Chords for Wilko Johnson Talks About Lee Brilleaux, Dr Feelgood & The Blockheads 9.7.12

I just believe in Leigh Brillo, you know, and [Abm] we [Eb] were the hot new thing in town.
And I can remember one evening, [G] we're traveling home down the A13 [N] from London back to Canby Island,
which is what we've got, and right near Barking [Eb] there's a flyover you have to go over.
And I remember that evening, whatever gig we'd been, there'd been some heavyweights from the
music business had been in a gig and come and talk to us afterwards.
Obviously things were happening.
And then we're coming up the top of the flyover [Gb] and you see all the lights of Essex out there,
you know, dagging [Eb] and all spread out, all these lights.
And I'm going, I wonder what's going to
happen?
Just as we went up.
And I'll tell you what, that's probably the best [N] moment of it all.
_ You know, [Gm] that moment was quite transcendent actually.
And [Eb] I don't suppose it ever does
happen, does it?
You know, but yeah, I remember that moment.
It was pretty good.
We had our
success and then we started getting on each other's nerves.
I do not know why. _
Me and Leigh, right?
We couldn't be in the same room together.
I think it was kind of happening
when we were touring America in 1976.
_ They were getting very heavily into drinking and I was
teetotal.
And there was a source of friction.
Leigh said to me, he wasn't surprised about
how the film [G] would speak up.
He said, [N] you can't have three drunks on a speed frame.
_ _ And I suppose he was right.
Anyway, we got very fed up with each other and it all exploded during
the recording of our [Eb] fourth album.
_ I then proceeded to do absolutely everything wrong.
Wrong people.
When I think back on it, what an idiot.
But I mean, I chose it, you know,
and so my career kind of went that way. _ _ _ _
Which was where it was when in, oh, that was still in the
70s, I think.
Yeah.
I bumped into Ian Dury.
And I knew Ian from back from when he had Kilburn and
The Hineroads.
And [Db] I said to Ian, I was feeling a bit fed up.
And he asked [G] me if I would, would I
like to go and make [N] a single with The Blockheads back in me?
Now, as it [Eb] happens, I was just
absolutely my favourite bass player in all the world was Norman Watroy.
[G] I didn't know him personally
at the time, but I thought, bloody hell, yeah, I'll get anything to play with him.
And I went
along and then they quickly asked me to join The Blockheads.
And I think I had the two of the best
years I had in rock and roll, actually, with The Blockheads.
Although _ [N] Ian, I mean, I think Ian was
a genius, probably, you know.
[Eb] _ And I did feel for him a lot.
But I'll tell you what, he's [N] one of the
most offensive people.
_ I mean, I think he, I had this feeling he couldn't believe people loved him,
you know, [Eb] and so he would be really, really offensive to people.
And I don't know, you know,
but I mean, for instance, _ we were in Copenhagen, we were doing a big rock festival, right?
And
it's the night before, this is quite a posh hotel we're in, and it's full of bands from America and
all over the place.
[G] And so I get this phone call to my room, right?
And it's Jenny Cotton,
The Blockheads tour manager, saying, welcome, welcome, you've got to come down to the bar, Ian's
causing terrible trouble.
And he used to get me, because I didn't go so far back as the others in
the band, I didn't have so [Eb] much baggage sort of thing.
So I could be a bit, you know, a bit sort
of, I think he had a little bit of respect for me or whatever.
Anyway, he used to [Db] call me when he
used to [Eb] get out of hand.
Anyway, I get down into the bar.
And there's Ian and he's up against all
this yank, right?
And [Gm] I can see, I can tell by his body language what he's doing.
And this, [G] as I get
out there, it's an American saying to him, listen, man, I really used to admire [Eb] you, I thought you
were great.
But now I listen to you now, I realise you're just an asshole.
And if you say one more
word, I'm going to hit you.
At that point, I'm kind of, and I get up against him, I'm terribly sorry, mate,
I'm really, I'm just so sorry.
He's had too much to drink, [Db] he's got a bit of a problem, you know.
Anyway, I smooth things over with the septic.
And then I look around, and there's Ian, he's sitting at the bar,
right?
And he's shouting and what have you, right?
And I said, I think Norman was there.
[N] And I think maybe Raymond is minder.
I don't know, there were three of us at least.
And we got up to Ian and go, come on, man, you know, let's go back to your room, come on, because, you know,
and he didn't want to go, so we go, come on.
And we got hold of him, right?
We pulled him off this bar stool.
Now this bar is one of these bars with a brass rail, right?
And he's got hold of this brass rail.
And we're pulling him.
And he's shouting, I say it's a push hotel, he's shouting, help me, help me! _
And we pull him off the brass rail, and we get him through to the lift.
And he's still shouting at the people in the fire,
and he's going, help me!
Help me!
And we pull this cripple into a lift.
_ And we gave him, we gave him up to his room, we gave him up to his room, we locked him on the bed, and then we took his
caliper, his leg iron, off of him, because he cannot stand up without the leg iron, you see.
So we took this leg
iron off of him, and kind of just left him there.
And he was like, but you could hear him for hours afterwards,
lying on his bed, you bastards, you're all fucking sacked!