I honestly
can’t remember when or why I bought this album. It came out while I was in
college, but I can’t remember any friends who were familiar with the band, or
hearing any of their stuff on the radio. Possibly I just liked the cover
art. ;-)
Organist
Brian Auger started out doing straight jazz in the 1960s, moved over to
rock/R&B (hiring Rod Stewart for one of his bands), and finally managed to
sucessfully fuse the two. According to the liner notes for the 2006 CD reissue,
the band basically invented “acid jazz”; I would characterize it as “rock-influenced
jazz with incidental vocals”, but what the heck. The sound is heavy on percussion,
often with a Latin flavor, and Auger’s Hammond organ, with the vocals (also by
Auger) mixed to be much less prominent.
By the way,
the booklet for the CD has a great poster from a 1973 concert. The following is
in large type at the top, surrounding a photo of the band:
TRENTON STATE
COLLEGE UNION BOARD
PRESENTS …
BRIAN AUGER’S
OBLIVION EXPRESS
Followed by
(in smaller type, with a much smaller photo):
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Favorite
tracks:
Voices Of
Other Times
Inner City
Blues
