JULIE DRISCOLL, BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY

This album is a weird compilation of tracks coming from their studio albums, their singles and some tracks that seem to have been recorded for that precise occasion, because I can't see from where they would've been released. Only covers fill up this album (but this was a usual thing back then), a good deal coming from Motown (after all Brian emerged from the British Rhythm'n Blues crowd), others from folkies (Dylan, Nyro and Donovan) and other rockier groups (the Doors), but the whole state of the art is accommodating and arranging the tracks to fit the Trinity mould. This is done mostly with good studio musicians guesting in on the three-man unit's (and their diva) solid base. Auger, drummer Thacker and bassist Ambrose do provide a good background for Jools, but don't shine much like in their excellent Befour album, but there is some good brass arrangements on some of these tracks. .

In terms of quality of choice, Motown dominates this selection, some tracks being particularly successful (Road To Cairo, Save Me and Indian Rope Man), others are much less interesting (Water/Back Home, Why, Break It Up) with Tramp somewhere in the middle, along with the only non-cover track A Kind Of Love-In. In the rockier and folkier domain, the awesome Haïr final theme track Let The Sunshine is a credible version and Seasons Of The Witch is excellent, but Light My Fire is definitely a bit of a miss but hardly catastrophic (unlike Nico's version) and their huge hit Wheel's On Fire (also one for BS&T), with an interesting Save The Country.

A collection of tracks that can indeed be a good introduction to Brian & Jools, but it doesn't show the brilliance that The Trinity was capable of, especially in Befour, rather than in Definitely What! (neither represented here). So with the usual Trane precautions, if you're not familiar with the Driscoll-era Jools, this is a good starting point, but if you want to investigate our fave Ogre's organ works, you'd better look elsewhere. But instead of this album, you might just as well indulge in Streetnoise , which holds much of the tracks in this compilation, also. Your call really!!