Even by the flash-in-the-pan standards of Japan’s turbulent late-‘60s/early-70s post-Group Sounds psychedelic rock scene, Blues Creation seemed to come out of nowhere and head right back there again faster than most anyone else. Like many of its contemporaries, Blues Creation was launched by a budding Japanese guitar hero whose mind had been effectively blown by the deafeningly heavy sounds of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath — this being Kazuo Takeda, who had actually already spent some time playing in Europe and America, and was therefore a first-hand witness to the sonic events that spawned heavy metal’s birth. But before going down that road, Takeda and his chosen Blues Creation bandmates, Fumio Nunoya (vocals), Takayuki Noji (bass), and Shinichi Tashiro (drums), recorded an eponymous 1969 debut filled with heavy-handed blues covers (a strategy copied by Flower Travellin’ Band just one year later), as befit their chosen moniker. But Takeda would soon have his stylistic rethink and scrap everything for a new lineup consisting of Hiromi Osawa (vocals), Masashi Saeki (bass), and Akiyuki Higuchi (drums), returning in 1971 with Blues Creation’s most legendary artifact, the cryptically named sophomore LP, Demon & Eleven Children, which was awash in primal, proto-metallic acid rock. The album would only achieve legendary status decades later, though, and so the rest of that year found a multi-tasking Blues Creation recording another album backing singer Carmen Maki (billed as Carmen Maki & Blues Creation), as well as a jam-happy concert document entitled simply Blues Creation Live. And then there was…silence; and by the very next year Takeda had decided to break up the band and move back to London, where he befriended American hard rockers Mountain (among others), and duly returned to Japan for a tour with them in 1975. Now leading a new power trio billed only as Creation, he recorded several albums well into the early ’80s, including 1975’s Creation, 1976’s Felix Pappalardi & Creation (recorded with the man himself in Nantucket), 1977’s Pure Electric Soul, 1978’s Super Rock in the Highest Voltage, 1981’s Lonely Heart, and 1982’s Rock City. In the aftermath, Takeda continued to perform live, work sessions as a musician and producer, and released more than 20 solo albums, but it’s arguably still Blues Creation’s brief but volcanic existence that headlines his impressive CV.
You may also like
36 views
2 min read
66 views
2 min read
Categories
- * Documentaries13
- * Full Albums98
- * Histories6
- * Live Concerts19
- * MusicBox Selections12
- 10cc9
- 13th Floor Elevators3
- 9.30 Fly5
- Al Green1
- Al Stewart1
- Alan Parsons Project4
- Albert King1
- Allman Brothers Band5
- Alpay4
- America3
- Amon Düül II1
- Animals2
- Aretha Franklin7
- Arlo Guthrie1
- Atomic Rooster4
- Axe1
- Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation3
- Aziz Azmet1
- B.B. King1
- Babe Ruth2
- Bad Company2
- Badfinger4
- Barclay James Harvest7
- Bards of the Barleycorn4
- Barry McGuire1
- Beatles28
- Beggars Opera1
- Big Mama Thornton1
- Bill Quick1
- Birth Control1
- Black Sabbath4
- Blind Faith1
- Blodwyn Pig1
- Blue Öyster Cult3
- Blue Sun4
- Blues Creation3
- Bob Dylan7
- Bob Marley2
- Bob Theil2
- Bobby Womack1
- Bonnie Raitt1
- Boz Scaggs1
- Buddy Guy1
- Buffalo Springfield1
- Byrds4
- Cactus2
- Camel15
- Can2
- Canned Heat1
- Captain Beefheart3
- Caravan7
- Cat Stevens13
- Cem Karaca3
- Chicken Shack1
- Cockney Rebel1
- Collectors1
- Corpus4
- Country Joe & The Fish2
- Crazy Horse2
- Cream7
- Creedence Clearwater Revival5
- Crosby Stills Nash & Young15
- Curved Air3
- Dando Shaft4
- Dave Sinclair1
- David Bowie8
- Deep Purple9
- Derek And The Dominos9
- Dire Straits2
- Donny Hathaway3
- Donovan3
- Druid2
- Druids Of Stonehenge1
- Duane Allman4
- Edgar Broughton Band4
- Eloy3
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer10
- Eric Bibb2
- Eric Burdon3
- Eric Clapton8
- Etta James1
- Fairport Convention8
- Fever Tree1
- Fikret Kızılok2
- Fire2
- Flamin' Groovies2
- Flash2
- Fleetwood Mac3
- Focus4
- Frame2
- Frank Zappa2
- Free9
- Fruupp4
- Gandalf2
- Genesis19
- Gentle Giant9
- George Harrison3
- Gillian Welch2
- Grateful Dead12
- Grave2
- Gregg Allman1
- Guess Who3
- Guru Guru1
- Guy Davis1
- Gypsy5
- H.P. Lovecraft2
- Hatfield and the North2
- Holy Mackerel4
- Home9
- Hot Tuna3
- Howlin' Wolf2
- Høst1
- Humble Pie9
- Iggy Pop2
- Illusion1
- Incredible String Band2
- Iron Butterfly3
- It's a Beautiful Day10
- J.F. Murphy & Salt1
- J.J. Cale2
- Jade4
- James3
- James Carr1
- James Cotton1
- James Gang4
- Jan Akkerman4
- Jane4
- Janis Joplin9
- Janus1
- Jeff Beck1
- Jefferson Airplane8
- Jethro Tull21
- Jim Croce2
- Jimi Hendrix1
- Joan Baez2
- Joe Bonamassa1
- John Lee Hooker8
- John Lennon4
- John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers3
- John Mayall with Peter Green1
- Joni Mitchell4
- Jorma Kaukonen4
- Kaleidoscope UK1
- Kaleidoscope US3
- Keef Hartley Band3
- Keith Richards2
- Killing Floor2
- Kin Ping Meh2
- King Crimson18
- Krokodil1
- Lafayette Afro Rock Band1
- Larry Carlton1
- Led Zeppelin15
- Leonard Cohen16
- Lighthouse1
- Lightnin' Hopkin3
- Linn County1
- Livin` Blues2
- Lou Reed6
- Love6
- Love Sculpture3
- Luther Allison1
- Lynyrd Skynyrd3
- Magna Carta13
- Maria Muldaur1
- Marianne Faithfull5
- Marillion8
- Marmalade3
- Mason Proffit1
- Matthews Southern Comfort1
- Mississippi John Hurt2
- Moby Grape4
- Modlin & Scott1
- Moğollar2
- Moody Blues9
- Morning Dew4
- Mother Earth3
- Mountain5
- Muddy Waters3
- National Health1
- Nazareth2
- Neil Young9
- New Inspiration1
- New York Rock & Roll Ensemble7
- Nick Cave3
- Nick Drake4
- Nico1
- Nina Simone1
- Norman Greenbaum1
- Novalis1
- O.P.M.C.12
- Oliver1
- Omega3
- Open Mind3
- Out of Focus2
- Patti Smith16
- Paul Kossoff1
- Pavlov's Dog6
- Pearls Before Swine7
- Peter Gabriel3
- Peter Green2
- Peter Hammill29
- Pink Floyd24
- Presence3
- Pretty Things2
- Procol Harum5
- Queen3
- Quicksilver Messenger Service12
- R.E.M.9
- Rainbow7
- Rainman1
- Rare Bird5
- Raw Material2
- Renaissance4
- Richie Havens1
- Robben Ford1
- Robert Plant3
- Robert Wyatt3
- Rod Stewart3
- Roger Waters10
- Rolling Stones35
- Rory Gallagher22
- Ross2
- Roy Harper2
- Rush2
- Ry Cooder1
- Sacred Mushroom2
- Santana2
- Satin Whale2
- Savage Rose3
- Savoy Brown1
- Scorpions1
- Scott McKenzie1
- Search Party1
- Serpent Power3
- Shocking Blue3
- Simon & Garfunkel10
- Sixto Rodriguez6
- Small Faces1
- Soft Machine1
- Sonny & Cher2
- Spencer Davis Group1
- Spirogyra12
- Spooky Tooth4
- Starcastle1
- Steamhammer2
- Steeleye Span2
- Steely Dan3
- Steppenwolf5
- Steve Hackett3
- Stevie Ray Vaughan4
- Stomu Yamashta1
- Supertramp8
- Sweet Smoke1
- Synanthesia1
- T-Bone Walker1
- Taj Mahal1
- Taste1
- Tear Gas1
- Ten Years After3
- The Band3
- The Doors13
- The Fox1
- The Who3
- Them2
- Three Dog Night3
- Tia Blake3
- Tim Buckley6
- Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers1
- Tom Waits10
- Tommy Bolin1
- Too Much5
- Traffic8
- Trapeze3
- Traveling Wilburys9
- Trees5
- Tudor Lodge3
- Tülay German5
- Üç Hürel1
- Uriah Heep12
- Van Der Graaf Generator14
- Van Morrison12
- Vashti Bunyan2
- Velvet Underground6
- War2
- Wind in the Willows1
- Wishbone Ash5
- Yardbirds1
- Yes6
- Yonin Bayashi1
- Young Rascals1
Facebook Page

Add comment