Johnson leads the band through an energetic arrangement, drummer Dylan Howe adding some nice percussive fills while WestonвЂ™s harp dances spryly atop the instrumentation. Johnson and Daltrey do a fine job in covering DylanвЂ™s вЂњCan You Please Crawl Out Your Window,вЂќ the singerвЂ™s hearty vocals miles away from the ScribeвЂ™s nasal drawl, but curiously effective as they impart a deep emotion to the lyrics. DaltreyвЂ™s vocals are fierce and JohnsonвЂ™s riffing is wiry and hypnotic, making for a livewire three minutes of music. By contrast, вЂњIce On the MotorwayвЂќ is a lively romp with funky rhythms, engaging guitar licks, and an overall Southern soul vibe. Call it Chicago-styled blues with a British flavor, the arrangement dominated by piano and harmonica. Harp player Steve Weston knocks out riffs in the spirit of Little Walter while JohnsonвЂ™s percussive fretwork establishes a rhythmic bottom end.

Going Back Home kicks off with the title track, DaltreyвЂ™s growled, primal vocals reminiscent of the great HowlinвЂ™ Wolf as Mick TalbotвЂ™s tinkling piano keys add a distinctive honky-tonk vibe. Somebody convinced Universal Music to reactive the Chess Records imprint to release Going Back Home, and it was a good decision, as the album displays all the heart and soul of the 1950s and вЂ60s era Chess records that influenced Daltrey and Johnson as young men.ДaltreyвЂ™s once-golden voice is nowhere near what it was during the WhoвЂ™s mid-вЂ70s peak, but itвЂ™s perfectly suited to a bluesy reinterpretation of JohnsonвЂ™s songs. Feelgood, the material re-imagined in a raw, intimate, rockinвЂ™ British R&B style. After the Who wrapped up its 2013 tour, Johnson got Daltrey into the studio for a week in November to record Going Back Home, using JohnsonвЂ™s touring band for back-up.Д¬omprised of eleven songs, including a raucous cover of Bob DylanвЂ™s вЂњCan You Please Crawl Out Your Window,вЂќ Going Back Home features songs written or co-written by Johnson, drawn from across his solo career and his years with Dr. He and Roger Daltrey of the Who had talked as early as 2010 about working together, about recording an album of the sort of old-school British R&B вЂ“ like Johnny Kidd & the Pirates вЂ“ that they both loved as teens. With a death sentence hanging over his head, Johnson knew that his date with the Reaper was coming, and he wanted to leave one last album for his long-time fans. Wilko Johnson & Roger DaltreyвЂ™s Going Back Home Feelgood, Brinsley Schwarz (with Nick Lowe), and Ducks Deluxe paved the way for more successful artists like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Joe Strummer and the Clash. It was typically performed in pubs rather than large concert venues, and bands like Dr. It was raw, it was rootsy, and it was highly influential on the late вЂ70s punk and new wave scenes that would follow. For those not in the know, pub-rock was a uniquely British institution that took its inspiration from 1950s-era proto-rock and rhythm and blues and 1960s bands like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.

Feelgood, lending his talents and unique finger-picked guitar style to the bandвЂ™s first four albums, from 1975вЂ™s Down By the Jetty to 1977вЂ™s Sneakin Suspicion, after which he left the band to launch a solo career that is now in its fifth decade. Johnson made his bones as the guitarist of British pub-rock legends Dr. After a вЂњfarewell tourвЂќ which stretched throughout much of 2013, Johnson and his road-tested live band continue to light up stages across the United Kingdom. At six months past his expiry, he continues to rock every bit as hard as he has during his entire career. Diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in January 2013, Johnson was given, best case scenario, ten months to live.

Wilko Johnson is dyingвЂ¦itвЂ™s a sad but true, and an inconvenience that has seemingly done little to slow down the legendry and influential British guitarist.

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