{"product_id":"brian-augers-oblivion-express_closer-to-it_2025_lba","title":"Closer To It","description":"Brian Auger founded The Oblivion Express in 1970 after the demise of his chart-topping jazz and R\u0026amp;B duo Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity. Deciding he would continue to defy creative expectations with his genre vision, Auger even based the group's name on this precarious anti-commercial approach. Auger need not have worried, the band's first series of albums; the heavy jazz-rock-influenced debut 'Oblivion Express' from 1971, the proto jazz-funk of 'Straight Ahead' released in 1972, all made serious inroads in the US, which proved to be particularly fertile ground for the band. In 1973, London-born Auger felt his diverse American influences of jazz, R\u0026amp;B, funk and soul had fermented into his own brand of fusion, and after listening to the final mixes, he was sure he was approaching his original musical mission, hence the album's name Closer To It. Its predecessor, Straight Ahead, had charted in the US and had awakened RCA Records to the crossover potential of this somewhat indefinable music, which upped its game when it came to the follow-up, which broke out in the tri-state area, where it received significant radio and press support... All these factors combined favorably and allowed Closer To It to simultaneously enter the Billboard Jazz, R\u0026amp;B and Rock charts. For a multiracial British band made up of fans of African-American music, this was both creatively and commercially satisfying.","brand":"Brian Auger'S Oblivion Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57469675405656,"sku":null,"price":23918928.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/4062548040043.jpg?v=1780872224","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/brian-augers-oblivion-express_closer-to-it_2025_lba","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}