Wilco Johnson discusses the making of Down by the Jetty in the first of the new series of Mastertapes. I’m not a special fan of Johnson, or of Dr. Feelgood, but listened to it the other day while making a birthday cake for my wife, and really enjoyed it. Johnson is dying of cancer, and has chosen to let it run its course; listening to him talking about that, about life, and about music, is really, really, fun. Apparently there is more than a year left to listen — so you can wait till he dies to listen to it if you like! Series one, with Susanne Vega, Ray Davies, Paul Weller, the Zombies, and Brinsley Ford, is archived here — also with more than a year left to listen!
{ 4 comments }
Tom Slee 05.30.13 at 1:20 pm
Thank you for posting this. I am a special fan of Johnson, although less so of Dr. Feelgood. I firmly believe Dr. Dupree to be one of the great underrated songs of all time, and he was fantastic in concert when I saw him in 1980. I can’t listen to the interview until later on in the day (work etc) but will look forward to it.
Tom Slee 05.30.13 at 5:04 pm
I did not intend to shout the whole comment. Close tag snafu.
Tom Slee 05.31.13 at 12:55 am
What a gorgeous interview: the man is an absolute gem crossed with a hero isn’t he? So no one else is commenting, I’ll just rhapsodize by myself.
“Pedals? I’m a guitar player, not a cyclist.”
Chris Bertram 05.31.13 at 10:35 pm
If you can catch Julian Temple’s recent film about the Feelgoods, Oil City Confidential, do so.
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