Saturday 1 October 2016

Dr. Feelgood ‎– "Be Seeing You" (United Artists Records ‎– UAS 30123) 1977


The main premise of 'cult' TV series "The Prisoner" was, 'where do spies go when they retire?'
The answer was they were sent to 'The Village',a kind of pleasant prison camp for old spies,and the catchphrase of lead character "number 6" was 'Be seeing You'.
So, one figures, that this album title is a Prisoner style reference to 'Where do guitarists go when they retire?', namely Wilko Johnson after Dr. Feelgood. I think they had a genuine feeling that he would disappear into obscurity without the safety of  the Feelgood brand.
Rather like the final episode of the Prisoner, Wilko, as number 6, in fact found out that he was indeed number 1 in the Village, and escaped back to London, to record company advances and a brief period of minor stardom.
His replacement was John 'Gypie' Mayo , a more punky guitarist, who had the unenvious task of filling the gaping hole left by Johnson.
He tries his best with with some solid hard rocking guitar work and some passable songwriting abilities.
Everyone wanted Dr. Feelgood to pull it off, with Nick Lowe and Larry Wallis donating a couple of tunes.
Lowe in the producers chair, managed to create a pretty decent Feelgood album, but that x-factor had gone. This was Dr. Feelnotsogood.
Good album though.

Tracklist:

Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do) 3:05
She's A Wind Up 2:02
I Thought I Had It Made 2:12
I Don't Wanna' Know 2:41
That's It, I Quit 2:32
As Long As The Price Is Right 3:09
Hi-Rise 2:34
My Buddy Buddy Friends 2:45
Baby Jane 2:56
The Blues Had A Baby, And They Named It Rock 'n Roll (#2) 2:19
Looking Back 1:58
60 Minutes Of Your Love 2:22


2 comments:

Ian said...

I remember hearing "Baby Jane" and "Looking Back" and thinking they sounded pretty good, unaware that it was Mayo. So just maybe I can give this and Private Practice a listen. As long as I approach them as Dr. Feelgood Mk. II, I think.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Well, in fact that is exactly what these chaps are, Dr. Feelgood Mk II. Different group. I have the same problem with PiL, who i frequently proclaim my fav group, but then i think of the last 35 years of utter shite recorded under that very moniker!...so i always add a mk1 and mk2 suffix to the name. PiL mk3 and beyond are worse than One Direction!?...or what?