Wilko Johnson (born John Peter Wilkinson, 12 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pub rock/rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s. Johnson and Dr Feelgood were an influence on the English punk movement. Paul Weller has said of Johnson: "Wilko may not be as famous as some other guitarists, but he's right up there. And there are a lot of people who'll say the same. I can hear Wilko in lots of places. It's some legacy Johnson's musical style underpinned the early years of Dr Feelgood. A style that has been cited as one of the founding influences of the British punk movement. Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers says "I often say to journalists there is a bridge between the old times and the punk times. That bridge is exclusively the Feelgoods, it allowed us to go from one thing to another. That's the connection, the DNA." This influence was explored in the 2009 documentary about Dr Feelgood, Oil City Confidential. Reviewing Johnson's autobiography, Mark Blake of Q magazine said "In the mid-70s the band's brutish R&B and their guitarist's eye-popping thousand-yard stare inspired a young John Lydon, Paul Weller and Suggs from Madness. Looking Back at Me secures the man born John Wilkinson's reputation as one of British rock's most unique characters. Wilko recalls his childhood on Canvey Island and how he followed the '60s hippy trail to Goa ... before helping invent punk with Dr Feelgood."The BBC4 three-part documentary series Punk Britannia, first aired in May 2012, also stressed the importance of Dr Feelgood as "pub rockers, a generation of bands sandwiched between 60s hippies and mid-70s punks who will help pave the way towards the short, sharp shock of punk". In February 2017, The Wave Pictures released a vinyl EP titled Canvey Island Baby, which featured five covers of Johnson-penned tracks and an additional song, the title track written by the band's singer/guitarist David Tattersall.
