Blues Creation (band)
Encyclopedia
Blues Creation was a Japan
ese hard rock
band from the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s.
.
In 1969 Blues Creation made a self-titled album of American blues
covers, featuring songs written by Sonny Boy Williamson
, Memphis Slim
, Chester Burnett, J. Mayall
-E. Clapton
, Blind Willie Johnson
, Willie Dixon
and Otis Rush
. In August 1971 they released their original debut Demon & Eleven Children, and also released Carmen Maki & Blues Creation, which had the band fronted by female vocalist Carmen Maki. Each Blues Creation album other than their debut features songs written by Takeda and consists of a constantly shifting lineup. In late 1971 Blues Creation released their final album, Blues Creation Live.
Next was the 1975 self-titled Creation, featuring a new stable lineup and a cover photo of a dozen nude boys full-frontal peeing. Creation toured Japan
with American hard rock band Mountain
. Mountain broke up soon after their Japanese tour, and partly due to hearing loss from playing so loud, bassist Felix Pappalardi
focused on producing other bands.
Pappalardi decided to help Creation work on their next album and invited the band to his Nantucket, Massachusetts
home for two months of rehearsals. Over that time the project transformed into a musical collaboration with songs being written mostly by Pappalardi, his wife Gail Collins Pappalardi
and Takeda. The album recorded at New York’s Bearsville Studios was released in April 1976 as Creation with Felix Pappalardi. Creation released a final live album Pure Electric Soul in 1977, once again featuring a cover with nude boys at the front of a bus.
Kazuo Takeda has released more than 20 solo albums including 1978's Super Rock in the Highest Voltage. He now works as a session guitarist in Los Angeles
. Takeda attributes his further musical development to his friendship with Pappalardi who encouraged him to branch out into Jazz
and other styles. He occasionally still plays live in Asia with former Creation drummer Masayuki Higuchi, and most recently produced Hong Kong's premier bluesman Tommy Chung's album Play My Blues (2006).
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band from the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s.
Biography
Blues Creation was the brainchild of guitarist/singer Kazuo Takeda. They were known as Blues Creation from 1969–1972 and after a three year hiatus returned as just Creation in 1975, not to be confused with the mid-60's British blues pop band known as The CreationThe Creation (band)
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...
.
In 1969 Blues Creation made a self-titled album of American blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
covers, featuring songs written by Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson may refer to either of two 20th-century American blues harmonica players, who both recorded in Chicago:*Sonny Boy Williamson I , John Lee Curtis Williamson, "The Original Sonny Boy Williamson", born in Tennessee and associated with Bluebird Records *Sonny Boy Williamson II ,...
, Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...
, Chester Burnett, J. Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
-E. Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie Johnson
"Blind" Willie Johnson was an American singer and guitarist, whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals....
, Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
and Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
. In August 1971 they released their original debut Demon & Eleven Children, and also released Carmen Maki & Blues Creation, which had the band fronted by female vocalist Carmen Maki. Each Blues Creation album other than their debut features songs written by Takeda and consists of a constantly shifting lineup. In late 1971 Blues Creation released their final album, Blues Creation Live.
Next was the 1975 self-titled Creation, featuring a new stable lineup and a cover photo of a dozen nude boys full-frontal peeing. Creation toured Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with American hard rock band Mountain
Mountain (band)
Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...
. Mountain broke up soon after their Japanese tour, and partly due to hearing loss from playing so loud, bassist Felix Pappalardi
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
focused on producing other bands.
Pappalardi decided to help Creation work on their next album and invited the band to his Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...
home for two months of rehearsals. Over that time the project transformed into a musical collaboration with songs being written mostly by Pappalardi, his wife Gail Collins Pappalardi
Gail Collins Pappalardi
-Biography:She was wife of the late Felix Pappalardi. She contributed lyrics to many Mountain songs and co-wrote Cream's "World of Pain" with Pappalardi and "Strange Brew" with Pappalardi and Eric Clapton...
and Takeda. The album recorded at New York’s Bearsville Studios was released in April 1976 as Creation with Felix Pappalardi. Creation released a final live album Pure Electric Soul in 1977, once again featuring a cover with nude boys at the front of a bus.
Kazuo Takeda has released more than 20 solo albums including 1978's Super Rock in the Highest Voltage. He now works as a session guitarist in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Takeda attributes his further musical development to his friendship with Pappalardi who encouraged him to branch out into Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and other styles. He occasionally still plays live in Asia with former Creation drummer Masayuki Higuchi, and most recently produced Hong Kong's premier bluesman Tommy Chung's album Play My Blues (2006).
Blues Creation
- Blues Creation (1969 Polydor)
- Demon & Eleven Children (1971 Denon RecordsDenon RecordsDenon Records was a Japanese record label owned by Denon, distributed by A&M Records from 1990 through 1992. This was a reissue program that included 390 jazz and classical music titles that were issued on compact disc.-Artists:*Eliane Elias*Peter Erskine...
) - Carmen Maki & Blues Creation (1971 Coca Records)
- Blues Creation Live (1971)
Creation
- Creation aka: Chestnut Thornback Shaun (1975 EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
/ToshibaToshibais a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
) - Creation with Felix Pappalardi (1976 EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
/ToshibaToshibais a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
) - Pure Electric Soul (1977 EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
/ToshibaToshibais a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
) - Pacific Rock Creation and Little River Band (1977)
- Super Rock in the Highest Voltage (1978)
- The Super Best (1978)
- Lonely Heart (1981)
- Rock City (1982)
- Best of (1989)
