Wilko’s life has already sprung two feature documentaries and one co-written memoir. So a fear of anticlimax awaits his own attempt to put it all in perspective.
Fear not. Wilko’s sullen persona is singular and fully formed by the time the tumour arrives. Childhood flood in Essex, the psychedelicised Afghan hippie trail, pop stardom with Dr Feelgood, widowerhood: all these events are contextualised by a touchingly revealing, funny, poetic and erudite voice.
The arrival of the tumour, mooted to be fatal, brings Wilko a new lease of life. Mr Johnson isn’t out to make friends here. Particularly revealing is the story of behind the successful Going Back Home album with Roger Daltrey, while “proto fascism” at the Glastonbury security gate comes in for a righteous kicking. Such blunt honesty is just one of the many endearing qualities ensuring sweet justice is delivered to this man’s extraordinary tale.
