JULIE DRISCOLL

1969 ESOTERIC

Fatally delayed, largely overlooked debut from ex-Trinity siren.

After coming to prominence alongside Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry in Steampacket, Julie Driscoll struck Top 5 gold with Brian Auger And The Trinity’s timeless take on Dylan’s This Wheel’s On Fire. East London waif Jools, who started out as Yardbirds’ manager Giorgio Gomelsky’s secretary, captured the post-mod imagination after cannily reinventing herself. She framed huge eyes with false lashes and expressionlessly smouldered Nico-style. She was Twiggy with a voice.

Yet almost inevitably, stardom didn’t suit. She developed a taste for experimental jazz and, shortly after Trinity supported Led Zeppelin in the

US, jumped ship (acoustic guitar in tow) to write songs for her solo debut.

Her persistent manager/producer/ Marmalade label boss Gomelsky hooked her up with another recent Marmalade signing, jazz pianist/composer Keith Tippett. The pair hit it off professionally and personally (marrying in 1970) and crafted a genre-fluid album of timeless enduring power. 1969 not only features Tippett on piano and celeste, but also an astonishing array of sidemen, Chris Spedding on guitar, along with alumni of

Soft Machine, Ian Carr’s Nucleus and Blossom Toes. Driscoll’s strong, clear tones effortlessly soar and invariably entrance across eight compositions that cry out for change and renewal, not least album opener A New Awakening, with its complex horn arrangements (see also: Walk Down) and sizzling lead guitar. Those That We Love’s acoustic delicacy recalls Sandy Denny, while Karl Jenkins’ strident oboe tangles on Leave It All Behind are pure Elephant’s Memory. Again, Break Out speaks for itself, Driscoll hitting freedom-affirming high notes, before less is more on minimalist second side set-pieces (The Choice, Lullaby and I Nearly Forgot – But I Went Back).

Marmalade’s collapse saw 1969’s release delayed, somewhat ironically, until 1971, and Driscoll’s moment was lost, but it’s an astounding piece of work, impossible to categorise, yet ripe for rediscovery.