The Creation

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The Creation were an English rock band, formed in 1966. The most popular Creation song was "Painter Man", which made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in late 1966, and reached #8 in the German chart in April 1967. It was later covered by Boney M in 1979, and reached the #10 position in the UK charts. Their song "Makin' Time" was used in the movie Rushmore. Guitarist Eddie Phillips described their sound as "Our music is red – with purple flashes."

Career

Kenny Pickett, Eddie Phillips, Mick Thompson and Jack Jones had previously been in The Mark Four with John Dalton, who left the band to join The Kinks as a replacement for Pete Quaife. Bob Garner had previously been in the Tony Sheridan Band. Their style was originally loud pop art, similar to The Kinks and The Who, but developed into a more typically mid 1960s psychedelic rock sound, which has been retroactively described as freakbeat. Their song "Painter Man" featured Phillips playing his electric guitar with a violin bow. He was reputedly the first guitarist to use this technique, although Jimmy Page later did it to greater acclaim.^[1] They took their pop art experimentation slightly further when Pickett would spraypaint a canvas during their concerts, before a member of the road crew would set light to artwork on stage.^[1]

Most of their singles were issued in the UK, but after "Making Time" and "Painter Man", they had no further hits. Four singles were issued in the United States — "Making Time" b/w "Try And Stop Me" and "Painter Man" b/w 'Biff Bang Pow" on US Planet, and "If I Stay Too Long" b/w "Nightmares" and "How Does It Feel To Feel" b/w "Life Is Just Beginning" on US Decca — without commercial success, although the band remained popular in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

In early 1967, Pickett was ousted and replaced by bass player Garner as lead vocalist. Kim Gardner from The Birds came in on bass. The band broke up in 1967, but Jones formed a new line-up, bringing back Pickett as singer. After a while, Gardner returned as bass player (after a stint in Santa Barbara Machine Head) and brought in his old bandmate from The Birds, Ronnie Wood on guitar. This line-up recorded just one single, "For All That I Am", after which the band folded. Meanwhile, Phillips had become bass player in the backing band of P.P. Arnold. Pickett continued as songwriter for their American producer, Shel Talmy, and also became the guitar technician for Jimmy Page. Wood joined the Jeff Beck Group. Gardner co-formed Ashton, Gardner & Dyke and was later a member of Badger. Jones became a cabaret singer. Pickett and Phillips later wrote the hit single "Teacher Teacher" for Rockpile.

The Creation re-formed in the mid 1980s with Phillips, Pickett, Dalton, and Mick Avory (drums, ex-Kinks), releasing a single on Jet Records and recording an album in a more contemporary rock style. The reformed band continued to tour, with various line-up changes, capitalising on their cult notoriety with the underground mod and garage rock audiences. They performed in the United States for the first time in 2001.

Original members

• Kenny Pickett (born Kenneth George Pickett, 3 September 1942, Ware, Hertfordshire; died 10 January 1997) - vocals
• Eddie Phillips (born Edwin Michael Phillips, 15 August 1942, Leytonstone, East London) - lead guitar
• Mick Thompson - rhythm guitar
• Jack Jones (born Jack Llewleyn Jones, 8 November 1944, Northampton, Northamptonshire) - drums
• Bob Garner (born Robert Anthony Garner, 15 May 1946, Warrington, Lancashire) - bass

Discography

Albums

• 1967 - We Are Paintermen (Hit-ton, issued in Germany, The Netherlands, France and Sweden only)
• 1999 - Power Surge (Creation)
• 2004 - Psychedelic Rose: The Great Lost Creation Album (Cherry Red)

Singles

• June 1966 - "Making Time" / "Try and Stop Me"
• October 1966 - "Painter Man" / " Biff Bang Pow"
• 1967 - "Cool Jerk" / "Life Is Just Beginning" (Germany only)
• June 1967 - "If I Stay Too Long" / "Nightmares"
• October 1967 - "Life is Just Beginning" / "Through My Eyes"
• February 1968 - "How Does it Feel to Feel" / "Tom Tom"
• May 1968 - "Midway Down" (John Wonderling/Los Shapiro) / "The Girls are Naked" (Pickett/Gardner/Jones) (Polydor 56246)
• Bonney Moroney (Larry Williams) b/w Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Larry Williams/Johnny Watson/Zawinul) (Germany only, Hit-ton HT 300210)
• 1968 "For All that I Am" (Friedland/Kahan) b/w "Uncle Bert" (Wood/Pickett/Gardner/Jones) (Hit-ton HT 300235, Germany)
• 1968 - "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" / "Uncle Bert" (Germany only)
• April 1987 - "A Spirit called Love" / "Making Time" / "Mumbo Jumbo" (12" EP)
• July 1994 - "Creation" / "Shock Horror" / "Power Surge" (CD single)
• July 2008 - "Red With Purple Flashes" (1 sided Promo - strictly limited 200 only Planet 240708)

Compilations and live albums

• 1968 - The Best of The Creation (Pop, issued in Germany and Sweden only)
• 1973 - Creation 66-67 (Charisma, 12" LP)
• 1973 - "Makin' Time" / "Painter Man" (7" single)
• 1975 - The Creation (UK collection)
• 1982 - The Mark Four/The Creation (Eva, German collection)
• 1982- How Does it Feel to Feel? (Edsel, 12" LP)
• 1984 - Recreation (Line, 12" LP)
• 1984 - We Are Paintermen (12" LP)
• 1984 - "Making Time" / "Little Bert" (Eva, 7" single)
• 1985 - Live at the Beat Scene Club (7" EP)
• 1993 - Lay the Ghost (Universal)
• 1994 - Painter Man (Edsel, UK budget collection)
• 1998 - Our Music Is Red - With Purple Flashes (Diablo, UK collection)
• 1998 - Complete Collection, Vol. 1: Making Time (Retroactive)
• 1998 - Complete Collection, Vol. 2: Biff Bang Pow (Retroactive)
• 2007 - The Singles Collection (Get Back Italy)

DVDs

• 2004 - Red with Purple Flashes: The Creation Live (Cherry Red)

References

External links

• The Creation at Allmusic
• Eddie Phillips interview: 1974 by Chris Hunt, published in Guitarist, 1988.
• Official Myspace profile
• Eddie Phillips Q And A - an interview with Phillips.