Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Second Wind (Castle, 2005 Reissue)

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Second Wind

1 Truth (Ligertwood) 7:45
2 Don't Look Away (Dean, Ligertwood, Mullen) 6:01
3 Somebody Help Us (Auger) 6:32

4 Freedom Jazz Dance (Harris) 5:25
5 Just Me, Just You (Auger) 6:14
6 Second Wind (Auger) 6:40

Such a great album (RCA, 1972)!

Please see
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=785629#post785629

Like the 1995 Italian Ujaft / Flying Records version (UjaMM'n-AfterTaste UJAFT 004), the September 2005 UK Castle CD (CMRCD 11000) adds bonus track: Freedom Jazz Dance (Live In Paris 1971). The Castle disc sounds good -- the keyboard SOLOS are burnin'!

Liner notes by Lois Wilson, MOJO Magazine
Mastered At The Townhouse

 

Indeed. I purchased the Get Back vinyl re-issue of "Open" and I was knocked out.

Does the depth of music worth listening to from the 1965-1973 period NEVER end?

I mean, I am CONSTANTLY finding new artists to listen to from this time period.

 

Jim Irvin, MOJO #145, December 2005, "...There are an awful lot of samey '70s albums where former jazzbos wrestle with rock shapes, unable to cough up a decent song and settle for lyrics of the "there's an eagle flying and children dying" variety. Cue Second Wind (Castle), the third album by Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, buoyed, presumably by contemporary jazz-rock successes Traffic, Chicago and BS&T, all of whom it resembles... They make a decent noise alright...but it's not hard to hear why proficient, if unsurprisong explorations such as these struggled to find a fanbase."



Lois Wilson's notes claim singer supreme Alex Ligertwood "had just finished recording the Jeff Beck Group's Truth LP. He'd written the title track for them but it got credited to Jeff Beck. They also were not happy with with his vocals either and and they rerecorded them."

One guesses Lois meant the 'Rough And Ready' album (but it did not contain a song titled Truth -- nor did The Jeff Beck Group's Truth LP).

http://www.alexligertwood.com/index.html
http://www.ainian.com/jb8.html

 

Whoah! Is this right? Was Ligertwood the original vocalist on "Rough and Ready"? Can anyone confirm? I always felt there was a close stylistic connection between the "Second Wind" and "Rough and Ready" albums - something I admire greatly. But this is new information on me. And, if true, would support my hunch. Yet I can't help being a little suspicious. Sounds too good to be true (in other words). I may attempt to email Lois Wilson on this one, if I can find an email address for her.....
----- Chris

 

The Tale Of The Beck / Ligertwood Tapes
http://www.ainian.com/jb5.html

Dick asked Alex about the song 'Situation' since Alex had recorded something similar later on with Brian Auger. "I wrote the Second Wind track 'Truth.' The Jeff Beck Group changed the lyrics and melody so that was cool."

 

Hey Atcofan! Thanks for the link. Wow! That just blew my mind. So (most likely) when Bob Tench recorded the vocals for "Rough and Ready" he was emulating the style already laid down by Ligertwood which explains thoroughly why those two albums sound so similar! Wow - mystery solved! You have no idea - this has bugged the living daylights outta me for YEARS. Well, no need to try emailing Lois Wilson (although she did confuse the Auger track "Truth" with the earlier Beck LP title "Truth").
This is so wild. When I was in the band with Murali Coryell (we were at college together) - we practically worshiped the "Rough and Ready" album. Even performed "Situation" live a number of times. But for the life of me I couldn't hip him to the "Second Wind" album at all (maybe the guitar work didn't knock him out).
Thank you so much for clearing this up once and for all! Cheers!
------ Chris

 

Alright - the plot thickens! I just broke out the Rough and Ready album. I have two copies - the original yellow label Epic and the Quad Epic LPs. I grew up listening to the Quad since I found that first for cheap at a flea market. I didn't get an original stereo copy till many years later. I always preferred the Quad for some reason, but I just popped the stereo copy on and..........regarding the track "Situation"............
On my yellow label stereo copy it sounded like it ran "slow". What the heck? So I put on the Quad LP. Sonofagun! It ran faster than the stereo copy. What gives? The Quad LP version clocks in at the listed 5:05. I just timed the stereo copy - it came in at 5:26!

First, the theory: If this was a leftover track from the Ligertwood sessions (and it was supposedly "his" song) could it be that when Tench redid the vocals they slowed the tape down to suit his range (not as high as Ligertwood's) and then sped it back up to normal speed thereby putting Tench in the right key?? Not an unheard-of practice, right?

Second, the observation: When I was playing drums with Murali Coryell I drove him crazy by what he figured was "pushing the tempo" on this song (Situation). The reality? My reference for this song was the Quad LP (the faster tempo) - his was the CD or cassette (slower tempo I guess)! Good grief! Well, if you've never heard the Quad version it's really movin' compared to the stereo (common) version. Sheesh! After all these years who woulda thunk?
------ Chris

 

Fascinating!


From
http://www.ainian.com/jb5.html
As to the question of what material was on those tapes, Alex confirmed that they were pretty much the same tracks as what eventually came out on the later rerecorded Lp with Bob Tench's vocals.


From
http://www.ainian.com/jb8.html
I hope Alex Ligertwood reads this next part and takes a different perspective of his departure from the second Jeff Beck Group just after the original 'Rough And Ready' tapes had been absconded away by Mickey Most and Peter Grant. Max recalls, "I remember Alex sang. The record company heard the band and said that they didn't like Alex. We all thought he was fantastic. It made Jeff uneasy and Clive knew Bob Tench from the band Gonzalez down at the Speakeasy. Bobby recut all the vocals." So it wasn't really Ernest Chapman who wanted Alex canned. He just got the unpleasant assignment of doing it. Also interesting is the fact that since Bob Tench recut all the vocals, there must also be an unreleased version of 'Ice Cream Cakes' with him on vocals because that was to have been the original Ligertwood era Lp although in a slightly different form as Ben E. King had written it and given it to Alex! Max further clarified the stolen tapes incident. "All of Jeff's royalties went straight to Mickie Most. When Ernest found that out he went to CBS and had all of the royalties sent straight to Jeff."

 

From:
http://www.ainian.com/jb5.html#7

The actual producer of those sessions was none other than the late Jimmy Miller (Stones, Traffic) who also produced the other Lp that Jeff never came out with - BBA II!!! Alex explained, "Jimmy Miller was there for all the recordings I did for Jeff."

and

...look the tapes up. Of the possibility of Alex going over himself to look for them, he would say only this, "They were all two track so I'm wondering if they do exist, how listenable they would be after all these years. I spend a lot of time on the continent but I do travel to London occasionally." Dick suggested to him that if Alex did travel there again that it wouldn't be a bad idea to look up Andy Pearce at the studios. As far as the age of the tapes, if they've been kept archived in studio issue tape boxes under controlled enviormental conditions, they are indeed probably very listenable. Hope springs eternal.

So.....here we go with more theory..........

Based on the excerpts you posted and those I found above it seems likely that the Rough and Ready album as we know it was re-recorded entirely with Bob Tench in the band. If the only thing left from the Ligertwood sessions is two-track tape - that, to me, says "Rough Mix from multitracks". If multitracks did exist at all. Even with Jimmy Miller at the helm it is entirely possible that the band was merely rehearsing live to two-track in the studio, getting material together to audition for the record company. Again, this is just speculation, but why waste multitrack tape if you're just demo-ing material?
As to the issue of "Situation" - for the recut version they may have decided to drop the pitch of the original backing track just slightly enough for Tench to comfortably overdub his vocals - or not. Maybe the version found on the stereo LP was the way it was performed in the studio and for reasons unknown the master tape got sped up when they remixed for the Quad LP. That seems the more likely scenario since it appears that whatever original tapes existed from the Ligertwood sessions were either A) just two-track demos or B) multi-tracks that were siezed by Mickey Most and never heard from again.

Thanks for all this nifty information! Even if we can't pin down the exact rationale for this stuff it still amazes me that there was a greater connection between "Second Wind" and "Rough and Ready" than I ever realized.
------ Chris

 

Billboard
April 22, 1972
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express
Second Wind
RCA LSP 4703 (dynaflex)

Brian Auger has been a dominant influence on the ever-changing tides of British music-dom for at least a decade. He has been considered a musician's musician (i.e. someone who everyone raves over yet fails to score commercially). Alex Ligertwood's active vocalizations help communicate the inner fire of Auger's organ work. Choice tracks: "Truth," "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Somebody Help Us."

~~~

SECOND WIND
Reviewed by Alan Clayson in Record Collector #318, Christmas 2005
("Like expecting a new bike for Christmas - and getting one")

~~~

Were any 45rpm singles released from the SECOND WIND album?

~~~

Billboard
November 06, 1971
Jeff Beck Group
Rough And Ready

It's been a while since Beck's last release, but the first rule of British rock is that ex-Yardbirds never fail. They have a built-in core of followers who know what to expect of them and faithfully wait for each new album. This time they get some tight rock & roll in "I've Been Used" and "New Ways," restrained instrumental work in "Raynes Park Blues," and nine piano/lead guitar exchanges on "Jody."