Who is Brian Auger?

29Mar09

That’s what I asked myself a few months ago when I stumbled across this incredible Youtube clip of him (in full wouldn’t-want-to-meet-him-in-a-dark-alley mode) with Julie Driscoll performing a song called Indian Rope Man. So naturally it wasn’t long before I was in possession of his “best of” entitled Get Augernized (ho ho). It turns out he’s an organist who’s been through quite a few phases, from 60s mod and psychedelia to smoother jazz and jazz-funk sounds.

There’s a great album of his called Closer To It from 1973 which has some wonderful stuff on it, including the seminal Happiness Is Just Around The Bend, which is apparently one of the most-covered tracks in dancefloor history (whatever that is).

Anyway, as a tasty little link to my previous post, I thought I’d put up his cover of Inner City Blues, which always gets people coming up to the booth when I play it out. A different take on a classic song.

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express – Inner City Blues