Lee Brilleaux: the Last Memorial
This is an excerpt from my book The Long Drive South, now available on Amazon - click here to buy
For 20 years, the life and death of the legendary Dr Feelgood frontman (who passed away on April 7th, 1994) was commemorated with a memorial walk and concert held on his adopted home of Canvey Island.
This unique event ended in 2014. Mark Beasley reports on the last Lee Brilleaux Memorial.
This is an excerpt from my book The Long Drive South, now available on Amazon - click here to buy
For 20 years, the life and death of the legendary Dr Feelgood frontman (who passed away on April 7th, 1994) was commemorated with a memorial walk and concert held on his adopted home of Canvey Island.
This unique event ended in 2014. Mark Beasley reports on the last Lee Brilleaux Memorial.
May 9th 2014. High noon on Canvey Island
‘And it was there, where we camped as kids, that we scattered Lee’s mortal remains.’
A visibly upset Chris Fenwick is pointing at Long Horse Island, a mound of mud in the creek between Canvey Island and Hadleigh. He is standing on a bench, arms aloft, addressing a crowd of more than 100 people. We surround him and listen in silence to his words, born to us by the Essex wind.
We are here to commemorate the death 20 years ago (on April 7th, 1994) of Lee Brilleaux, lead singer of the legendary British rhythm and blues group, Dr Feelgood. Fenwick, boyhood friend of Brilleaux and the manager of Dr Feelgood for the past 40 years, is our guide on a walking tour of the island where they both grew up.
Tonight, we will all attend the Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert. Feelgoods past and present, musical associates and friends will perform. Those close to Lee and the band will be in attendance. The event sold out many months ago.
The first such concert took place on May 10th 1994, the date of Brilleaux’s birthday and just a month after his death. A local gig, for local people, it subsequently became the focus for an annual event, including the walk, attracting pilgrims from all over the world.
But after twenty years, today – May 9th, 2014 - will be the last Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert.
‘And it was there, where we camped as kids, that we scattered Lee’s mortal remains.’
A visibly upset Chris Fenwick is pointing at Long Horse Island, a mound of mud in the creek between Canvey Island and Hadleigh. He is standing on a bench, arms aloft, addressing a crowd of more than 100 people. We surround him and listen in silence to his words, born to us by the Essex wind.
We are here to commemorate the death 20 years ago (on April 7th, 1994) of Lee Brilleaux, lead singer of the legendary British rhythm and blues group, Dr Feelgood. Fenwick, boyhood friend of Brilleaux and the manager of Dr Feelgood for the past 40 years, is our guide on a walking tour of the island where they both grew up.
Tonight, we will all attend the Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert. Feelgoods past and present, musical associates and friends will perform. Those close to Lee and the band will be in attendance. The event sold out many months ago.
The first such concert took place on May 10th 1994, the date of Brilleaux’s birthday and just a month after his death. A local gig, for local people, it subsequently became the focus for an annual event, including the walk, attracting pilgrims from all over the world.
But after twenty years, today – May 9th, 2014 - will be the last Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert.
Canvey Tales
Canvey Island is where Brilleaux and the Feelgoods came of age. Our walk to Long Horse Island began that morning at the Lobster Smack pub, a picturesque pub with 400 years of history, sited under the sea wall. Shell Haven, the oil terminal, faces us and Canvey Wick Nature Reserve, which almost became an oil terminal itself, is behind us.
'We started our little adventure here, 40 years ago’ says Chris Fenwick, addressing us from nearby stairs on the seawall, the scene of the iconic photograph on the cover of the Feelgood’s 1975 first album, Down by the Jetty. A dishevelled and sleepy Brilleaux is seen, with the band, slumped here early one morning, having returned from a gig in London.
We walk along and below the sea wall. We pass oil terminals and jetties, the battered relics of a faded seaside resort, Dead Man’s Point and Ove Larup’s iconic Labworth Cafe, the procession lengthening the further we walk. Fenwick’s story-telling is of a consistently high standard - bare-knuckle boxing, the importing of eels, friends of Lee with names like Dennis the Dog, Len the Hat and Colin the Socialist. Canvey Tales.
Canvey Island refuses to be typecast. An industrialised mudflat in the Thames Estuary, populated by the urban working class, it is also the most bio-diverse habitat in the UK, with a large RSPB bird sanctuary. The combination of band, location and people conspires to create a strong sense of place. Better writers than me have written about this: I particularly recommend Christopher Somerville* and Sophia Deboick*. For both, powerful and complex emotions are at work here.
In the bar later, Somerville (a regular attendee, who was on standby at Long Horse Island in case Fenwick choked) makes the point that Wilko Johnson’s early Feelgood songs, written for Brilleaux’s voice, helped create the myth of Canvey as ‘a sort of fantasy island’. He writes that: ‘Where others see only a bleak shore seeded with chemical silos and cheek-by-jowl housing, we scent romance and adventure.’ Few here today would disagree.
Yes, but would Brilleaux like it?
Like Canvey Island, one suspects that Lee Brilleaux was not easily typecast. The onstage persona – one of controlled menace, stained suits and heavy drinking – was not the man. Brilleaux is frequently described as someone of intelligence, manners and firm principles - a quiet, book-loving, crossword-completing, former trainee solicitor. In his later years, he wore cravats and appreciated good food and wine. However, one thing is not in doubt: whether on or off stage, he enjoyed a drink.
The best article I know about Lee Brilleaux was written by Will Birch*. This will tell you more about the man, in fewer words, than I or any writer ever could. One thing is for sure – Brilleaux inspires great loyalty and respect amongst the people who knew him. Even fans who met him just the once sing his praises to me: a real gentleman, who always took the time to shake your hand, to reply to fan letters, to speak to you in the bar, to find you a signed photograph from the murky depths of the Feelgood van.
All agree that Brilleaux was a man who knew his own mind, who lived life by his own rules. Tony Moon* says that for he and his mates, as young Feelgood fans in the 70s, Brilleaux became a ‘barometer against which anything and everything could be tested’. For anything new, the acid test was ‘yes, but would Brilleaux like it?’.
A long time to die
By February 1993, Brilleaux had become too ill to tour. His lymphoma was terminal but, according to Chris Fenwick, such was the strength of his spirit that ‘he took a long time to die’. After 20 hard-working years, playing hundreds of gigs a year, Dr Feelgood had effectively disbanded while Brilleaux dealt with his illness.
Meanwhile, Chris Fenwick’s brother had been buying up various parcels of land in Canvey that together became the site of the Oysterfleet Hotel. While this was going on, the original Oysterfleet - ‘a shitty old pub’, says Fenwick – was converted into the Dr Feelgood Music Bar, run by Feelgood road manager and friend Dean Kennedy. Something to do while the band was off the road, adds Fenwick.
In January 1994, Brilleaux asked Fenwick to get the band together for one last gig – his first for 12 months. This took place over two nights (January 24th and 25th) at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar. The resulting live album – Down at the Doctors – is testament to the strength of the man, who despite his weakened state rose to the occasion admirably. It’s just a really good album and the strong voice you hear seems unrelated to the obviously sick man shown on the front cover.
Less than three months later, on April 7th 1994, Lee Brilleaux passed away at his home, The Proceeds, in nearby Leigh-on Sea. He was 41.
The first Memorial Concert. May 10th, 1994
Soon after Brilleaux’s death, a group of his friends and associates gathered at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar, which was due to be demolished. It was agreed that a gig in honour of Lee would take place there, to raise money for SCENT – the Southend Community Extended Nursing Team – which had provided round-the-clock care at home for Lee. The event was called the Lee Brilleaux Birthday Memorial Concert and took place on his birthday: Tuesday May 10th, 1994.
There were two shows: from 1.00 to 6:00pm, and from 7:00pm to midnight. The event was more a jam session than a concert, involving members of Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Hamsters, The Inmates, Nine below Zero, Larry Wallis and many others. Members of Dr Feelgood playing that night included Wilko, Sparko, Big Figure, Gypie Mayo, Johny Guitar, Steve Walwyn and Dave Bronze. Ace guitarist Walwyn, who is still in Dr Feelgood, is the only musician to have performed at every concert - a record of which he is justifiably proud.
This unusual – and as far as I know, unprecedented - bond between past and present band members was to become a feature of every Memorial Concert. At that first concert, the three remaining ‘original’ Feelgoods - Wilko, Sparko and The Big Figure - played together for the first time in 15 years. The tradition of Feelgoods past and present performing together continued for the next 20 years. To this day, the Big Figure and Gordon Russell sometimes stand in with the current band when needed.
Twenty years of Memorial Concerts
In all, 21 Memorial Concerts have taken place between 1994 and 2014.
After that first concert at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar in 1994, the concerts were held at a number of locations around Southend: the Maritime Rooms at the Cliffs Pavilion in 1995 and 1997; and in 1996, the Grand Hotel, Leigh-On-Sea (Brilleaux's local and the location of his interview shown in the film Oil City Confidential); settling on the Oysterfleet Hotel, from 1998 until 2014.
The essence of the Memorial Concert was that it was a local event, organised and attended by people who knew Lee. Everyone – from the bands to the people on the door – gave their services for free. As well as Feelgood members past and present, local bands Eddie and the Hot Rods and the Kursaal Flyers have been regular supporters, as have many other artists and bands, including Nine Below Zero.
All 15 ‘official’ Feelgoods (to qualify as ‘official’, they must have played 100 gigs or more with the band) have always had an open invitation to attend and all have done so, often playing in ad hoc groupings, using throwaway names like 'Gypie Mayo and the Monumentals'. Says Fenwick – ‘It’s a kind of a lucky dip. You don’t know who you’re going to see.’
Such was Brilleaux’s stature that many other artists were keen to be involved in the concerts - rumour has it that Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe were among this number. However, it was decided to resist growth and to keep the event small and local – adding to the events appeal and authenticity. With Dr Feelgood, as with Canvey Island, what you see is what you get. You are part of the event, not a consumer of it.
For a detailed record of every Memorial Concert from 1994-2006, I urge you to visit the original Dr Feelgood website*, lovingly curated by Gabi Schwanke. From Hanover, Gabi has been ‘addicted’ to Dr Feelgood since the early 80s and is here today.
There are too many stories to tell here. The night that Chris Fenwick and Dennis the Dog swear the ghost of Lee put in an appearance. The time Gary Loker of Eddie and the Hot Rods fell off the stage, breaking his legs in three places, to be replaced mid-song by Warren Kennedy. The evening that the PA broke down and was replaced by the bingo-callers mini-PA, discovered under the stage.
The Last Memorial Concert. May 9th, 2014
It's the evening of the gig and I am living the fans dream. Sitting in the Feelgood bus, parked outside the Oysterfleet Hotel, armed with a glass of Madiran – Lee’s favourite red wine – I am interviewing Kevin Morris, of Dr Feelgood. For the musicians, he says, the Memorial is a bit of an annual get-together, an AGM, a re-union. ‘It’s always been a great pleasure’, says the man who has occupied the Dr Feelgood drum stool for the past 32 years, and the sense of bonhomie amongst the musicians is evident. Although unable to attend the first Memorial Concert (he and bass player Phil Mitchell were on tour with another band) Kevin has subsequently been a stalwart and is part of the organising team with Chris Fenwick and Ann Adley.
They’ve done a great job for this, the final concert. 250 people are packed into the function suite of the Oysterfleet to enjoy live music from 7.45 until midnight. Tickets were sold out months ago. Tomorrow, it might be a wedding reception. Tonight, it’s the last ever Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert.
First up is Shotgun. Consisting of former Feelgood members, spanning three different eras of the band – Big Figure, Gordon Russell, Pete Gage and Sparko – this scratch band has had just 20 minutes rehearsal this afternoon. Opening with I Can Tell and closing with Looking Back, they absolutely nail it. This is as close as it gets to hearing the original band and the crowd love it. ‘Thanks to Lee for making all this possible’, says Gage.
Amen to that. And indeed, next is the Reverend David Tudor, the local vicar, who performs a near-miracle: he first silences, then engages and finally moves the crowd. We are putty in his hands as he recalls the words of Lee’s mum, who said ‘he really did have a magical life’ and introduces Kelly Brilleaux, Lee’s daughter. He finishes by leading us in singing two verse of Amazing Grace. Follow that!
Fortunately, next up are local boys, Eddie and the Hot Rods. Even a ropy sound mix can’t stop this band from being tight, loud, fast and fun. The combination of monster drums, pounding bass and two high-quality guitar players (especially Richard Holgarth - once his guitar has been added to the mix, which happens after about three songs), fronted by a guy who is clearly loving it, is irresistible. That man, Barrie Masters, tells me that when he was starting out, back in mid-70s Southend , the older Brilleaux ‘was like a God to me’. More religious references: and I’ve barely started on the ‘pilgrimage’ analogies.
‘Good evening, we’re the Kursaal Flyers and we’re from Sarf-end’, says a heavily bearded Paul Shuttleworth. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, it does (mainly because this is a bit of a blast from the past). This is the original line-up and while they may be a little bit rusty, a massive wave of nostalgia washes over us, along with Vic Collins’ trademark pedal steel guitar. They start with Pocket Money – ‘I hate to see a nice guy without a drink’ – and finish with Little Does She Know - ‘We’re official one-hit wonders – and here it is’.
The evening closes with Dr Feelgood – the current band. Despite their longevity – even ‘new boy’ Robert Kane has been with the band for 15 years and the other three all played in the band with Lee Brilleaux – they would be forgiven for feeling that they are on a hiding to nothing here on Canvey. But they pull it off. Down at the Doctors leads into a set of Feelgood classics which pays tribute to all that is good about the Feelgoods music, without in any way being a tribute act. This is a top class band in its own right which sweats blood to win over the crowd. Gordon Russell comes on stage for the last two numbers and the encore – dedicated to the absent and unwell Wilko Johnson – is Route 66.
‘Thangyewandgnight’, as Brilleaux might well have said.
The Pilgrims
The Memorial Concert has become a destination for a band of people from all over the world. A strange band indeed. From Finland, Germany, Holland, Sweden, the USA and all parts of the UK. For many, this is an AGM, a reunion. A strong local contingent – for whom the event was originally intended – is in the minority.
Author, poet and Times journalist Christopher Somerville is an unlikely Feelgood fan. He tells me that it is the ‘international thing’ that makes the Memorial so different. Many fans have met at gigs and become friends: the Memorial is where they re-unite, providing a sense of continuity and tradition.
Many of the people I talk to speak of a feeling of belonging. ‘It’s part of who you are’, says Dave, a shadowy military figure in dark glasses (‘He’s MI5 he is’, says Fenwick). Something you’ve always belonged to, like a club, an occasion when you can forget your usual life and relax with fellow fans.
Agreeing with Graham, lan from Glasgow speaks of a ‘sense of purpose’ that brings him back. Lee and the band made a huge impression in the seventies – pre-dating punk, this was music stripped back and in your face. Ian first heard Feelgood at his local youth club: ‘they were the first band I heard that really excited me, that made me want to hear more.’ No band since has had the same impact, I’m repeatedly told.
For many, the sense of place is important. ‘It has to be Canvey’ says Pecka from Finland and as Julian Temple‘s fine film, Oil City Confidential*, makes clear, the early days of Dr Feelgood and Canvey are inter-woven. For some of the British pilgrims, Canvey is also a return to a different England, England as it used to be – the old-fashioned seaside, no ethnic diversity, no class divisions, just a ‘real sense of cultural identity’, as Alan puts it. This is extremely unsettling – but rings true!
The Vicar’s Tale
The Rev David Tudor, the Rector of Canvey Island, is a charismatic figure who has made a huge success of his ministry, with an ever-expanding congregation filling a brand new church building. Who would have thought that a Barbadian on this isle of whites could manage an unruly and alcohol-fuelled crowd so well? A high-flier in the Church hierarchy during his early career, one suspects that he has been 'exiled' to Canvey. This has been a blessing to Canvey. Indeed, as Mick, a heavy drinker testing the bar next to me, slurs, ‘If he was my local Vicar, I’d go to Church every week.’
The Manager’s Tale
For Chris Fenwick, this is ‘one of the worst days of the year, in many ways’. Every year, he has to relive the events surrounding the death of his best friend, whilst hosting what to many is something of a jolly-up.
Born Chris White (changing his name to Fenwick when he joined Equity), he was Lee Brilleaux’s boyhood friend and has been Feelgood manager ever since. ‘I never dreamed I’d be here 40 years later to tell the story’, he says - but tell it he does, combining obvious emotion with the swagger and skills of the professional actor he is.
Indeed, it is Fenwick who is largely responsible for curating, controlling and disseminating the Dr Feelgood legend. One suspects that his chosen persona of straight-talking no-nonsense band manager and hardened Essex businessman hides a more subtle, complex and interesting individual.
So why is this the last Memorial Concert? Fenwick isn’t really saying, other than that ‘it feels absolutely right’. ‘We’ve done an honourable job for Lee’ he says, and after twenty years, perhaps he feels it’s better to stop while the event is still popular. And with Gypie Mayo passing away the year before and the well-publicised illness of Wilko Johnson, things could perhaps have got a little complicated.
The best part, says Fenwick, is ‘seeing what Lee meant to the world – the appreciation, the respect and the gratitude’. Brilleaux was a modest man and ‘if he knew about all this, he’d be chuffed to bits’.
The Daughter’s Tale
Standing at the front of the crowd overlooking the Canvey marshes, Kelly Brilleaux was clearly not expecting something quite so visceral, so personal, as Fenwick’s detailed description of the scattering of her Father’s ashes, or as moving as his stories of their childhood.
Now 30 years of age, Kelly is a lawyer in New Orleans – the home city of her mother, Shirley. A personable lady, she charms everyone she meets and makes a low key appearance on stage at the concert. Today is her first and last memorial.
Kelly later tells me how much the whole day has meant to her. Not knowing what to expect, she is particularly impressed by the ‘dedication, passion, and loyalty of the fans who participated in it from the beginning.’ This was clearly a day of mixed emotions. The walk, whilst having obvious poignancy for someone whose father died when she was nine years old, also provided a sense of a shared ‘pilgrimage’, she says.
As for the evening: ‘the whole night truly exceeded my expectations! From start to finish, the whole room had an indescribable energy’, she says. Shotgun were probably the highlight – ‘the next best thing to getting to see my dad perform on stage’ – but she enjoyed all the bands. In particular, to see the current Dr Feelgood demonstrating ‘the same attitude and purpose’ 40 years later was something very special.
Her father, she says, ‘would find it hard to believe that so many people came to pay tribute to him after all this time. I'm sure that he would be absolutely humbled and honored by the whole event.’
The donations to Havens Hospice over the years are, Kelly feels, ‘the ultimate tribute to his memory.’
The Artist's Tale
‘I’ve just killed my Mum in a car accident’, announces Bob Parks in the recently-released documentary film about him, 'That R’n’B Feeling'. Parks, 68, is a man for whom eccentricity is a way of life. A regular attendee at the Memorial Weekend, his bohemian appearance, impromptu flute playing and 13-bar blues piano playing are not his most potent claims to fame.
Parks is a highly talented artist, with rigorous intellectual underpinnings. He has been coming to Canvey Island since he was a child, when his Grandparents had a bungalow. He first heard R&B in an ice cream shop on Canvey in the 1950s and a lifetime interest in the confluence of art and R&B has been his life ever since – something he describes as ‘That R&B feeling’. When an art student, this was reinforced when a lecturer played ‘Let the good times roll’ during life classes (that’s nude models to you and me). A song, I later realise, that was a hit for a duo called Shirley and Lee.
As a performance artist in sixties LA, he featured on the famous Gong Show in 1969 and spent the best part of a year naked in the name of art. ‘It all came together’, he says, when he saw Dr Feelgood for the first time at the Starlight in Santa Monica in 1978. For Bob, the Memorial is about R&B and Canvey, as well as Lee Brilleaux. The purity of Canvey’s working class identity gives Dr Feelgood unique character and integrity: this could never have been a band destined for stadium tours and showbiz, argues Parks.
The Charity's Tale
From the first Memorial Concert onwards, all funds have been donated first to SCENT - the ‘Southend Community Extended Nursing Team’ which nursed Brilleaux at home – and then to local charity Havens Hospice, which absorbed SCENT. A total in excess of £100,000 has been raised.
A few years ago, Havens Hospice was involved in a controversial planning application to build a £15m hospice on green belt land in Leigh-On-Sea, which was strongly opposed by local people.
It is rumoured that the charity spent a sum in excess of £100,000 on consultants, lawyers and Queen’s Counsel related to this application. To some, this would seem to make something of a mockery of the money raised over the years by the Memorial Concerts – indeed, hard words were spoken by some figures close to the event.
It is unlikely that the Memorial event would have continued to support this charity, one suspects.
The last Memorial. And that’s final
Whatever your take on the demise of the Memorial, all the key people are adamant that 2014 is definitely the last. And a year later, the date is due to pass without any formal activity or event, for the first time in 20 years.
The man and the music will live on. A biography is being written. Wilko Johnson is higher profile than ever. The excellent current Dr Feelgood line-up gigs regularly and keeps the flame burning. The back catalogue continues to sell. Anything is possible.
But of one thing I am certain. At some point on May 10th 2015, Chris Fenwick* will be standing on the Canvey Marshes, looking at Long Horse Island and thinking of Lee Brilleaux.
(c) Mark Beasley. 04.05.15
* Footnotes
1. Thanks to Kelly Brilleaux, Chris Fenwick, Kevin Morris and everyone else who spoke to me.
2. For detailed information about the first 16 Memorial Concerts, visit Gabi Schwanke’s lovingly-compiled Dr Feelgood website. http://www.drfeelgood.de/memorial.htm#1stmem
You can see footage of the first Memorial Concert here. https://youtu.be/3UzlOlX9Zs0
3. Christopher Somerville’s excellent article about the Canvey walk can be found here. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/741028/In-pursuit-of-the-Feelgood-factor
4. Sophia Deboick’s thoughtful article about the 2013 walk can be found here:
http://thequietus.com/articles/12339-dr-feelgood-exhibition-lee-brilleaux-memorial-walk
5. For general information on the history of Dr Feelgood, I recommend:
- The film, Oil City Confidential, http://www.oilcityconfidential.co.uk/
- The official biography: Down by the Jetty: the Dr Feelgood Story, by Tony Moon. If you can find a copy!
- For a more concise read, the history pages of the official Dr Feelgood website - http://www.drfeelgood.org/history/
6. For more information on Lee Brilleaux, read any of the above. But first, make sure you read this excellent article – An Officer and a Gentleman - by Will Birch. http://www.willbirch.com/Lee%20Brilleaux.html
Since writing this article, Zoe Howe has produced a biography of Lee Brilleaux, which is well worth a read.
7. To see a trailer of the documentary about Bob Parks, visit https://vimeo.com/84978011 Where voodoo, nudity and art meet R&B.
8. I was wrong about Chris Fenwick. On May 9th, he was not on Canvey, but in Spain, in the middle of the Santiago de Compostela walk. This is a serious trek, which takes two weeks or so to complete. In fact, it's a genuine pilgrimage. Hmm...
READ MY ARTICLE ABOUT THE FIRST DR FEELGOOD WEEKEND - CLICK HERE
About the author. Mark Beasley has been a fan of Dr Feelgood for 40 years. He is a marketing copywriter and plays in a local band that's not even the best in the village. Contact him at [email protected]
Canvey Island is where Brilleaux and the Feelgoods came of age. Our walk to Long Horse Island began that morning at the Lobster Smack pub, a picturesque pub with 400 years of history, sited under the sea wall. Shell Haven, the oil terminal, faces us and Canvey Wick Nature Reserve, which almost became an oil terminal itself, is behind us.
'We started our little adventure here, 40 years ago’ says Chris Fenwick, addressing us from nearby stairs on the seawall, the scene of the iconic photograph on the cover of the Feelgood’s 1975 first album, Down by the Jetty. A dishevelled and sleepy Brilleaux is seen, with the band, slumped here early one morning, having returned from a gig in London.
We walk along and below the sea wall. We pass oil terminals and jetties, the battered relics of a faded seaside resort, Dead Man’s Point and Ove Larup’s iconic Labworth Cafe, the procession lengthening the further we walk. Fenwick’s story-telling is of a consistently high standard - bare-knuckle boxing, the importing of eels, friends of Lee with names like Dennis the Dog, Len the Hat and Colin the Socialist. Canvey Tales.
Canvey Island refuses to be typecast. An industrialised mudflat in the Thames Estuary, populated by the urban working class, it is also the most bio-diverse habitat in the UK, with a large RSPB bird sanctuary. The combination of band, location and people conspires to create a strong sense of place. Better writers than me have written about this: I particularly recommend Christopher Somerville* and Sophia Deboick*. For both, powerful and complex emotions are at work here.
In the bar later, Somerville (a regular attendee, who was on standby at Long Horse Island in case Fenwick choked) makes the point that Wilko Johnson’s early Feelgood songs, written for Brilleaux’s voice, helped create the myth of Canvey as ‘a sort of fantasy island’. He writes that: ‘Where others see only a bleak shore seeded with chemical silos and cheek-by-jowl housing, we scent romance and adventure.’ Few here today would disagree.
Yes, but would Brilleaux like it?
Like Canvey Island, one suspects that Lee Brilleaux was not easily typecast. The onstage persona – one of controlled menace, stained suits and heavy drinking – was not the man. Brilleaux is frequently described as someone of intelligence, manners and firm principles - a quiet, book-loving, crossword-completing, former trainee solicitor. In his later years, he wore cravats and appreciated good food and wine. However, one thing is not in doubt: whether on or off stage, he enjoyed a drink.
The best article I know about Lee Brilleaux was written by Will Birch*. This will tell you more about the man, in fewer words, than I or any writer ever could. One thing is for sure – Brilleaux inspires great loyalty and respect amongst the people who knew him. Even fans who met him just the once sing his praises to me: a real gentleman, who always took the time to shake your hand, to reply to fan letters, to speak to you in the bar, to find you a signed photograph from the murky depths of the Feelgood van.
All agree that Brilleaux was a man who knew his own mind, who lived life by his own rules. Tony Moon* says that for he and his mates, as young Feelgood fans in the 70s, Brilleaux became a ‘barometer against which anything and everything could be tested’. For anything new, the acid test was ‘yes, but would Brilleaux like it?’.
A long time to die
By February 1993, Brilleaux had become too ill to tour. His lymphoma was terminal but, according to Chris Fenwick, such was the strength of his spirit that ‘he took a long time to die’. After 20 hard-working years, playing hundreds of gigs a year, Dr Feelgood had effectively disbanded while Brilleaux dealt with his illness.
Meanwhile, Chris Fenwick’s brother had been buying up various parcels of land in Canvey that together became the site of the Oysterfleet Hotel. While this was going on, the original Oysterfleet - ‘a shitty old pub’, says Fenwick – was converted into the Dr Feelgood Music Bar, run by Feelgood road manager and friend Dean Kennedy. Something to do while the band was off the road, adds Fenwick.
In January 1994, Brilleaux asked Fenwick to get the band together for one last gig – his first for 12 months. This took place over two nights (January 24th and 25th) at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar. The resulting live album – Down at the Doctors – is testament to the strength of the man, who despite his weakened state rose to the occasion admirably. It’s just a really good album and the strong voice you hear seems unrelated to the obviously sick man shown on the front cover.
Less than three months later, on April 7th 1994, Lee Brilleaux passed away at his home, The Proceeds, in nearby Leigh-on Sea. He was 41.
The first Memorial Concert. May 10th, 1994
Soon after Brilleaux’s death, a group of his friends and associates gathered at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar, which was due to be demolished. It was agreed that a gig in honour of Lee would take place there, to raise money for SCENT – the Southend Community Extended Nursing Team – which had provided round-the-clock care at home for Lee. The event was called the Lee Brilleaux Birthday Memorial Concert and took place on his birthday: Tuesday May 10th, 1994.
There were two shows: from 1.00 to 6:00pm, and from 7:00pm to midnight. The event was more a jam session than a concert, involving members of Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Hamsters, The Inmates, Nine below Zero, Larry Wallis and many others. Members of Dr Feelgood playing that night included Wilko, Sparko, Big Figure, Gypie Mayo, Johny Guitar, Steve Walwyn and Dave Bronze. Ace guitarist Walwyn, who is still in Dr Feelgood, is the only musician to have performed at every concert - a record of which he is justifiably proud.
This unusual – and as far as I know, unprecedented - bond between past and present band members was to become a feature of every Memorial Concert. At that first concert, the three remaining ‘original’ Feelgoods - Wilko, Sparko and The Big Figure - played together for the first time in 15 years. The tradition of Feelgoods past and present performing together continued for the next 20 years. To this day, the Big Figure and Gordon Russell sometimes stand in with the current band when needed.
Twenty years of Memorial Concerts
In all, 21 Memorial Concerts have taken place between 1994 and 2014.
After that first concert at the Dr Feelgood Music Bar in 1994, the concerts were held at a number of locations around Southend: the Maritime Rooms at the Cliffs Pavilion in 1995 and 1997; and in 1996, the Grand Hotel, Leigh-On-Sea (Brilleaux's local and the location of his interview shown in the film Oil City Confidential); settling on the Oysterfleet Hotel, from 1998 until 2014.
The essence of the Memorial Concert was that it was a local event, organised and attended by people who knew Lee. Everyone – from the bands to the people on the door – gave their services for free. As well as Feelgood members past and present, local bands Eddie and the Hot Rods and the Kursaal Flyers have been regular supporters, as have many other artists and bands, including Nine Below Zero.
All 15 ‘official’ Feelgoods (to qualify as ‘official’, they must have played 100 gigs or more with the band) have always had an open invitation to attend and all have done so, often playing in ad hoc groupings, using throwaway names like 'Gypie Mayo and the Monumentals'. Says Fenwick – ‘It’s a kind of a lucky dip. You don’t know who you’re going to see.’
Such was Brilleaux’s stature that many other artists were keen to be involved in the concerts - rumour has it that Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe were among this number. However, it was decided to resist growth and to keep the event small and local – adding to the events appeal and authenticity. With Dr Feelgood, as with Canvey Island, what you see is what you get. You are part of the event, not a consumer of it.
For a detailed record of every Memorial Concert from 1994-2006, I urge you to visit the original Dr Feelgood website*, lovingly curated by Gabi Schwanke. From Hanover, Gabi has been ‘addicted’ to Dr Feelgood since the early 80s and is here today.
There are too many stories to tell here. The night that Chris Fenwick and Dennis the Dog swear the ghost of Lee put in an appearance. The time Gary Loker of Eddie and the Hot Rods fell off the stage, breaking his legs in three places, to be replaced mid-song by Warren Kennedy. The evening that the PA broke down and was replaced by the bingo-callers mini-PA, discovered under the stage.
The Last Memorial Concert. May 9th, 2014
It's the evening of the gig and I am living the fans dream. Sitting in the Feelgood bus, parked outside the Oysterfleet Hotel, armed with a glass of Madiran – Lee’s favourite red wine – I am interviewing Kevin Morris, of Dr Feelgood. For the musicians, he says, the Memorial is a bit of an annual get-together, an AGM, a re-union. ‘It’s always been a great pleasure’, says the man who has occupied the Dr Feelgood drum stool for the past 32 years, and the sense of bonhomie amongst the musicians is evident. Although unable to attend the first Memorial Concert (he and bass player Phil Mitchell were on tour with another band) Kevin has subsequently been a stalwart and is part of the organising team with Chris Fenwick and Ann Adley.
They’ve done a great job for this, the final concert. 250 people are packed into the function suite of the Oysterfleet to enjoy live music from 7.45 until midnight. Tickets were sold out months ago. Tomorrow, it might be a wedding reception. Tonight, it’s the last ever Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert.
First up is Shotgun. Consisting of former Feelgood members, spanning three different eras of the band – Big Figure, Gordon Russell, Pete Gage and Sparko – this scratch band has had just 20 minutes rehearsal this afternoon. Opening with I Can Tell and closing with Looking Back, they absolutely nail it. This is as close as it gets to hearing the original band and the crowd love it. ‘Thanks to Lee for making all this possible’, says Gage.
Amen to that. And indeed, next is the Reverend David Tudor, the local vicar, who performs a near-miracle: he first silences, then engages and finally moves the crowd. We are putty in his hands as he recalls the words of Lee’s mum, who said ‘he really did have a magical life’ and introduces Kelly Brilleaux, Lee’s daughter. He finishes by leading us in singing two verse of Amazing Grace. Follow that!
Fortunately, next up are local boys, Eddie and the Hot Rods. Even a ropy sound mix can’t stop this band from being tight, loud, fast and fun. The combination of monster drums, pounding bass and two high-quality guitar players (especially Richard Holgarth - once his guitar has been added to the mix, which happens after about three songs), fronted by a guy who is clearly loving it, is irresistible. That man, Barrie Masters, tells me that when he was starting out, back in mid-70s Southend , the older Brilleaux ‘was like a God to me’. More religious references: and I’ve barely started on the ‘pilgrimage’ analogies.
‘Good evening, we’re the Kursaal Flyers and we’re from Sarf-end’, says a heavily bearded Paul Shuttleworth. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, it does (mainly because this is a bit of a blast from the past). This is the original line-up and while they may be a little bit rusty, a massive wave of nostalgia washes over us, along with Vic Collins’ trademark pedal steel guitar. They start with Pocket Money – ‘I hate to see a nice guy without a drink’ – and finish with Little Does She Know - ‘We’re official one-hit wonders – and here it is’.
The evening closes with Dr Feelgood – the current band. Despite their longevity – even ‘new boy’ Robert Kane has been with the band for 15 years and the other three all played in the band with Lee Brilleaux – they would be forgiven for feeling that they are on a hiding to nothing here on Canvey. But they pull it off. Down at the Doctors leads into a set of Feelgood classics which pays tribute to all that is good about the Feelgoods music, without in any way being a tribute act. This is a top class band in its own right which sweats blood to win over the crowd. Gordon Russell comes on stage for the last two numbers and the encore – dedicated to the absent and unwell Wilko Johnson – is Route 66.
‘Thangyewandgnight’, as Brilleaux might well have said.
The Pilgrims
The Memorial Concert has become a destination for a band of people from all over the world. A strange band indeed. From Finland, Germany, Holland, Sweden, the USA and all parts of the UK. For many, this is an AGM, a reunion. A strong local contingent – for whom the event was originally intended – is in the minority.
Author, poet and Times journalist Christopher Somerville is an unlikely Feelgood fan. He tells me that it is the ‘international thing’ that makes the Memorial so different. Many fans have met at gigs and become friends: the Memorial is where they re-unite, providing a sense of continuity and tradition.
Many of the people I talk to speak of a feeling of belonging. ‘It’s part of who you are’, says Dave, a shadowy military figure in dark glasses (‘He’s MI5 he is’, says Fenwick). Something you’ve always belonged to, like a club, an occasion when you can forget your usual life and relax with fellow fans.
Agreeing with Graham, lan from Glasgow speaks of a ‘sense of purpose’ that brings him back. Lee and the band made a huge impression in the seventies – pre-dating punk, this was music stripped back and in your face. Ian first heard Feelgood at his local youth club: ‘they were the first band I heard that really excited me, that made me want to hear more.’ No band since has had the same impact, I’m repeatedly told.
For many, the sense of place is important. ‘It has to be Canvey’ says Pecka from Finland and as Julian Temple‘s fine film, Oil City Confidential*, makes clear, the early days of Dr Feelgood and Canvey are inter-woven. For some of the British pilgrims, Canvey is also a return to a different England, England as it used to be – the old-fashioned seaside, no ethnic diversity, no class divisions, just a ‘real sense of cultural identity’, as Alan puts it. This is extremely unsettling – but rings true!
The Vicar’s Tale
The Rev David Tudor, the Rector of Canvey Island, is a charismatic figure who has made a huge success of his ministry, with an ever-expanding congregation filling a brand new church building. Who would have thought that a Barbadian on this isle of whites could manage an unruly and alcohol-fuelled crowd so well? A high-flier in the Church hierarchy during his early career, one suspects that he has been 'exiled' to Canvey. This has been a blessing to Canvey. Indeed, as Mick, a heavy drinker testing the bar next to me, slurs, ‘If he was my local Vicar, I’d go to Church every week.’
The Manager’s Tale
For Chris Fenwick, this is ‘one of the worst days of the year, in many ways’. Every year, he has to relive the events surrounding the death of his best friend, whilst hosting what to many is something of a jolly-up.
Born Chris White (changing his name to Fenwick when he joined Equity), he was Lee Brilleaux’s boyhood friend and has been Feelgood manager ever since. ‘I never dreamed I’d be here 40 years later to tell the story’, he says - but tell it he does, combining obvious emotion with the swagger and skills of the professional actor he is.
Indeed, it is Fenwick who is largely responsible for curating, controlling and disseminating the Dr Feelgood legend. One suspects that his chosen persona of straight-talking no-nonsense band manager and hardened Essex businessman hides a more subtle, complex and interesting individual.
So why is this the last Memorial Concert? Fenwick isn’t really saying, other than that ‘it feels absolutely right’. ‘We’ve done an honourable job for Lee’ he says, and after twenty years, perhaps he feels it’s better to stop while the event is still popular. And with Gypie Mayo passing away the year before and the well-publicised illness of Wilko Johnson, things could perhaps have got a little complicated.
The best part, says Fenwick, is ‘seeing what Lee meant to the world – the appreciation, the respect and the gratitude’. Brilleaux was a modest man and ‘if he knew about all this, he’d be chuffed to bits’.
The Daughter’s Tale
Standing at the front of the crowd overlooking the Canvey marshes, Kelly Brilleaux was clearly not expecting something quite so visceral, so personal, as Fenwick’s detailed description of the scattering of her Father’s ashes, or as moving as his stories of their childhood.
Now 30 years of age, Kelly is a lawyer in New Orleans – the home city of her mother, Shirley. A personable lady, she charms everyone she meets and makes a low key appearance on stage at the concert. Today is her first and last memorial.
Kelly later tells me how much the whole day has meant to her. Not knowing what to expect, she is particularly impressed by the ‘dedication, passion, and loyalty of the fans who participated in it from the beginning.’ This was clearly a day of mixed emotions. The walk, whilst having obvious poignancy for someone whose father died when she was nine years old, also provided a sense of a shared ‘pilgrimage’, she says.
As for the evening: ‘the whole night truly exceeded my expectations! From start to finish, the whole room had an indescribable energy’, she says. Shotgun were probably the highlight – ‘the next best thing to getting to see my dad perform on stage’ – but she enjoyed all the bands. In particular, to see the current Dr Feelgood demonstrating ‘the same attitude and purpose’ 40 years later was something very special.
Her father, she says, ‘would find it hard to believe that so many people came to pay tribute to him after all this time. I'm sure that he would be absolutely humbled and honored by the whole event.’
The donations to Havens Hospice over the years are, Kelly feels, ‘the ultimate tribute to his memory.’
The Artist's Tale
‘I’ve just killed my Mum in a car accident’, announces Bob Parks in the recently-released documentary film about him, 'That R’n’B Feeling'. Parks, 68, is a man for whom eccentricity is a way of life. A regular attendee at the Memorial Weekend, his bohemian appearance, impromptu flute playing and 13-bar blues piano playing are not his most potent claims to fame.
Parks is a highly talented artist, with rigorous intellectual underpinnings. He has been coming to Canvey Island since he was a child, when his Grandparents had a bungalow. He first heard R&B in an ice cream shop on Canvey in the 1950s and a lifetime interest in the confluence of art and R&B has been his life ever since – something he describes as ‘That R&B feeling’. When an art student, this was reinforced when a lecturer played ‘Let the good times roll’ during life classes (that’s nude models to you and me). A song, I later realise, that was a hit for a duo called Shirley and Lee.
As a performance artist in sixties LA, he featured on the famous Gong Show in 1969 and spent the best part of a year naked in the name of art. ‘It all came together’, he says, when he saw Dr Feelgood for the first time at the Starlight in Santa Monica in 1978. For Bob, the Memorial is about R&B and Canvey, as well as Lee Brilleaux. The purity of Canvey’s working class identity gives Dr Feelgood unique character and integrity: this could never have been a band destined for stadium tours and showbiz, argues Parks.
The Charity's Tale
From the first Memorial Concert onwards, all funds have been donated first to SCENT - the ‘Southend Community Extended Nursing Team’ which nursed Brilleaux at home – and then to local charity Havens Hospice, which absorbed SCENT. A total in excess of £100,000 has been raised.
A few years ago, Havens Hospice was involved in a controversial planning application to build a £15m hospice on green belt land in Leigh-On-Sea, which was strongly opposed by local people.
It is rumoured that the charity spent a sum in excess of £100,000 on consultants, lawyers and Queen’s Counsel related to this application. To some, this would seem to make something of a mockery of the money raised over the years by the Memorial Concerts – indeed, hard words were spoken by some figures close to the event.
It is unlikely that the Memorial event would have continued to support this charity, one suspects.
The last Memorial. And that’s final
Whatever your take on the demise of the Memorial, all the key people are adamant that 2014 is definitely the last. And a year later, the date is due to pass without any formal activity or event, for the first time in 20 years.
The man and the music will live on. A biography is being written. Wilko Johnson is higher profile than ever. The excellent current Dr Feelgood line-up gigs regularly and keeps the flame burning. The back catalogue continues to sell. Anything is possible.
But of one thing I am certain. At some point on May 10th 2015, Chris Fenwick* will be standing on the Canvey Marshes, looking at Long Horse Island and thinking of Lee Brilleaux.
(c) Mark Beasley. 04.05.15
* Footnotes
1. Thanks to Kelly Brilleaux, Chris Fenwick, Kevin Morris and everyone else who spoke to me.
2. For detailed information about the first 16 Memorial Concerts, visit Gabi Schwanke’s lovingly-compiled Dr Feelgood website. http://www.drfeelgood.de/memorial.htm#1stmem
You can see footage of the first Memorial Concert here. https://youtu.be/3UzlOlX9Zs0
3. Christopher Somerville’s excellent article about the Canvey walk can be found here. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/741028/In-pursuit-of-the-Feelgood-factor
4. Sophia Deboick’s thoughtful article about the 2013 walk can be found here:
http://thequietus.com/articles/12339-dr-feelgood-exhibition-lee-brilleaux-memorial-walk
5. For general information on the history of Dr Feelgood, I recommend:
- The film, Oil City Confidential, http://www.oilcityconfidential.co.uk/
- The official biography: Down by the Jetty: the Dr Feelgood Story, by Tony Moon. If you can find a copy!
- For a more concise read, the history pages of the official Dr Feelgood website - http://www.drfeelgood.org/history/
6. For more information on Lee Brilleaux, read any of the above. But first, make sure you read this excellent article – An Officer and a Gentleman - by Will Birch. http://www.willbirch.com/Lee%20Brilleaux.html
Since writing this article, Zoe Howe has produced a biography of Lee Brilleaux, which is well worth a read.
7. To see a trailer of the documentary about Bob Parks, visit https://vimeo.com/84978011 Where voodoo, nudity and art meet R&B.
8. I was wrong about Chris Fenwick. On May 9th, he was not on Canvey, but in Spain, in the middle of the Santiago de Compostela walk. This is a serious trek, which takes two weeks or so to complete. In fact, it's a genuine pilgrimage. Hmm...
READ MY ARTICLE ABOUT THE FIRST DR FEELGOOD WEEKEND - CLICK HERE
About the author. Mark Beasley has been a fan of Dr Feelgood for 40 years. He is a marketing copywriter and plays in a local band that's not even the best in the village. Contact him at [email protected]
