Julie Driscoll

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Julie Tippetts
Julie Tippetts in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Julie Driscoll
Born	8 June 1947 (1947-06-08) (age 61) London, England
Genre(s)	pop music, singer-songwriter, jazz
Years active	1960s - present
Label(s)	Marmalade
Associated acts	Brian Auger, Steampacket, Blossom Toes
Website	mindyourownmusic.co.uk

Julie Tippetts (born Julie Driscoll, 8 June 1947, London, England) is an English singer and actress, best known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger's Trinity. She and Auger had previously worked together in the band Steampacket, with Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart.

"This Wheel's on Fire" became a number five hit in the United Kingdom. With its use of distortion, the imagery of the title and the group's flamboyant dress and performance, this version came to represent the psychedelic era in British music. Driscoll recorded the song again in the early '90s with Adrian Edmondson as the theme to the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, whose main characters are throwbacks to that era.

Since the 1970s Driscoll has concentrated on experimental vocal music, married jazz musician Keith Tippett and collaborated with him. Her preferred name is now 'Julie Tippetts', thus using the original spelling of her husband's surname as a supportive distinction to the (music business') boundaries of her former musical career's style. She participated in Keith Tippett's big band Centipede and, in 1974, she took part in Robert Wyatt's Theatre Royal Drury Lane concert; released a solo album, Sunset Glow; and was the critically acclaimed lead vocalist^[1] on Carla Bley's album Tropic Appetites.

Later in the 1970s she toured with her own band, and also recorded and performed as one of the vocal quartet 'Voice', with Maggie Nichols, Phil Minton and Brian Eley.

She continues to be active in music education, and in performance settings with Tippett.