"This Wheel's on Fire" reached number five in the United Kingdom in June 1968, number 13 in Canada,[2] and Bubbled Under the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States at #106 that August. With distortion, the imagery of the title and the group's dress and performance, this version came to represent the psychedelic era in British rock music. Driscoll recorded the song again in the early 1990s with Adrian Edmondson as the theme to the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.[3]
Since the 1970s, Driscoll has concentrated on experimental vocal music. She married jazz musician Keith Tippett and collaborated with him and now uses the name Julie Tippetts, adopting the original spelling of her husband's surname. She took part in Keith Tippett's big band Centipede, and sang in Robert Wyatt's Theatre Royal Drury Lane concert in 1974.[4] She released a solo album, Sunset Glow, in 1975;[5] was lead vocalist[6] on Carla Bley's album Tropic Appetites; and performed on John Wolf Brennan's "HeXtet".[7]
Later in the 1970s, she toured with her own band and recorded and performed as one of the vocal quartet Voice, with Maggie Nichols, Phil Minton, and Brian Eley.[8] She reunited with Auger for the 1978 album Encore.[9]
In the early 1980s, Julie Tippetts was a guest vocalist on an early single by pop-jazz band Working Week, on the song "Storm of Light",[10][11] which brought them to the attention of a wider audience. In 2009, she started collaborating with Martin Archer.[12][13] The duo released six albums between 2009 and 2022.
Discography
LP/CD releases of note
Below is a selected list of Driscoll's work, sorted mostly by recording date:
1963 – "Take Me by the Hand (And Lead Me)" (with Harold Geller Group)
1968 – "This Wheel's on Fire" (with Brian Auger & the Trinity)
1968 – "Road To Cairo" (with Brian Auger & the Trinity)
1969 – Streetnoise (with Brian Auger & the Trinity)
1969 – Jools & Brian (with Brian Auger & the Trinity) – compilation of early UK singles (rec. 1965–1967): 5 Parlophone titles by Driscoll, and 6 Columbia titles by Auger & The Trinity (Capitol)
1970 – The Best of Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – compilation (Polydor) (#94 Canada[14])
1989 – Women With Voices (track #12, with Maggie Nicols, Sue Ferrar and Sylvia Hallett, recorded live, 4 March, at Air Gallery, London)
1991 – (1 June) The Bristol Concert (with Mujician & The Georgian Ensemble as honorary guest) (recorded live at St. George's concert hall, Brandon Hill, Bristol, UK, for BBC)
1992 – Best of Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger – compilation (Polydor)
1992 – (2 and 3 January) Spirits Rejoice (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)
1993 – (23 October) Twilight Etchings (with Willi Kellers & Keith Tippett) (recorded at the Podewil in Berlin during the Total Music Meeting)
1994 – (3, 4, 5 January) Ixesha (Time) (with The Dedication Orchestra) (recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston, Surrey, UK)
1996 – Couple in Spirit II (duet with Keith Tippett) (recorded live at The Stadtgarten, Cologne)
1998 – (6 February & 30 April) The First Full Turn (with RoTToR: Paul Rutherford, Julie & Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers) (recorded at various locations)
1998 – (3 May) First Weaving: Live at Le Mans Jazz Festival (Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra)
1999 – The Mod Years (1965–1969...Complete Singles, B-sides and Rare Tracks) – compilation (Disconforme; later released on Fresh Fruit/MIG 00492)
1999 – Shadow Puppeteer – solo
2001 – If Your Memory Serves You Well (The Giorgio Gomelsky Sessions) – compilation (Dressed To Kill) [previously released on Charly as London 1964-1967]
2002 – (November & February) Fluvium (with Martin Archer and Geraldine Monk) (electronics recorded at Telecottage, Sheffield, between January 2000 & March 2002; vocals & acoustic instruments recorded at The Sound Kitchen, Sheffield, between November 2001 and February 2002)
2003 – The Dartington Trio (with Keith Tippett and Paul Dunmall) – Live at the BBC & live at The Vortex
2004 – (8 August) Dartington Improvising Trio (with Keith Tippett and Paul Dunmall) – Live at The Priory (recorded live at Priory Park, 3rd Southend International Jazz Festival)
2004 – A Kind of Love-In 1967–1971 – compilation (Raven)
2005 – (24 April) Mahogany Rain (with Paul Dunmall, Philip Gibbs and Keith Tippett) (recorded at Victoria Rooms Studio, Bristol, UK)
2008 – (14 November) Couple in Spirit – Live at the Purcell Room (duet with Keith Tippett) (recorded at the Purcell Room, London, as part of the 2008 London Jazz Festival)
2008 – Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith & Julie Tippett
2009 – Ghosts of Gold (with Martin Archer)
2011 – Tales of FiNiN (with Martin Archer)
2011 – (30 & 31 January) From Granite to Wind (with Keith Tippett Octet)
2012 – Serpentine (with Martin Archer)
2015 – Vestigium (with Martin Archer)
2016 – The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon (with Keith Tippett Octet)
2022 – Illusion (with Martin Archer)
Early UK singles
Parlophone (UK) Records:
Jun 1965 – R 5296 – Don't Do It No More // I Know You (with Blossom Toes)
May 1966 – R 5444 – I Didn't Want To Have To Do It // Don't Do It No More
Apr 1967 – R 5588 – I Know You Love Me Not // If You Should Ever Leave Me
