Live Oblivion

[Ed S]

One of the first 3 or 4 concerts I ever saw was also one of the most memorable - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express at some bar just south of Buffalo called the "Outside Inn". It was circa 1975 - both the drinking age and I were 18 and this place was one of a number of summer party bars in an area along the Lake Erie shore still referred to as "the lake" This was the Oblivion Express with Auger, Alex Ligertwood, Jack Mills. It was a phenominal show - I can still feel the groove 30 years later.

Concurrent with my seeing them was the release of Live Oblivion in two volumes totalling 3 LPs. I have both volumes but they are quite worn. So, off and on over the years, I've been looking for CD releases of Live Oblivion whenever I think of it.

Interestingly - at least to me - is that I've been on sort of a Brian Auger jag of sorts. I was with my girlfriend out at "the lake" this past summer and passed the building which housed the "Outside Inn" on my way to a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff. Funny what 30 years will do insofar as the reason for heading out to 'the lake". 30 years ago I never even knew or cared there was a Wright home out there. Anyway, the memories of that show came to the forefront and I decided to pick up a few Oblivion Express releases. But alas, there was no Live Oblivion.

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I repainted my basement jazz listening room - a nice shade of blue for those of you still with me. I found some of those record album frames for 5 bucks each at a local store and started digging through my old LPs to display on the walls. Earlier in the year, btw, I had picked up a few Blue Note LPs in Paris at the Paris Jazz Corner just for that purpose - to hang on my walls. Anyways, one of the albums I decided to display was Live Oblivion - the blue one - which prompted me to check "the net" once again for a CD release of Live Oblivion. This time, I hit paydirt.

Using - of course - the link through this site, I checked Amazon and saw that Caiman had the complete 2 volume/3LP Live Oblivion on a 2 CD set for like 20 bucks. With cat-like reflexes, I pounced upon my quarry, then waited the week or so for delivery. It came 2 days ago. All I can say is WOW!

I know this stuff is not for everyone here - but I have to tell you, the years have done no injustice to the music. The groove is phenominal. The songs - Oblivion Express classics like Maiden Voyage, Compared To What, Freedom Jazz Dance, Whenever You're Ready, Second Wind, Inner City Blues and more - sound as excellent now as they did to me 30 years ago. I realize that may be a bad thing as often as it is good - depending on one's point of view. I have to say that I'm revelling in this shit. What a great live album and a real treat for Auger fans.

Edited December 7, 2006 by Ed Swinnich

[chris olivarez]

Ed are you telling me they're oop on cd? If indeed they are then I will have to go on a similar quest. I had them on vinyl and I dug the hell out of them.

[Ed S]

Oh there's tons of Oblivion Express and Brian Auger on Cd. It's only the title Live Oblivion that I was looking for and happily have finally found

[chris olivarez]

Oh there's tons of Oblivion Express and Brian Auger on Cd. It's only the title Live Oblivion that I was looking for and happily have finally found

That's what I meant to say I was inquiring after the live dates wondering if they were oop?

[Ed S]

I only was casually looking, but as far as I know Live Oblivion had never been issued on CD until now. (at least at a reasonable price) That's why I was so happy to get this new CD. It's a 2CD set with a 2006 release date.

[chris olivarez]

Let my searching begin.

[GA Russell]

Glad to hear the joy in your voice, Ed! I had the twofer, which I haven't heard in years. It's packed away somewhere. Maybe the last week of the year I'll dig out my LP boxes and see if I can find it.

[Teasing the Korean]

I've accumulated lots of Auger stuff through the years. My favorite is Closer to It. I often spin "Whenever You're Ready" when DJing. Auger has a band now with a couple of his kids. On youtube, there's a live performance of "Happiness is Just Around the Bend."

[felser]

I only was casually looking, but as far as I know Live Oblivion had never been issued on CD until now. (at least at a reasonable price) That's why I was so happy to get this new CD. It's a 2CD set with a 2006 release date.

It was released as a reasonably priced 2CD set on One Way in the mid-90's, went out of print, was rereleased on some ridiculously expensive import CD's, was just rereleased as a reasonably priced 2CD set on Castle UK in October. I picked up the Castle reissue, so have my One Way set available for sale ($14 includes shipping) or trade if anyone is interested. I like the set a lot, but actually like the concurrent studio sets by the same group ('Second Wind', 'Closer To It', and especially 'Straight Ahead') even more. The live stuff is a little ragged compared to the studio takes, and while that's a good thing for some types of music, it isn't for this. The longer solos are nice to have, and the group is smoking. There are many earlier Brian Auger & Trinity, and Brian Auger & Oblivion Express releases that are also well worth having. The utter classic is 'Streetnoise', with Julie Driscoll, but 'Befour' and 'Oblivion Express' are also well worth owning, though all of these sound very different than the live album. The 70's reunion album with Julie Driscoll is also very good, with an amazing version of "No Time To Live".