Keith & Julie Tippett

In the late '60s, Julie Driscoll had great success as an R&B-based pop singer; her tenure with the Brian Auger Trinity produced a hit cover of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire." Driscoll left the band in 1968 during an American tour; she starred in a television play, called The Season of the Witch, and recorded a solo album in 1969. In the early '70s, she began performing under her married name with her husband, jazz keyboardist Keith Tippett, and his band Centipede. The relationship signaled a stylistic change; the music made by the pair was a great deal more experimental and abstract. They would continue their partnership, recording a number of albums for jazz-oriented labels like FMP and Editions EG. Born June 8, 1947, Julie Driscoll ran a Yardbirds fan club as a teenager. That group's manager and producer, Giorgio Gomelsky, encouraged her to begin a singing career. From 1965 to 1966, she sang with Steampacket (a band that also included Auger and a young Rod Stewart). In 1967, she joined Auger in Trinity. For a time, she was immensely popular, becoming a much-emulated fashion presence on the British pop scene. ~ Chris Kelsey