Creation (Japanese: クリエイション, Hepburn: Kurieishon) is a Japanese rock band led by guitarist/singer Kazuo Takeda. Formed as Blues Creation (ブルース・クリエイション, Burūsu Kurieishon) in Tokyo in January 1969, they were the country's first blues band before adopting a more blues rock sound in 1971. That year, they simultaneously released the albums Demon & Eleven Children and Carmen Maki/Blues Creation, the latter being a collaboration with female vocalist Carmen Maki. Both albums have been credited with pioneering Japanese rock. After briefly disbanding, the band returned as simply Creation in 1972. They continued to tour, including becoming the first Japanese band to tour the United States,[1] and produce albums until 1984.
History
Blues Creation (1969–1972)
Blues Creation was formed in January 1969 by guitarists Kazuo Takeda and Koh Eiryu and singer Fumio Nunoya following the dissolution of their group sounds band The Bickies (ザ・ビッキーズ).[2] Takeda said the band was formed to fulfill his desire to play nothing but blues, and as such, proclaimed that they were the first Japanese blues band.[3] Because of this, he wanted the band's name to have the word "blues" in it. He also did not want to have an "s" at the end of the name like most bands of the time. "Creation" was chosen simply because he liked the sound of the word.[3] With most members just 16- or 17-years-old, Blues Creation took a train to Hachinohe on January 1, 1969, to conduct their first, month-long tour.[3]
Although general Japanese audiences did not listen to the blues, Blues Creation gained some respect from people in the music industry after they started gigging in Shinjuku.[3] After seeing them play live, the producer of The Tigers signed them to Polydor Records and they began recording their first album after only three months together as a band.[3] Takeda said that Japanese record labels at the time were searching for something new; "A band that would play a new type of music and we were there. We were at the right time, at the right place with enough [mystique] around us and the label decided to give it a go."[3] Blues Creation released their self-titled debut album in October 1969. It consists entirely of American blues covers,[2] including "Checkin' Up on My Baby", "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Spoonful" and "All Your Love". Takeda estimated that it was recorded in only two days, around 16 hours in total.[3] After its release, the band went through a number of lineup changes, including the departures of Nunoya and drummer Shinichi Tashiro.[3] Nunoya later said, "We couldn't really play! (laughs) I wanted to do stuff that was more out there.", and went on to form a band called Dew.[4] After Tashiro introduced the band to his replacement Masayuki Higuchi in late 1970 or early 1971, the band gradually changed to a more blues rock style and Takeda started writing original songs.[3]
With Hiromi Ohsawa on vocals and Masashi Saeki on bass, Blues Creation signed to Nippon Columbia's Denon label, and Takeda said their producer gave them a lot of freedom to record.[3][5] August 1971 saw the simultaneous release of Demon & Eleven Children and Carmen Maki/Blues Creation. Recorded in immediate succession, the former is the band's first album of original material and the latter is a collaboration with female vocalist Carmen Maki.[3] According to Takeda, former folk singer Maki had gotten to know Blues Creation in early 1971, and when her record contract expired, every major record label was trying to sign her, but she turned them all down in order to play rock music.[3] Nippon Columbia was one of these desperate to sign the singer, so Takeda and company picked material from Maki's daily listening records and wrote some original songs for her.[6] Tomoyuki Hokari of OK Music has cited both Demon & Eleven Children and Carmen Maki/Blues Creation as having laid the foundation for Japanese rock.[7][8]AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia writes that the former album achieved "legendary status" decades later for its "primal, proto-metallicacid rock".[5] Takeda said that Blues Creation played so many gigs and rock festivals between 1970 and 1971, that everyone in the band was burned out by the summer of 1971.[3] They disbanded at the end of the year.[3] Higuchi quickly formed the band Oz with Maki. Takeda formed the short-lived power trio Bloody Circus with bassist Shigeru Matsumoto and drummer Masami Naito (who later joined Carmen Maki & Oz in 1975), before moving to London, England.[3]
Creation (1972–present)
Takeda returned to Japan after about six months, and formed a three-piece called simply Creation with Matsumoto and Higuchi in 1972.[3] They recruited second guitarist Yoshiaki Iijima and continuously played and wrote material for the next three years, before releasing a self-titled album in 1975 that was produced by Yuya Uchida and featured a cover photo of a dozen nude boys full-frontal urinating.[2][3][6] After having opened for his band Mountain in 1973 and playing with him at a 1975 festival, Takeda befriended American bassist Felix Pappalardi.[3] Pappalardi ended up helping Creation with their second album and invited them to his Nantucket, Massachusetts home, where they recorded together at New York’s Bearsville Studios.[3] Pappalardi became a lead singer of the band,[3] with songs being written mostly by him, his wife Gail Collins Pappalardi and Takeda. The resulting album, Creation/Felix Pappalardi, was released in April 1976, and together they toured the US.[3] The concerts included acts such as Kiss, Yes and Johnny Winter, while the following year's tour of Australia featured Fleetwood Mac and Santana.[1] Creation then released the album Pure Electric Soul in 1977, once again featuring a cover with nude boys at the front of a bus.[2] It was ranked number 62 on Rolling Stone Japan's 2007 list of the greatest Japanese rock albums of all time,[9] while its song "Spinning Toe-Hold" was named the 37th best guitar instrumental by Young Guitar Magazine in 2019.[10]
Creation's April 1981 single "Lonely Heart" was used as the ending theme song of the TV show Pro Hunter and became a nationwide hit, reaching number 8 on the Oricon Singles Chart and selling nearly 380,000 copies in 29 weeks.[11] It was also the first release where their name was spelled "クリエーション" in Japanese.
Kazuo Takeda has released many solo albums and works as a session guitarist in Los Angeles after moving there in March 1997.[1] He attributes his further musical development to his friendship with Pappalardi who encouraged him to branch out into jazz and other styles. Takeda produced Hong Kong bluesman Tommy Chung's 2006 album Play My Blues. In 2008, Blues Creation reunited for a one-night only concert in Tokyo.[3] Creation released Resurrection, its first album in 30 years, in 2014.[11] As of 2023, Takeda returns to Japan once a year.[1]
