Brian Auger's Oblivion Express

Brian Auger emerged amid London's early-sixties blues and R&B resurgence, the same current that propelled the 1964 British Invasion. Although he stood apart from that mainstream surge, his lively, jazz-colored keyboard style lingered at the periphery of British rock for the rest of the decade. Drawing from the R&B-inflected jazz prevalent in the first two-thirds of the sixties, he moved into the late sixties and seventies by exploring adventurous progressive sounds, either fronting Oblivion Express or performing in tandem with an ever-changing roster of vocalists. He maintained this course for decades, shifting among jazz, rock, and R&B while maintaining a steady schedule of solo and supporting appearances alongside periodic studio work.

Having spent the sixties performing R&B and soul with several ensembles, among them Steampacket and various projects alongside Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger formed a fresh group in 1970 to pursue a less commercial strain of jazz-rock. He gave it the tongue-in-cheek name Oblivion Express, expecting the outfit to prove short-lived, yet the title endured as his longstanding band identity. The original quartet featured guitarist Jim Mullen, bassist Barry Dean, and drummer Robbie McIntosh. Their debut album, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, appeared in 1971 and was followed later that year by A Better Land; the first U.S. chart entry arrived with Second Wind in June 1972, the release that introduced vocalist Alex Ligertwood. Although membership shifted often, the group placed further albums on the U.S. charts over the ensuing years: Closer to It! (1973), Straight Ahead (1974), Live Oblivion, Vol. 1 (1974), Reinforcements (1975), and Live Oblivion, Vol. 2 (1976). Auger relocated to the United States in 1975 and eventually settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. As sales softened he moved to Warner Bros. for Happiness Heartaches, which reached the charts in February 1977. The April 1978 live set Encore reunited him with Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll) and closed his tenure with major labels, after which he disbanded Oblivion Express and recorded more sparingly.

Following a period of solo ventures and assorted partnerships, including a nineties collaboration with former Animals vocalist Eric Burdon, Auger reconstituted Oblivion Express in 1995. By 2000 the lineup included his daughter Savannah on vocals, guitarist Chris Clermont, bassist Dan Lutz, and his son Karma on drums. This configuration released Voices of Other Times on Miramar Records one week before Auger's sixty-first birthday. He remained active as a performer and recording artist through the 2000s and 2010s, with highlights that included a 2005 reactivation of Oblivion Express and the 2012 solo album Language of the Heart, which featured Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. In 2022 Auger entered an agreement with Soul Bank Music to issue archival material from his catalog. The label began the series with Auger Incorporated, a 2023 double-disc collection of previously unreleased recordings that encompassed work with Steampacket, Sonny Boy Williamson, the Trinity, Julie Driscoll, and Oblivion Express.