Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - Streetnoise (1969)

The Trinity was a band active in the 60s, led by keyboardist Brian Auger and usually featuring singer Julie Driscoll.

1969's Streetnoise was The Trinity's second album to feature singer Julie Driscoll. It was a double LP set, and surely their most ambitious project to date. The music it contained didn't really fit neatly into any genre, being very experimental in nature, but perhaps could be said to lie somewhere between jazz fusion and progressive rock. Driscoll didn't sing on all the songs, as it also featured various instrumentals showcasing Brian Auger's dazzling hammond organ, and numbers sung by either Auger or bassist Dave Ambrose. As well as good original songs it featured an eclectic selection of covers - The Doors' "Light My Fire", Nina Simone's "Take Me To The Water", Richie Havens' "Indian Rope Man", Miles Davis' "All Blues", Laura Nyro's "Save The Country" and songs from the musical Hair.

It turned out to be the last album from the partnership of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger. Driscoll's next release was as a solo artist, and after one more Trinity album Auger would form Oblivion Express the next year.

Definitely What! {1968) <|> Befour (1970)
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Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - This Wheel's On Fire (1965-1970)

Compilation
The Trinity was band active in the 60s, led by keyboardist Brian Auger and usually featuring singer Julie Driscoll.

Brian Auger formed The Trinity in 1965, which then became part of The Steampacket, which featured singer Julie Driscoll. Following The Steampacket's dissolution they recorded as Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity. Their first album featured some very interesting jazz-rock / R&B sounds, but was slow to sell. What they needed was a hit single, and this they got with a cover of the recent Bob Dylan / Rick Danko song "This Wheel's On Fire" in 1968. It got to #5 on the UK charts, and became the best-known version of this oft-covered song in Britian (in America it was better known through The Band's version). With its apocalyptic imagery, Driscoll's powerful vocals and Auger's use of the Mellotron, it was a classic piece of psychedelic rock. Following the single's success, the  first album sold much better. 

The band's discography is something of a confusing affair, with various compilations and albums which overlap, and a number of obscure singles. This compilation brings together seventeen tracks which don't appear on their original albums Open, Definitely What!, Streetnoise and Befour. Many of these were singles, or could be found on some confusingly titled compilations. Most feature Driscoll, though there are also some instrumentals, including a few from the '65 pre-Steampacket lineup of the band. A great experimental mix of rock, pop, jazz and R&B.

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Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - Open (1967)

The Trinity was band active in the 60s, featuring singer Julie Driscoll and keyboardist Brian Auger.

Brian Auger began his music career as a jazz pianist in the early 60s, playing in clubs around London. However by 1964 he had got himself a Hammond organ, and formed a new group called The Trinity with bassist Rick Brown and drummer Micky Waller, both previously of Cyril Davies' R&B All-Stars. This group saw greater success, playing harder R&B styled material. In 1965 they became part of The Steampacket, with singers Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry and Julie Driscoll, plus guitarist Vic Briggs. The Steampacket were an early 'supergroup' of sorts, but unfortunately never recorded a proper album and soon broke up. Auger then retained Brown, Driscoll and Briggs, and formed a new version of The Trinity with drummer Clive Thacker. Brown and Briggs left before long, and so when they came to record in 1967 the band consisted of Brian Auger (organ/vocals), Julie Driscoll (vocals), Gary Boyle (guitar), Roger Sutton (bass) and Clive Thacker (drums).

Open was released in 1967, credited to Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity. It turned out to be a very interesting, experimental record, mixing jazz, R&B and rock styles, the band augmented with a horn section. The first side (labelled 'Auge') featured the band without Driscoll, and was mostly instrumental except for one track which Auger sang (one of the tracks was also a solo piano performace from Auger). On the second side of the record (labelled 'Jools'), Auger took a backseat and Driscoll sang. It included some excellent covers of The Staple Singers' "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and Donovan's "Season Of The Witch".

Despite being such an interesting release, Open did not sell well initially, probably because most people couldn't quite work out what to make of it. However in 1968 the band had a #5 hit with a cover of the Bob Dylan / Rick Danko classic "This Wheel's On Fire", which became the best-known version of the song in Britian. Subsequently the album sold much better.

|> Definitely What! (1968) 
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