BrIan Auger

[ap297]

Wow he is beyond great! Was listening to Eric Burdon / Brian Auger live youtube videos from the late 1990s. The organ has a "VOCE" endblock, yet this organ has a joystick and looks like a Korg. Anyway his sound is very funky and cuts thru. Does anyone know which organ instrument it is?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DzSU-l6TOTzA&ved=2ahUKEwjbj9_ovL3dAhVMPK0KHSmFAlUQt9IBMAx6BAgLEFI&usg=AOvVaw0E0pYvCRu8laRH-jca6Hxz

[TomKittel]

The organ has a "VOCE" endblock, yet this organ has a joystick and looks like a Korg. Anyway his sound is very funky and cuts thru. Does anyone know which organ instrument it is?

 

This looks like a Korg Poly 61 and it sounds like a Voce module. I saw Brian Auger live about a year ago when he played a Viscount Legend. He sounds great with any keyboard.

[analogika]

Yep. Karma does his backline normally, and after touring for decades with his chopped sparkly B3 (at least here in Europe), they finally settled for the Legend for the last tour. As I recall, they had an original B3 attenuator fitted into a pedal, so the thing reacts to the volume pedal like an original.

[I-missRichardTee]

" an original B3 attenuator fitted into a pedal, " Whoa, how cool is that? Can such an attenuator be fitted into a Yamaha volume pedal?

[analogika]

Hey, just saw this.

 

I'm trying to find the video where Karma details the pedal; will post when I do.

 

BTW, Brian is back to his chopped B3 for this year's tour. The Viscount sound just didn't live up to the original over time.

[jerrythek]

I spoke with Brian a year ago or so...

 

Interview

[jerrythek]

And here's some leftover discussion from the interview that didn't make it into print.

 

Leftover from the discussion of the Keyboard Specialty instrument he keeps in Europe:

 

The only thing that was a bummer for me was the pedal, because the electronics were in a little oblong housing that the pedal links into. They would take that and jam it wide open and put a guitar jack into it and run that into a pedal. The problem with doing it like that was, whatever pedal you were using had a very short throwyou couldnt depress the pedal very far. And so it was either onyou would bring it back to get some kind of sound out of the organ, and then if you push it a little bit too farwowyoud get the whole thing.

 

Right. No dynamic.

 

Always very difficult because the pedals the only thing youve got really to give what youre playing any expression. So I stayed away from that for a while. At one point though I thought, you know what, if I started touring again I really need to have something that would pack up into a case and we would roll it.

 

Those are great vintages for the instrument.

 

They are. I always talked about the pedal. Of course the Italians are amazing for coming up with stuff. This guy says, I can build you a pedal that will be the same as the one on the normal organ. So he modified my organ, and that little box sits down on the floor connected to the Hammond pedal, which then is connected into the organ. So its just like playing a normal Hammond. Its phenomenal. And this guy wouldnt take any money! I should go and live in Italy, man. Ive never had that kind of hospitality and people that really appreciated what I was doing right from the beginning.

 

[jerrythek]

More leftovers that were supposed to be posted online:

 

We had so many great stories left over from our conversation with Brian Auger that we had to share some with you. We left them mostly unedited, so you can get a feel for what the real conversation sounded like. Enjoy.

 

The Oblivion Express became an important part of; they called it fusion, lets say the crossover of jazz and rock.

 

Yeah I dont call it fusion. I never have actually. I dont think it describes what we were doing. And then fusion morphed into smooth jazz, which became like a Fender Rhodes and some kind of held back jazz solos. I usually hear it playing in elevators. I certainly dont play smooth jazz. My energy is too high for any of that.

 

What was your migration from piano over to organ?

 

I was one of the last piano trios to play at the Flamingo Club in London. Two brothers actually ran it, Rik and Johnny Gunnell. Rik also started an agency in which he had a lot of organ-based bands like Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Chris Farlow and the Thunderbirds, the Chessmen, and on and on. One evening I went up and he said, So Brian, when you going to buy an organ then? I said, Oh come on. Im a piano player. I dont know anything about those things. He said, No, youd be a natural. I said, I doubt it.

 

I think it was in the middle of August and I got a call from Rik, Hey Brian, youve got to help me, man. Georgie Fame went down for a week holiday to Cromer. Believe it or not, there was a blazing heatwave in England at that point and apparently Georgie had fallen asleep on the beach, and had been carted off to hospital with sunburn. He said, Ive got all these gigs, man. You can do it, you must know Georgies stuff. I said, Yeah Ive heard it enough to be able to deal with that. No problem. He said, Be at the Roaring Twenties on Carnaby Street at 8:00 tonight.

 

So I went down a little early and I looked around and said, Wait a minute. Wheres the piano? They said, Oh theres no piano here, mate. I said, What am I going to play then? They said, Well, theres Georgies organ up there. And I realized that Rik had stolen a march on me and put me into this situation. I started to freak out because I had never played an organ. So I went up there and I thought, dont panic. Lets see if we can make with all these switches and find something that sounds like Jimmy Smith. I got as close as I could and played the whole evening. And for some reason, it just fell under my fingers. By the time I played three gigs a day for about 10 days on this thing, I was like, wow, I think Rik is actually right. I should go and get an organ and see if I could start a trio. And so I did that.

 

So it wasnt really a factor of volume or the condition of bad pianos?

 

It wasnt bad pianos I must say. I used to doing some gigs that were out of town. I might get a call from a local promoter saying, would you like to do a piano trio thing, but you have to do it with a rhythm section here. I did a few of those. At one point I got there and I looked at the piano and it looked like some old Rosewood upright that had taken a beating with brass candleholders and stuff. He said, Yeah theres the piano. Its got a lovely tone. And I thought to myself, oh dear. I played a chord on it and it was terrible. I looked up at this guy and he looked at me with a smile on his face and he said, What? What? As if everything was perfect [laughs]. You just had to deal with it.

 

On buying his first organ

I went to the store where they sold HammondsI mean, musical instruments. I said, I need a Hammond organ. And they said, There it is, and it was an A-100. I tried to make this thing sound like Jimmy Smith and I couldnt. And then a friend brought me an album of Jimmy McGriff live at the Apollo. And there he is sitting on the front of this album with this huge organ. So I immediately took that back to the store and said, What the hell is that? They said, Thats a B3, isnt it? Thats the one that I want. And then there was a sharp intake of air like, I dont know It was very English at the time. It was very negative. If you heard the intake of air, you realized it was beyond any capabilities to be able to deliver whatever it was that you were after. So they went, Yeah but its in America. I said, Yeah, well theyre all made in America. So why dont you call Hammond and see if we could get a B3? Long story short, they finally got it, and when I started to play that I went, Oh yes! Nirvana has been reached.

 

Finding his sound

I started to go through different phases of using different amplifiers and different things. I got to a club in 1972; I was playing in a club called The Altro Mondo, The Other Worldbeautiful big club in Rimini, Italy. We were doing the sound check and this little guy comes in, about five feet tall. He comes over to me and says, Brian, your organ is distorting like crazy. I said, Yeah I know. Ive tried everything Id love to have it nice and clear but... I was using Orange equipment and it was still the same. And he said to me, If you let me take your organ away for the afternoon, Ill bring it back tonight and it will be perfect. I said, You have got to be joking. Who are you? You think Im going to hand over my equipment to you and youre going to drive off and I might not see you again [laughs]. He said, No, no., talk to the club owner. He knows me. So I talked to the club owner and he said, Oh thats Romano Lombardi. Lombardis is still in business actually. His son runs things and builds all these amplifiers and PA and god knows what. So I said, Well, in for a penny, in for a pound here. So I let him take my organ away and he came back with two of his speakers. I think they were 6 metricthey were about 12 inch in each speaker box, and two amplifiers that were about 200 watts. He said, This amplifier is for the organ and this amplifier is for the piano. And when I started to play it, I couldnt believe it, man. It was ridiculous. In fact, I actually put notes on the Second Wind album saying that hed done this and helped me get to my sound. It was amazing. So that was it. At the end of the evening I said, How much do I owe you, Romano? And he said, No, no. Its nothing. You give me your two boxes and the Orange amp and we call it a day. I said, But youve given me almost twice as much as that. He said, No, no. Its ok. Its no problem because there were a lot of organ players here tonight and I sold four of those systems [laughs]. Anyway, that was the time when it all began to gel.

 

Talking about the Emerson memorial concert:

When Mari (Keiths fiancé) asked me to please come play at the memorial concert, I considered it all and I thought, what can I play? My style is so different from Keiths, so I started to get cold feet. I called her up and said, Is it OK if I just come and be there, but I dont play? She said, Oh youve got to play! So then I thought, well, what pieces of music do I like that Keith liked? The first thing that came to mind was Fanfare For The Common Man. I thought, maybe I could make something out of that and play it a cappella first, and then go into an up-tempo kind of drum thing, and play a solo. And then I remembered an interview I saw with Dave Brubeck, talking about Blue Rondo à la Turk and how Keith had taken it from a 9/8 rhythm into 4/4. I thought, yeah, Ill do the solo and at the end of the solo Ill do a stop and then Ill play the 9/8 version of Blue Rondo à la Turk. At the end of that, well come right down and just bust into 4/4, and instead of playing a solo in major, Im going to go into the minor. And towards the end of the solo to get out, I started to play the Fanfare again. I had to practice the 9/8 just to make sure that I didnt mess up in the middle of that because if you do, youre gone.

 

Then I thought, I dont know what to call this thing. What should we call it? Keith would like it if I called it Fanfare For a Common Blue Turkey [laughs]. Of course when I got there just before we were going to go up and do that, Mari came up and said, Youve got to say something. I went, Oh my god. What the hell can I say off the cuff? So I went out and saw the audience there and I looked down at them and I thought Keith really wouldnt want me to do some kind of ridiculous solemn spiel here, so I just made it up off the top of my head and I said, Of course you understand that Keith was actually born to a Bantu family in Namibia. People looked up at me and went, What? You never knew that? And then moving on from there I said, One day on the beach he was making a piano out of driftwood and some hyena teeth. He was messing about with that when a tidal wave suddenly took him all the way across the oceans and landed him on Long Island. He waded ashore and was met by Robert Moog. Dr. Moog said, Wow, thats a really interesting instrument youve got there. Ive got a really interesting instrument as well, actually. Would you like to come see it and play on it? Keith said, Well, I dont know, Im on the beach here and Im actually looking for (political) asylum. Robert said, Well, you better go down to Washington D.C. then, because thats the biggest political asylum that I know. Then we played Fanfare For a Common Blue Turkey.

 

I dont know where you come up with this stuff, but your mind is a very interesting place.

 

[Laughs] Ive discovered that most musicians that Ive worked with love to have a good laugh and are always telling each other jokes and stuff. So I think its born of that, and being brought up on The Goon Show and Monty Python.

 

 

[Doerfler]

WOW, Jerry, thanks for posting this. Love having you around here.

[TommyS]

Had the incredibly good luck to hang with Keith and Brian on my 57th birthday,, Ill never forget how they busted my chops about being old,, I couldnt get a word in edgewise,,, never laughed that much in my life,,, such a precious memory,,,,,

[stillearning]

Auger fan going back to his early days... thanks so much for the posts Jerry.

[jerrythek]

Glad to share... I was a fan for years (and remain one!), and now am lucky to call Brian a close friend. He is a force of nature, both musically and comedically!

 

I too have shared some evening with Brian and Keith. Priceless.

 

To be candid (not trying to humblebrag), I brought the two of them together for a dinner and that sparked their friendship for the last 10 years of Keith's life. I was sure that they knew each other and hung out, since they lived so close. But that was not the case... I'm so happy to have been the catalyst.

 

Jerry

[Jazz+]

Dear Freddie,

Here we go:-I refer to the Second drawbar bank up from the left of the Hammond.

Percussion: ON/ FAST / SECOND HARMONIC.

I prefer the second harmonic, which is a little darker a sound than the Jimmy Smith THIRD HARMONIC which is more metallic in resonance.

Solo Drawbars( top manual Left to Right): First 3 drawbars full out.

Drawbars 4 and 5 set to 2 or 3 on the drawbar.

Chorus C 3 Turn on or off for Variety.

Try Same setting but with Second drawbar set to 3 for a more Clarino solo sound( play pretty). Try these settings and let me know how you get on.

BEST BRIAN

____________

[mate stubb]

[video:youtube]

[Piktor]

I suspect that most of us become some kind of synthesis of all the artists that inspired us. A high school friend turned me on to Brian Auger shortly after he released the "Closer To It" album and it became one of my gateways to fusion and jazz. I already loved ELP and Yes and was aware of Oscar and Jimmy Smith, but at that point Auger seemed both awesome and accessible. I felt like I could grab some of his concept and use it. Subsequently, I bought and listened to the "Live Oblivion" albums over and over until, without specifically copping any of Brian's licks, his sound and muscular approach to the organ became a very big part of the way that I think of playing the instrument right up to the present day. I am grateful to him for inspiring me so profoundly and he is among the handful of artists that I wish I could actually meet just so I could thank him and tell him how much his work fueled me over the years.

[jpgxk3]

Thanks Jerry for a great share, really enjoyed. Been studying Brian's many YT's and listening to his signature sounds. I've always been a riding the Leslie guy for years, but last year I started using my Mojo with the Rhodes on the lower and organ up top getting me into the BA arena. I've gone back into playing mono through a 22H powered motor-less Leslie in a small speaker cabinet that just kicks it. Very cool to play this way and when the right musos are together we rock it. I run the Mojo dry through a Vent 2 in bypass and when I want to go back to a "moving air" sound, it's just a click away. Thanks again.

[LX88]

I saw Jerry's interview materials and I want to thank him for that. It is very interesting and informative.

 

When I have seen Brian At the NAMM show I always try to pick his Brain ( or his Brian perhaps) for info on the early days of the British jazz and blues scene.

 

When Keyboard magazine was in it's heyday I always craved an interview with Brian for his take on all of this history.

 

But I would also like to ask Brian questions on what he is doing now, and about his unique amplification of his Hammond.

 

I have heard that he is also using Viscount/ Key B stuff lately, which makes sense, because from what I have heard one of the samples of Key B is his organ.

 

Brian will be 80 in 2019. Catch him if you can.....

[analogika]

But I would also like to ask Brian questions on what he is doing now, and about his unique amplification of his Hammond.

 

I have heard that he is also using Viscount/ Key B stuff lately, which makes sense, because from what I have heard one of the samples of Key B is his organ.

No longer. He used the Viscount on last year's European tour, but he's back on the B-3 for his current one. Sound decision.

[Legatoboy]

I saw him live sitting in for T Lavitz with 'The Bluesblaster' once (with Paul Barrere and Steve Smith and Freebo) and was pleasantly blown out of my chair at the old Lonestar Roadhouse in NYC ..really the only time I saw/heard him live!

 

I was so disappointed at first when I heard TL wasn't playing.

 

Ran his Hammond 'straight', no Leslie and a Korg SGX/Pro on top - a rig which he gigged for awhile.

 

[Adan]

We can't have too many Brian Auger threads. He never, except perhaps for a brief moment in the late 60's, achieved the notoriety his talent and ingenuity deserved. Every jazz/blues/rock keyboard player should know him and he's as relevant to today as ever. He and his kids are also some of the nicest people you could hope to meet, as is evident when you go to their shows and see them hanging out afterwards, chatting with whomever approaches.

[analogika]

Indeed!

[Bosendorphen]

When Keyboard magazine was in it's heyday I always craved an interview with Brian for his take on all of this history.

Funny, the first issue of Keyboard I ever bought was the April 1977 issue with Brian on the cover. I didn't know who he was at the time but after reading the interview became a fan. Funny that he considered the Freeman String Synth "kind of obsolete" at that time.

[re Pete]

Met him at a club and talked after. Really nice guy.

 

 

[iluvchiclets]

This is very cool!

 

I can't believe Brian isn't more well known. Each time I mention his name to musicians I meet, often they don't know him. I love to introduce his music to people...

[Polychrest]

Catching up with Brian Auger:  "At 82, on the cusp of a new reissue collection, his passion is undimmed"

 

‘Clapton turned incredibly pale when Jimi began to play’: Brian Auger, the Swinging 60s’ pop Zelig

[stillearning]

Seen him multiple times going back to the Trinity and Oblivion Express days up to recently. Met him way back when. Nice guy. Bit of a personal hero. His version of Compared To What is a favorite listen while driving on road trips!

 

Thanks for posting that, I’ll check it out later.

[Shamanzarek]

I used to listen to the Closer to It album a lot in the 70s. Loved his Rhodes playing on that and tried to emulate it. In '93 I saw him with Eric Burdon at a small club in Westwood, NJ. I seem to remember him playing a Korg keyboard mostly doing organ sounds. Of course they were doing Animals songs and it seemed like he took a smokin' solo on nearly every song.

[Paul Harrison]

Great sound, great playing ...