The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

Baker's Dozen

Feelgood Hits! Wilko Johnson's Favourite Albums
Zoë Howe , August 8th, 2018 10:10

Wilko Johnson speaks to Zoe Howe about surviving cancer and his 13 favourite records, from Bo Diddley and the blues to the Doors, Beatles and Rolling Stones

Bo_diddley_s_16_all_time_greatest_hits__1533657890_resize_460x400

Bo Diddley - 16 All Time Greatest Hits
I'm looking at it now. It's a great record, came out on the Pye R&B label. It's a white album with a number 16. Irene gave it to me on my seventeenth birthday. This was at the time that I was learning to play and getting into rhythm and blues, and there are just so many great songs on this album, I really got to love Bo Diddley through this. It's really heavy, really thick vinyl and you put it on and it plays really loud. When I look at it I just remember the excitement of first discovering rhythm and blues music and Bo Diddley. I suppose Bo had quite an influence on me. And this record, it's got all these associations – it makes me remember being a teenager. It felt so hip.