Street Noise

Street Noise, by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity

This album, originally released as a double-LP in 1969, brought about my abiding love for the Hammond organ. It also introduced me to one of the most thrilling vocalists of the 60's: Julie ("Jools", or "The Face") Driscoll. Stylistically, Street Noise is an amalgam of rock, jazz, folk blues and gospel, which maintains continuity from track to track, despite its eclecticism. Comprising equal parts original songs and cover versions, the album is that rarest, for me, of commodities--a record where I like every song. And it's a double album, no less. Furthermore, I had disdained some of the original versions of the covers chosen as either un-hip ("Flesh Failures: Let the Sunshine in" and "I've Got Life" from Hair), or just plain annoying ("Light My Fire"). But not so on Street Noise. In fact, here you'll find the only version of the oft recorded LMF that doesn't make me cringe, thanks to Jools's goose bump-inducing vocal and Brian Auger's subtle and atmospheric organ embellishments. Elsewhere, the band absolutely burns on original instrumentals such as "Ellis Island" and "Tropic of Capricorn", prominently featuring their co-leader's keyboard virtuosity. On Richie Haven's "Indian Rope Man", Jools and Brian vie for the spotlight; each outdoing the other on this incendiary track. Throughout the album, wherever Driscoll sings, she will compel your attention; whether on up tempo numbers or the gentle "Vauxhall to Lambeth Bridge" or her dramatic rendition of the traditional song, "When I was a Young Girl". My only caveat concerning the album is an occasional shrillness on her part, but this shouldn't deter you from checking out this remarkable but relatively unknown release.
-David