Brian Auger's Oblivion Express Brian Auger's Oblivion Express (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1971) *****
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express Live Oblivion Vol.1 (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1974) ****
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express Happiness Heartaches (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1977) **
Places I remember: Real Groovy Records
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Truth (Live Vol.1)
Gear costume: Bumpin On Sunset (Live Vol.1), Tropic Of Capricorn (Streetnoise)
Active compensatory factors: I am a late comer to Brian Auger. A recent article in Mojo reminded me that I needed to check out some of his albums. So I went to the Real Groovy Records website, did a search and put them all in my cart (all of the above plus a compilation of Brian Auger and The Trinity). They were all reasonably priced too - clearly he's not considered highly in demand by RG staff.
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Truth (Live Vol.1)
Gear costume: Bumpin On Sunset (Live Vol.1), Tropic Of Capricorn (Streetnoise)
Active compensatory factors: I am a late comer to Brian Auger. A recent article in Mojo reminded me that I needed to check out some of his albums. So I went to the Real Groovy Records website, did a search and put them all in my cart (all of the above plus a compilation of Brian Auger and The Trinity). They were all reasonably priced too - clearly he's not considered highly in demand by RG staff.
Streetnoise comes from 1969 and is pretty extraordinary. It's like nothing I've ever heard before. Julie Driscoll is a force of nature and the proggy jazz rock fusion from Auger and The Trinity is mighty.
Although there are a lot of cover songs spread over the four sides they sound like alien landings - untethered from the source material. Try, for example, Driscoll's take on The Doors' Light My fire. Wow! This album is a revelation and I've been playing it a lot.
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express took the band deep into jazz fusion territory with thrilling results. There is a real intensity to the playing (just short of Mahavishnu Orchestra style intensity) and again, I've been playing that and Live Oblivion Vol. 1 a lot as I've worked around the house doing some painting. It's been a brilliant soundtrack for that - especially the second side of the live album.
By 1977 Brian was addressing more mainstream rock sounds and Happiness Heartache is a poor album in comparison to the visceral stuff that had come before.
Where do they all belong? He has certainly been a very prolific artist - his discography is extensive. I'll certainly be buying more whenever I come across it, whether it's first band Steampacket, his albums with Julie Driscoll, Trinity, or his Oblivion Express.
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