Wilko Johnson style guitar
John Franklin
I've been playing more years than I than I care to remember, but have not
mastered
His lead rhythm style
The songs that spring to mind are Feelgood numbers like Roxette, Going back
home and She does it right
Any Tab or tips would be greatly appreciated having never seen any examples
Of this on the surface simple style (Until you try to copy it! )
Thanks
John Franklin
John.franklin3@btopenworld
John Adair
(in message <agfa4d$gno$1...@venus.btinternet.com>):
No upstrokes! I remember seeing him on Rock School back in the 80s - they
showed a clip from OGWT of the Feelgoods doing, I believe, She Does It Right
and then he explained how he kind of flicked the strings so he caught them
with the tops of his fingernails instead of picking. I was pretty much
obsessed with him too, so I had a go for a bit but it was extraordinarily
tiring and hurt too much
John
--
John Adair (york...@yahoo.co.uk)
Grant
"John Franklin" <John.Fr...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:agfa4d$gno$1...@venus.btinternet.com...
Roxette is on the OGWT DVD. He uses a telecaster through an H&H combo.
His left hand thumb frets the low E string and he tends to shift
position so the root note is always on the low E - She Does it Right is
similar (IIRC he showed off this lead/rhythm style on Rockschool).
There's quite a bit of left hand muting going on, probably due to his
right hand technique.
His right hand is pretty unorthodox. He doesn't use a pick, his hand
looks fairly relaxed, the movement comes from his elbow - a bit like
shaking your hands dry and hitting the string with the fingers and the
thumb. Possibly some mutant flamenco technique?
It's fairly easy to transcribe the basic lines he plays but his right
hand complicates things considerably. I heard he based his rhythm
playing on Mick Green (The Pirates, last Paul McCartney tour). MG uses
a pick and plays more conventionally so it might be easier to use him as
a starting point.
padraig
<John.Fr...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>Does Anyone Know how to play Wilko Johnson style guitar
>I've been playing more years than I than I care to remember, but have not
>mastered
>His lead rhythm style
>
>The songs that spring to mind are Feelgood numbers like Roxette, Going back
>home and She does it right
You can find the Wilko Johnson guitar school at
http://homepage1.nifty.com/wilkojohnson/index_EG.html which appears to
be attached to the official Wilko Johnson homepage and will talk you
through playing She Does It Right with audio clips etc. I haven't
tried it so I don't know how useful it is - I just came upon a while
ago when I was looking for something else and could still find the
link in my "favourites".
hth - cheers
padraig
Andrew
Andrew(lefty)
In life do you Be someone or Do something?
I prefer the Sinatra approach: Do-Be-Do-Be-Doo
Steve Robinson
news:agfa4d$gno$1...@venus.btinternet.com...
> I've been playing more years than I than I care to remember, but have not
> mastered
> His lead rhythm style
Fantastic player - remember to use a curly lead and point your guitar like a
machine gun whist running across the stage until your lead is stretched to
the max. Then you must rear up, spin round, change direction and off you go
again. Repeat until end of gig.
I saw Dr Feelgood in 1976. Great gig IIRC.
Steve.
steve_cobham
Not forgetting to adopt a crazed expression - part Frankenstein's
Monster, part Stan Laurel on uppers.
I never saw them live with Wilko, but several times with John "Gippy"
Mayo - who was no slouch on guitar - and a couple of times with Steve
Walwyn - who's also a good player.
No-one quite captured the vibe that the Feelgoods had with Wilko,
however.
The band now, however, without the late, lamented Lee Brilleaux, is a
shadow of its former self.
Whilst we're at it, let's not forget "Pirate" Mick Green, whose lead
with rhythm style influenced Wilko very heavily - as Wilko will freely
acknowledge.
Steve.
--
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Andrew Stelmasiak
from school. Wiko's playing instantly had me hypnotised and sold me on R&B.
I saw them 3 times in the format Johnson,Brilleaux, Sparks and The Big
Figure, in an around the Birmingham area. Wilko's antics were amazing, how
he played and leapt about , spinning around, whizzing all over the stage
like a small Terminator on speed and still sounded great beats me.
[thinks:I take my eye off the fret board for a micro second and jazz (bum)
notes appear. doh!]
The band were never the same when John Mayo took over from Wilko.
Andrew(lefty)
steve_cobham
I dunno - with Lee Brilleaux at the front they still were more than
fab.
It was when he died that they should have called it a day.
He *was* the band, really, in spite of Wilko's undoubted stage
presence and great playing.
I've seen Wilko with a couple of his own bands since he left Dr.F and
they just didn't have that sleazy, sweaty vibe that LB always brought
to DF gigs.
Paul Creedy
absolutely mental ;o)
Paul
steve_cobham
That's a Screamin' Jay Hawkins song.
After SJH everybody else seems normal - even Wilko.
He's dead now, but he was making great tracks until quite recently.
His version of "Ol' Man River" has to be heard to be believed.
He was a bit like Screaming Lord Sutch, but with SLS it was an act.
With SJH it was just the way he was.
I have a great snippet on an album with Screamin' Jay asking the
engineer to take the delay off his vocals. The engineer tells him
there's none on, so Jay says that it must just be in his (Jay's) own
head.......
Andrew Stelmasiak
<Steve Cobham> wrote in message
news:bmroiu8qjltoghjpm...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 15:36:05 +0100, "Andrew Stelmasiak"
> <casab...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >I first saw Dr Feelgood on TV in the early 70's one day when I came home
> >from school. Wiko's playing instantly had me hypnotised and sold me on
R&B.
> >I saw them 3 times in the format Johnson,Brilleaux, Sparks and The Big
> >Figure, in an around the Birmingham area. Wilko's antics were amazing,
how
> >he played and leapt about , spinning around, whizzing all over the stage
> >like a small Terminator on speed and still sounded great beats me.
> >
> >[thinks:I take my eye off the fret board for a micro second and jazz
(bum)
> >notes appear. doh!]
> >
> >The band were never the same when John Mayo took over from Wilko.
>
> I dunno - with Lee Brilleaux at the front they still were more than
> fab.
>
> It was when he died that they should have called it a day.
>
> He *was* the band, really, in spite of Wilko's undoubted stage
> presence and great playing.
>
> I've seen Wilko with a couple of his own bands since he left Dr.F and
> they just didn't have that sleazy, sweaty vibe that LB always brought
> to DF gigs.
>
> Steve.
> --
>
Your right about LB, for me the definitive DF sound was LB and WJ together.
Andrew(lefty)
nog
says...
> On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 18:52:48 +0100, "Paul Creedy"
> <paul....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> >I've got an old vinyl compilation with a Wilco song on -called "The Whammy"
> >absolutely mental ;o)
>
> That's a Screamin' Jay Hawkins song.
>
> After SJH everybody else seems normal - even Wilko.
>
> He's dead now, but he was making great tracks until quite recently.
>
> His version of "Ol' Man River" has to be heard to be believed.
>
> He was a bit like Screaming Lord Sutch, but with SLS it was an act.
>
> With SJH it was just the way he was.
Did you see that TV programme - a year or two ago, ISTR - about SJH, or
rather, his children?
There are apparently fifty-something of them, living all over the US.
Seems he was a _very_ friendly guy.
--
The address used is maintained only for newsgroup posting.
Mail sent there may not be read by me for some time.
Jose I. de las Heras
>
> In article <387piu0c12u6eo436...@4ax.com>, Steve Cobham
> says...
> > On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 18:52:48 +0100, "Paul Creedy"
> > <paul....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >
> > >I've got an old vinyl compilation with a Wilco song on -called "The Whammy"
> > >absolutely mental ;o)
> >
> > That's a Screamin' Jay Hawkins song.
> >
> > After SJH everybody else seems normal - even Wilko.
> >
> > He's dead now, but he was making great tracks until quite recently.
> >
> > His version of "Ol' Man River" has to be heard to be believed.
> >
> > He was a bit like Screaming Lord Sutch, but with SLS it was an act.
> >
> > With SJH it was just the way he was.
>
> Did you see that TV programme - a year or two ago, ISTR - about SJH, or
> rather, his children?
> There are apparently fifty-something of them, living all over the US.
> Seems he was a _very_ friendly guy.
57 children...
The first time I heard his "constipation blues" I was hooked :)
J
steve_cobham
>In article <387piu0c12u6eo436...@4ax.com>, Steve Cobham
>says...
>> On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 18:52:48 +0100, "Paul Creedy"
>> <paul....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>> >I've got an old vinyl compilation with a Wilco song on -called "The Whammy"
>> >absolutely mental ;o)
>>
>> That's a Screamin' Jay Hawkins song.
>>
>> After SJH everybody else seems normal - even Wilko.
>>
>> He's dead now, but he was making great tracks until quite recently.
>>
>> His version of "Ol' Man River" has to be heard to be believed.
>>
>> He was a bit like Screaming Lord Sutch, but with SLS it was an act.
>>
>> With SJH it was just the way he was.
>
>Did you see that TV programme - a year or two ago, ISTR - about SJH, or
>rather, his children?
>There are apparently fifty-something of them, living all over the US.
>Seems he was a _very_ friendly guy.
Jay's personal life was as bizarre and hedonistic as his artistic
persona suggested.
Someone has yet to write the definitive biography of Jay - I await it
with eagerness.
Note to Zappa/Kenealley fans - MK appears on several of the last
albums Jay made for the Bizarre label.
George Weston
<Steve Cobham> wrote in message
> On Thu, 11 Jul 2002 12:37:39 +0100, nog <p...@consultant.com> wrote:
> Note to Zappa/Kenealley fans - MK appears on several of the last
> albums Jay made for the Bizarre label.
>
> Steve.
Milton Keynes? Well, I'll be blowed!
George