MUSIC Brian Auger The Flamingo. Oblivion Express. Acid Jazz. Steampacket. Words Andy Thomas Portrait Tim Hans Photographs courtesy of Brian Auger In the late 1980s the British Fantastics!, Boraman now runs prepares to bring Oblivion Express Hammond organ maestro Brian Auger Freestyle Records. Since its birth to Europe for a series of gigs in the became the ‘Godfather of Acid Jazz’ for in 2003, the London label has been autumn, we catch up with him at a new generation of modernists inspired spearheading the new wave of deep his home in LA. by the past. His late 1960s and early funk, soul, Latin and jazz, and can 1970s albums with his bands Brian be seen as the natural successor to You were born in London in 1939. Auger & the Trinity (including his LPs Acid Jazz. And it has now released Where were you brought up? with singer Julie Driscoll) and Oblivion the first serious Brian Auger anthology I lived in Latimer Road in north Express spawned club tracks such as to celebrate the many sides of his Kensington until 1944, just before ‘Indian Rope Man’ and ‘Whenever 50 years in music. Alongside those my fifth birthday, when we were You’re Ready’. “Oblivion Express were pivotal Hammond recordings from bombed out. A V-1 bomb dropped the band that invented the acid jazz the mod and fusion years, Back to the on a row of houses behind ours. My sound, that uniquely British movement Beginning also shines a light on his mum heard this thing and threw that came to prominence some 25 years lesser-known jazz trio recordings from me under the table in the living room, after this album was recorded,” wrote the early 1960s, as well as those from and the whole place came down around Eddie Piller, founder of the Acid Jazz the mod blues band Steampacket us. Fortunately for us, although the record label, in the sleeve notes to the (featuring Rod Stewart, Long John house was totally destroyed, we were reissue of the 1973 LP Closer To It!. Baldry and Julie Driscoll). all unscathed. First becoming aware of the Hammond The second part of this revival player through Auger’s mod arrives later in the year, in the form Was it a musical household? connections in 1960s Soho, Piller called of a live LP with Oblivion Express, Yes, there was music in the house all him “a real musical hero who helped featuring Auger’s son Karma on drums the time – my mum and dad really liked establish the Hammond organ as the and original singer Alex Ligertwood. light operatic stuff. My dad was a very weapon of choice for a whole host The session was recorded in 2013 in Victorian guy and he had a player piano of British jazz players”. LA, where Auger has lived since the [self-playing piano] and a whole Greg Boraman (ex A&R man 1980s. And nearly half a century since cupboard of these piano rolls – an at Acid Jazz) was one of those he first picked up the Hammond B3 amazing collection, with all the operas, Hammond players to have been after hearing Jimmy Smith’s Back at the some overtures and lots of ragtime, influenced by Auger. As well as playing Chicken Shack LP, Brian Auger sounds which I loved. From the age of about for the Soul Destroyers and the as fiery and funky as ever. As he three, I was totally in love with this > 171 MUSIC | Brian Auger rent a bus and go with all their friends at pubs and clubs doing all the Jazz When did you first play it? think it was three or four chords and down to Southend to see the Messengers stuff. The people at the Flamingo decided that was about it. But when I actually illuminations. But it was really a good There was this club in Southall to lease the weekends to a couple of got into playing the real blues with excuse for all the guys to go on a pub called the Octave, and the Green Man guys called Rik and Johnny Gunnell. people like Clapton and Jeff Beck, I saw crawl. And they would take me along to in south London – all over the place in These guys started putting on bands things differently. This wasn’t the place play the piano and pass the hat around fact. This was a quintet with vibes, alto, like Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames, to unleash every lick you know – it’s for me – so that was pretty amazing. piano, bass and drums, called the Dave Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, The a feel and if you don’t play the feel Morse Quintet. Playing that material Chessmen, Graham Bond and Chris right, it doesn’t work. So it taught me Were there any particular radio sorted out a lot of harmony for me. Farlowe. So it was tons of these R&B a big lesson and I began to look at all stations where you heard all the jazz? bands. I got a call one day from Rik and the amazing creative bands that were My brother had this huge radio – And you also had a trio that played he says, “Brian, you got to help me out, coming out and I quickly got over I think it was a Ferguson. It had the clubs of Soho. Georgie went down to Cornwall over my jazz snobbism. a big knob that you could turn to The original jazz piano trio, which the weekend and fell asleep on the catch all the different stations. And I named the Brian Auger Trinity, was beach and he’s got sunburn. He had And this led to you joining the he gave me this when I was about 10. myself, Rick Laird on upright bass, and to be taken to hospital.” Steampacket? So I rigged up an antenna and hung it Phil Kinorra on drums. We played with So Rik told me to be at the Roaring Yes that was 1965 with Long John out of my bedroom window. I used to most of the guys on the scene – so Twenties in Soho at 8pm. When I got Baldry, an unknown Rod Stewart and wait until my parents had gone to sleep Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, and then there and the guys were putting Julie Driscoll, with Micky Waller, Ricky and I’d be dialling around. Then all of at the Flamingo with all sorts of people. everything together, I said, “There’s Brown and Vic Briggs. We ran that a sudden I heard this voice say, “This is They would call me and say they no piano, where’s the piano?” And they band for two years and we were the American Forces Radio in Germany wanted a piano trio to open for said, “That’s Georgie’s organ over there, covering so much material, including – we present Jazz Hour.” And the Stan someone or other. you’re playing that.” I looked at the Jimmy Smith and my own Kenton Orchestra came and on and Hammond with all these switches, compositions. Julie would sing some blew me away. And I used to bombard How was it playing at Soho clubs such knobs and dials and thought, don’t Tamla Motown or Nina Simone, Rod my local record shop WG Stores in as Ronnie Scott’s and the Flamingo? would come on and do Chicago blues, Shepherd’s Bush Market and ask them Soho was incredible back then. And to and then John would do some gospel if they had this stuff. I actually asked actually play there was amazing because stuff. It was really a great success, and them for two years for Oscar Peterson’s it was like, wow, I’m playing in the ‘WHAT KIND if it wasn’t for the fact that we all had ‘Tenderly’ and they eventually found West End. But the Flamingo was different managers arguing for two JulIe Driscoll and Brian Auger, Brussels, 1968 a 78 for me. particularly special. OF DEVIL years, we might have gone in a whole other direction. But it broke up sadly. thing and learned how to put the piano When I got back they moved us to When did you get a band together? The Flamingo became known as one MUSIC IS roll in. It was driven by air and there Shepherd’s Bush. We had been away I got a scholarship to go to a grammar of the hubs of the mod scene. When THAT? IT’S The Steampacket were known as was a pair of pedals and I used to be for more than two years and it was very school. The first thing I spotted was did you become aware of the scene and a mod band, right? able to stand on the pedals, hang on strange for me. I knew my dad was this piano on the stage. It was how connected did you feel to it? CALLED Well yes, but towards the end the the underneath of the keyboard and my dad but I was so young I wasn’t sure a beautiful Bechstein piano and it In the beginning it wasn’t known as whole thing changed from Ivy League pedal away. I was just totally fascinated about the rest of it. But I went into sounded incredible. I was itching to mod or anything, but I was really into BOOGIE to the Chelsea Antiques Market look. – and that was it for me. the front room and there was the piano.