 Dr Feelgood
Although they never strayed from their gritty R&B based
sound, Dr Feelgood was a fixture of England's Pub
Rock scene since the early 70s.
While they were comparative latecomers to the scene - not
playing their first London pub gig until July 1973 - they burst
out of Canvey Island (Essex) like a force nine gale, and it wasn't
long before they were showing everybody else how it was done.
The secret of their success lay not so much in their music - a
sharply defined beat group R&B which harked straight back to
the early Stones and The
Pretty Things - but in their image and attitude, both built on
naked aggression.
Plus, in singer Lee Brilleaux and guitarist Wilko Johnson -
zig-zagging around the stage like a broken Dalek - they boasted
two bona fide gold-plated stars (the NME would later dub
them 'the new Jagger and Richards'.) They also had a brutally
effective rhythm section called Sparko and The Big Figure, who
looked like debt collectors . . .
 The
Feelgoods signed to United Artists late in the summer of 1974 and
recorded their first album, Down By The Jetty, with the
late Vic Maile producing.
Its black and white sleeve and mono sound mix captured the
band's musical character perfectly. It was ultimately their live
album, Stupidity, which was to rocket them to the top of
the charts in 1976.
Dr Feelgood constantly travelled England, playing to sold-out
clubs across the country - venues where rough rock & roll
bands could pound out R&B, pop and simple three-chord
rock.
With their devoted following, they proved that these clubs were
profitable and helped pave the way for the success of punk
rock in England. Punk bands played the same bars and clubs
that Dr Feelgood, Brinsley Schwarz
and other pub rockers played in the early 70s. Without Dr
Feelgood, Stiff Records would not have
existed either. Brilleaux stumped up the original £400 that Jake
Riviera used to found the label.
Over the years the band's line-up changed frequently, with Lee
Brilleaux the only constant member. Brilleaux's energy never
diminished as he got older - his consistently vibrant live
performances were the reason why Dr Feelgood was such a concert
draw. Even though he had been performing for twenty years,
Brilleaux remained a force to be reckoned with when he was on
stage, right until his untimely death in April 1994.
I once met Lee Brilleaux at a party in Sydney, Australia. It
was the mid 80s and Dr Feelgood had just finished a series of gigs
which took my breath away and were unwinding at a bash at the home
of Gary Hosie (The Sets, Mustard
Club) and the late Don Hosie - vocalist with Sydney R&B
legends, Stupidity (themselves named
after the Feelgoods classic live album).
Sidling over with a couple of fresh beers, I tried to engage
The Man in a conversation about R&B without seeming like a
sycophantic wazzock. Taking the beer and surveying the room, he
said one line to me - "So which of these birds are
single?". You didn't get much more R&B than Lee!
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