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Brian Auger

For over fifty years, Brian Auger has been a musician’s musician as Hammond B3 innovator, pianist, bandleader, session man and key player in the rise of jazz/rock fusion. Auger has incorporated jazz, early British pop, R&B, soul and rock into an incredible catalog that has won him legions of fans all over the world.

Auger has played, toured, and recorded with many of the most influential musicians in modern times, including John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Eddie Harris and Les McCann.

Playing in clubs, Auger won the Melody Maker Reader's Poll in the "Jazz Piano" and "New Star" categories in 1964 and was a known commodity in swingin’ London’s burgeoning music scene. Auger was intrigued with technique, and in 1965, inspired by organist Jimmy Smith, he decided to start playing the Hammond B3, an organ few British musicians could play, largely because the bulky organs were virtually non-existent in England at the time.

Auger teamed with bass player Rick Brown and drummer Mick Waller, and after a few singles, recorded his first LP on a session organized to spotlight blues singer Sonny Boy Williamson that featured his group, saxophonists Joe Harriott and Alan Skidmore, and guitarist Jimmy Page; it was "Don't Send Me No Flowers," released in 1968.

The Yardbirds called Auger for session work in June of 1965, and featuring his harpsichord intro, "For Your Love" went to number one, kicking off the Yardbirds recording career, and also making Brian an in-demand session man around London. In 1965, Brian’s exposure got a huge boost when he got call from singer Long John Baldry. Baldry had seen him play in a club in Manchester with an organ trio, and asked Brian to put a band together. Auger rounded up guitarist Vic Briggs, and Baldry enlisted Rod Stewart. Brian also recruited a young, mod singer named Julie Driscoll. "The new band was a range of things from Nina Simone to Motown, where Rod was a mix of Chicago blues and Sam Cooke," says Brian. "Long John was straight Chicago blues or gospel, and we all sang backup on the stage for everybody else and it turned out to be a huge success. If someone really played with a great deal of fire in those days, someone would say ‘that guy’s a steamer', so Steampacket became our name," explained Auger.

After Steampacket broke up, "it took me out of the jazz world and made me play through such a variety of material that in the end I began to focus toward those various musical styles that really rubbed off on me," recalls Brian. "That was the idea of the [Brian Auger] Trinity, a combination of blues, Motown and Messengers."

"This Wheel's on Fire," (music and lyrics by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko) was released in the spring of 1968, preceding the appearance of the song on the Band's "Music from Big Pink" album. Psychedelic it was, and the hypnotic effect Brian was searching for helped propel the tune to hit status all over Europe as well as the U.K. The Trinity was voted music magazine Melody Maker's "Brightest Hope" in 1968, and in June was the first "rock" group to headline the Montreaux Jazz Festival, also headlining festivals in Berlin, Rome and Zurich. The disc hit the top five in the U.K., after which Auger and the Trinity recorded the instrumental album "Definitely What!" without Driscoll, then brought her back for the double-LP, "Streetnoise" in 1968, which reached the U.S. charts on Atco Records shortly after a singles compilation, "Jools & Brian", gave them their American debut on Capitol in 1969. The Trinity recorded "Befour" in 1970, which charted in the U.S. on RCA Records, before disbanding in July 1970.

Auger put together a new band to play less commercial jazz-rock and facetiously called it the Oblivion Express, since he didn't think it would last; instead, it became his perennial band name. The initial unit was a quartet filled out by guitarist Jim Mullen, bass player Barry Dean, and drummer Robbie McIntosh, then Steve Ferrone, both later to play with the Average White Band. Their initial LP, "Brian Auger's Oblivion Express," was released in 1971, followed later the same year by "A Better Land," Their first U.S. chart LP was "Second Wind" in 1972, the album that marked the debut of singer Alex Ligertwood (later with Santana).

The Oblivion Express continued to figure in the U.S. charts consistently over the next several years with "Closer to It!" in 1973, 1974's "Straight Ahead" and "Live Oblivion, Vol. 1," "Reinforcements" in 1975 and "Live Oblivion, Vol. 2" in 1976. He switched to Warner Bros. Records for "Happiness Heartaches," which charted in 1977. "Encore," released in 1978, was a live reunion with Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll). In 1976 and ’77, Brian was voted the Number One Jazz organist in the world in Contemporary Keyboard magazine, largely behind the strength of his live playing with Oblivion Express. Visiting London in 1977, Julie Driscoll joined Auger for another album, resulting in "Encore."

Auger was musical director for the 13-part German film retrospective series "Villa Fantastica" in 1989. A live recording of the series, Super Jam (1990), features Auger on piano, Pete York on drums, Dick Morrissey on tenor saxophone, Roy Williams on trombone, Harvey Weston on bass guitar, with singers Zoot Money and Maria Muldaur.

Brian teamed up with former Animals singer Eric Burdon in 1990, and the two toured together during the next four years, releasing "Access All Areas" together in 1993.

In the mid to late 1990’s, Auger formed a version of Oblivion Express, with his children: Karma on drums and Savannah on lead vocals. Before releasing "Auger Rhythms", his first career retrospective, they toured Europe, drawing large crowds at several jazz festivals, including a two night gig at the famed Montreux Jazz Festival. Brian Auger and the new Oblivion Express currently tour Europe  and America.

In 2012, Brian Auger released one of the few solo albums of his career, "Language of the Heart," with guest artists including guitarists Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Julian Coryell. Produced by Tea, the album is a reflection of the life and  long career of a true fusionist who has never given in to commercial demands  and etiquettes.

—Thanks to Tom Vickers and William Ruhlmann
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Brian Auger and the Trinity: Far Horizons

Read "Far Horizons" reviewed by Peter Jones

by Peter Jones
October 2, 2022

The pop world of the late sixties/early seventies period was notable for its dissolving of genres and for its richness of instrumentation. Once jazz, soul, R&B, blues, psychedelia, and acid rock had found each other, the result was a flowering of bands who enjoyed a sunny heyday of horns and Hammond organ, until the guitar groups finally reasserted themselves. In the States, Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears were the most successful and high-profile of the breed. In the UK, ...

Album Review

ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band: ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt

Read "ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
June 10, 2022

What would happen if fusion, already a hybrid of musical genres, was compounded with the sound of big-band? Further, that both genres were stretched well outside the box? An ensemble of bright musical minds came together on just such a project. The results could have been the disastrous soup of too many cooks in the kitchen or, perhaps, something special and creative. Fortunately, they served up an entree which is very much the latter. It starts with quality ...

Interview

Brian Auger's Revolution In Jazz

by Jim Santella
May 31, 2022

This interview first appeared at All About Jazz in November 2000. Born and raised in jny: London, Brian Auger came up through those crazy years in music. The 1960s were all about change. Things were being done in jazz that hadn't been considered earlier. Lifestyles and values were changing too, and that was affecting society all over the globe. Auger was cited by Melody Maker magazine back in 1964 as a rising star jazz pianist with a lot ...

Interview

Brian Auger: To Oblivion and Beyond

by Maurizio Comandini
May 25, 2022

Brian Auger is recognized as one of the most charismatic organists on the planet. For six decades he has stayed current through projects that were in sync with, and often ahead of, the times, thanks to a firm vision and well-chosen artistic partnerships. Through a career that has seen him play with the likes of Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Julie Driscoll, Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Gary Boyle, Eric Burdon and Zucchero, to name a few, Auger has developed a ...

Album Review

Brian Auger: Introspection

Read "Introspection" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
September 13, 2020

A purposefully more far-ranging companion piece to The Best of Brian Auger's Oblivion Express (PolyGram, 1996), among other such compendia, Introspection is keyboardist/composer Brian Auger's personally-curated anthology covering the span of his career. In keeping with John Sellard's graphic design that features an array of period photos, the three-CDs' sound is as impeccable as its track sequencing also overseen by the artist himself This forward-thinking musician has hand-selected thirty-five of his favorite live and studio cuts, a handful ...

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Album Review

Brian Auger: Language of the Heart

Read "Language of the Heart" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
April 9, 2012

All the devout Brian Auger fan needs to know about Language of the Heart is that it overflows with the immediately recognizable tones of the British fusion pioneer's Hammond-B3 organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano. All the uninitiated needs to know is that this album favorably compares with the work Auger produced during the heyday of jazz- rock fusion.The seven tracks, written and arranged by Brian Auger and Tea--a duo composed of keyboardist/percussionist Phil Bunch and guitarist Franck ...

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Live Review

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express at the Tangier in Akron

by Matt Marshall
June 1, 2009

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express The Tangier Akron, Ohio May 15, 2009

Having your kids in tow on the tour circuit may not sound very rock 'n' roll. But, no doubt, organ legend Brian Auger doesn't give it a second thought. His drummer son Karma and singing daughter Savannah are helping keep Auger's seminal band, the Oblivion Express, on the road and surging like a bullet.

Brian Auger

Opening their ...

Music Industry

Brian Auger: Complete Oblivion Express

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 30, 2023

In the progressive jazz world of the early 1970s, artists were influenced by one of two primary camps—the fusion abstraction of Miles Davis's electric groups of the late 1960s or the eclectic jazz-rock bands such as the Free Spirits, Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Steely Dan and Soft Machine. Artists who came out of the Miles Davis wing included Larry Coryell and the Eleventh House, Tony Williams Lifetime, John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu, Herbie Hancock's groups and Chick Corea's Forever and ...
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Event

Jazz-Rock Keyboardist Brian Auger To Embark On A Spring Tour

Source: Decibel
March 21, 2019

World-class jazz, rock, blues, soul, and R&B musician Brian Auger will kick off his multi-city North American tour on April 18 at Reggies Music Joint in jny: Chicago. “I love performing in front of live audiences; there is always a great vibe that energizes me," said Auger ahead of the tour, which will also take him to jny: Toronto, jny: Cleveland, OH, and other cities. Details of his upcoming concerts, organized by New York-based In Touch Entertainment, can be found ...
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Recording

Guitarist Jeff Golub Returns Triumphantly With "Train Keeps A Rolling," A Soul-jazz Album With Keyboardist Brian Auger

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions
August 13, 2013

Back on Track Guitarist Jeff Golub returns triumphantly with “Train Keeps A Rolling,” a soul-jazz album with keyboardist Brian Auger. Port Washington, NY: Undaunted after mysteriously losing his vision two years ago and less than a year after tumbling onto the New York City train tracks and getting clipped and dragged by a train, guitarist Jeff Golub released his 12th solo collection, “Train Keeps A Rolling,” today on Entertainment One Music, a collaborative recording with jazz-rock pioneer keyboardist Brian Auger. ...
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Recording

Brian Auger Releases Solo Album, "Language Of The Heart"

Source: Phil Bunch
March 5, 2012

Legendary British keyboardist Brian Auger has released one of the few solo albums of his distinguished career, which has spanned over fifty years. Language of the Heart (Ghostown Records) contains seven new original songs, with guest artists including guitarists Jeff “Skunk" Baxter and Julian Coryell. Produced by Tea, the album features Auger's vocals and lyrics, and as always, his prodigious keyboard talent. The famed Hammond B3 organist has created a distinct voice that combines jazz, rock, soul and funk, clearly ...
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Event

Brian Auger at Civic Hall, Stratford upon Avon, November 27

Source: All About Jazz
November 3, 2006

Jazz/rock legend Brian Auger at Civic Hall, Stratford upon Avon 27 November 8pm

“Brian Auger is one of the best B-3 artists I have ever heard in my life. His technique is awesome and the amount of energy he generates is unparalleled and relentless"--Herbie Hancock

“Those who remain oblivious to the obvious delights of Brian Auger's Oblivion Express do so at their own risk" --The Beastie Boys

The legendary jazz/rock organist and Godfather of Acid Jazz, Brian Auger, for over ...
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