The Creation - Ostrich Man (1968)

The Creation were formed from the ashes of the beat group The Mark Four, who operated in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire between 1963 and 1966. By late 1963 The Mark Four was a quintet consisting of Kenny Pickett (vocals), Eddie Phillips (guitars), Mick "Spud" Thompson (rhythm guitars), John Dalton (bass), and Jack Jones (drums), and this line-up played regularly in the UK and in Germany, before issuing two non-charting singles on Mercury Records in 1964, 'Rock Around The Clock' and 'Try It Baby'. Dalton then left the band, later joining The Kinks as a replacement for Pete Quaife, and was replaced by new bassist Tony Cooke. Around the same time, Thompson left and was not replaced, and this new four-piece line-up issued two further non-charting singles in 'Hurt Me If You Will' and 'Work All Day (Sleep All Night)'. In April 1966 the group signed a management deal with Tony Stratton-Smith, who promptly suggested replacing Cooke with new bassist Bob Garner, and also asked they change their name. The band took him up on both suggestions, and Pickett came up with the name The Creation, based on a reference he found in a book of Russian poetry. The band's style at this point was loud art pop, similar to early records by The Who, and their first single under the new name was the Pickett/Phillips original 'Making Time', which was the first recording to feature an electric guitar being played with a violin bow, predating the more famous solos by Jimmy Page by some years. The single reached No. 49 on the UK chart, but almost immediately the band suffered another line-up change when Jack Jones was fired and replaced by new drummer Dave Preston, although he was quickly reinstated after the band decided they were unsatisfied with Preston's live work. 

Their next single was released in October 1966, and the more pop-orientated 'Painter Man' became their biggest hit, reaching No. 36 on the UK chart, and breaking the top 10 in Germany. The band took their pop art experimentation even further, with Pickett spray-painting a canvas during their concerts, before a member of the road crew would set fire to the artwork on stage. 'Painter Man' was the last single issued by the original line-up, with Kim Gardner being brought in as their new bassist, and former bassist Bob Garner taking over the lead vocal slot, leaving Kenny Pickett out of the group. This line-up issued its first single in June 1967, but 'If I Stay Too Long'/'Nightmares' was not a success in the UK, although it did well in Germany, and so the band released 'Tom Tom' as a follow-up just in Germany, with their commercial momentum in that country being so strong that an album called 'We Are Paintermen' was released in mid 1967 for the German and continental European market, compiled from previously issued singles and several newly recorded songs. The band tried to break the US market by releasing four singles during late 1966 and 1967, but none of them met with any success, although they continued to remain popular in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. At the end of 1967 they released 'Life Is Just Beginning' in the UK, but almost immediately afterwards guitarist Eddie Phillips announced his departure, and although he was replaced for several European tour dates by guitarist Tony Ollard, within a matter of weeks vocalist Bob Garner also quit the group, and by February 1968 The Creation had officially ceased to exist. 

However, demand was still strong in continental Europe for Creation records and live shows, and almost immediately after the band disbanded, drummer Jack Jones formed a new Creation line-up, bringing back Kenny Pickett as singer and Kim Gardner as bass player, and bringing in his old bandmate from The Birds, Ronnie Wood on guitar. This line-up debuted with the single 'Midway Down', which was released in the UK and Germany in April 1968, but shortly afterwards the band splintered again, and this time it was for good. 'Bonney Moroney' (sic) and 'For All That I Am' were issued as posthumous singles in Germany in 1968, and that was the end of the band. Despite their early demise and lack of hits, The Creation posthumously became highly influential, acknowledged as an inspiration by Paul Weller, Ride, Pete Townshend, and The Sex Pistols, while Alan McGee named his massively successful record label Creation after them, and took 'Biff Bang Pow!' as the name for his own band. For this album I've gathered together all the singles and b-sides that didn't appear on the 'We Are Paintermen' album, as that record is well worth seeking out in its own right, and I've added in a few previously unreleased recordings that have since surfaced on the many retrospectives, plus a couple of live takes, in particular the full length version of 'That's How Strong My Love Is'. If you have this album plus 'We Are Paintermen', then you have everything that the band recorded in their short career, and yet they influenced so many bands that it's hard to believe that this is their entire recorded output. 

Track listing

01 Instrumental #1 (previously unreleased 1966)
02 Life Is Just Beginning (single 1967)
03 Ostrich Man (previously unreleased)
04 I'm A Man (previously unreleased live recording 1966)
05 Midway Down (single 1968)
06 The Girls Are Naked (b-side of 'Midway Down')
07 Sweet Helen (previously unreleased 1968)
08 Bonney Moroney (German single 1968)
09 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (b-side of 'Boney Moronie')
10 Sylvette (previously unreleased full take 1966)
11 Life Is Just Beginning (longer un-orchestrated version 1967)
12 For All That I Am (German single 1968)
13 Uncle Bert (b-side of 'For All That I Am')
14 That's How Strong My Love Is (previously unreleased live recording) 
15 I Am The Walker (previously unreleased)