Brian Auger, the pianist who said “no” to Jimi Hendrix, celebrates on set

A list of influential English rock musicians of the 1960s might not mention Brian Albert Gordon Ogier out of sheer injustice. Brian Auger sat at the keyboard of Hammond in the UK when it seemed that only Americans, direct descendants to Jimmy Smith, could do so. He would just be a side man, one of those history erased by the pound without realizing that, for every striker or pioneer, at least five such pieces appeared. But Brian Auger was more than just a friend, and a group that re-eds its sides, released on the Soul Bank Music label, has reassessed his existence.

Even because Brian Auger is alive, healthy, pure and dreamy at the age of 82. The stories that surround him are fascinating, and the best of them are these: Even as he led the band Trinity with superstar singer Julie Driscoll, a vocal rebellion of jazz, R&B, folk, and rock that of course exploded in psychedelic. His phone rang, and on the other side was Chas Chandler (those experts in rock history would kill the suspense upon reading that name, but let’s move on). Chase, the producer and guitarist for Animals, told Auger that he had the perfect guitarist for his band, a black man who had just arrived from New York. Yes, it was Jimi Hendrix, before Chase helped him create the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with guitarist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.

Chase asked if they, Auger and Hendrix, could meet after Trinity’s performance at the Cromwellian Upscale Club, and Auger replied, “I can’t decide until I meet the guy.” Last week, in an interview with The Guardian, Auger recalled that day: “Well he seemed like a nice guy, very shy, and he joined us in our second group. Since Cromwellian was one of the few places you could legally drink after work, it was full By the musicians. When Jimmy started playing, boy, he almost burned down the cabaret and Eric Clapton turned incredibly pale!” Great but what about the answer? Was Hendrix engaged? Auger replied, “No.” “I turned it down because I was happy with Julie singing and Vic Briggs on guitar.”

But Auger cannot be reduced to “The Man Who Said No to Hendrix,” and the now-released album, Auger Incorporated, helps bring him back. Preacher and Poinciana showed him in pre-rock ‘n’ roll and Hammond’s stage. He plays the piano, attacks the swing and bebop, his true origins. Risky record of I Just Got Come featuring Rod Stewart on vocals, from the time they formed Steampacket. There are 26 tracks that trace encounters with Long John Baldry and Rod in Up Above My Head; In & Out by Trinity, swinging irresistibly on a Hammond and Vic Briggs guitar, which almost was Jimi Hendrix; Total Eclipse, from the next with the Oblivion Express fusion kit, is more sensitive (although Auger is a supposed face); and Circles Journey, by the same group, with the voice of his daughter, Savannah Auger.

The data sheet also notes the participation of Sonny Boy Williamson, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Page and Billy Cobham. Could be more. Auger’s keyboard is heard in Yardbirds’ For Your Love, recorded 1965, and for the years following the decline of classic rock, he lived with dignity. Auger toured with Eric Bourdon from Animals in the early ’90s and revived Oblivion Express in 2005, with daughter Savannah on singing and son Karma Auger on drums.

Saying no to Hendrix, on second thought, was deliverance. Hendrix could have swallowed Brian Auger, then sure. And Auger would have had to give up the subtlety he used to compose his English soul, his earthy psychedelic and jazz rock that envelops it but never goes off.