The Creation
The Creation were an English psychedelic rock band formed in 1966 by Kenny Pickett on vocals, Eddie Phillips on lead guitar, Mick Thompson on rhythm guitar, Jack Jones on drums and Bob Garner on bass. (The first four mentioned had been in Mark Four, accompanied by John Dalton who had left to join The Kinks. 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-60s psychedelic/prog sound. The most popular Creation tune up to this day remains probably "Painter Man", which made the U.K. Top 40 late 1966 and hit even #8 in the German charts in April 1967. The song also featured, in the second half, lead guitarist Phillips's trademark of playing his instrument with a violin bow. At the end of 1966, Bob Garner left and was replaced by Kim Gardner and, in March 1968, Pickett left and was replaced by Ron Wood (both of these new members had been in The Birds), but Pickett soon returned, replacing both Phillips and Gardner. Only The Who were creating such venomous guitar pop at this time and (it is reputed) that Pete Townshend of The Who was so impressed with the innovate guitar style of Eddie Phillips he asked him to join the Who as a second guitarist but he turned the Who down (!) presumably because he felt confident and did not want to play second fiddle. Shortly afterwards, however, The Creation disbanded; Pickett continued as songwriter for their American producer, Shel Talmy, and also became American road manager for Led Zeppelin; Ron Wood joined The Faces; Gardner co-formed Ashton, Gardner & Dyke and was later a member of Badger; Jones became a cabaret singer. Pickett and Phillips later wrote the single "Teacher Teacher" for Rockpile. The Creation reformed in the mid 1980s with Phillips, Pickett, Dalton, and Mick Avory (drums, ex-Kinks). Pickett died of a heart attack on January 10, 1997. The reformed band continued to tour, with various lineup changes. They performed in the United States for the first time at the final edition of Cavestomp in November, 2001. The famous independent record label Creation Records was named after them. The founder of Creation Records, Alan McGee, also had a band named Biff Bang Pow!, named after one of their songs.