slide
guitar and some blues harp, with not that much studio overdubbing of guitar
parts because of Wilko Johnson’s characteristic guitar style. On Private
Practice, Mayo puts down many guitar parts, to the extent where the reviewer
from the NME compared final track, “Sugar Shaker,” to Jimi Hendrix’s extravagant
use of guitar overdubs on “Night Bird Flying.”
For this reason, at least musically, Private
Practice is as conventional a rock
album as the band ever made, and with “Down at the Doctor’s” and “Milk & Alcohol,”
contains two bona fide Feelgoods classics not written by Wilko Johnson. At the time, I was dubious about the jerky,
riffy guitar sound Mayo used. On listening to the album now, I appreciate how
good it was, much improved from Be Seeing You and far superior to Let
it Roll, how ambitious it was and, still, how shaky the song writing was.
\Where Private Practice was a natural
development and expansion of the new sound of the band on Be Seeing You,
the latter album was vastly and jarringly different to Sneakin’ Suspicion.
There was little transition between the one style and the next, because John
Mayo, if no less accomplished, was a very different, more traditional, guitarist
than Wilko Johnson. With Be Seeing You,
the band lost its edge and immediately sounded like just another journeyman
British R & B band; in fact like the competition Dr Feelgood had managed to
rise above.
At the time I was quite fond of Be Seeing You and
preferred it to Private Practice, but now it sounds lame, dull and, at
best, worthy; far from exciting or compelling.
In contrast, and surprisingly, Let it Roll, now
sounds far better than I remembered it. It’s still the work of a journeyman band,
with no flashes of genius or quirky creativity and one cannot think this band
could make A Case of the Shakes only a year later. Let it Roll is
smooth, polished, accomplished within limitations the band’s accepted, and
therefore a bit dull.
Today, after listening to and reconsidering these albums,
I don’t think I’d be persuaded to add them to my music collection again, even
digitally, because they just don’t move me. Private Practice and A
Case of the Shakes have merit but both made more sense when they were
contemporary and I was a general Feelgoods fan. Since then, I’ve concluded that
I’m a Wilko Johnson fan and, without him, that Dr Feelgood represents an ordinary,
banal style of R & B I don’t much care for because it lacks quirkiness and
a compelling USP.
Dr Feelgood became a brand and carried on regardless
of how many founding members it shed along the way, and I suppose that
demonstrates the longevity of a powerful brand, if carefully managed but it’s also sad that brand became bigger
than the music it represented. A whole bunch of later Dr Feelgood albums are available
on Apple Music and yet I feel absolutely no need to listen to any of them. I’ll
stick to the first four albums. The opening chords of “I Can Tell” (Malpractice)
still gives me a visceral excitement and
anticipation for what’s to come, and “Back in the Night” from the same album still
sounds as otherwordly as when I heard it on Radio 5, amidst the general disco playlist
it favoured in 1975. All the Wilko Johnson
songs on Sbeakin’ Suspicion are works of genius and shine so much more
brightly than any of the other songs on the record, that it’s ridiculous to
think he was kicked out of the band.
