Biography
In Japan's volatile psychedelic rock landscape of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Blues Creation emerged abruptly only to vanish with equal speed, surpassing most peers in brevity. Guitarist Kazuo Takeda, whose prior stints performing across Europe and America had exposed him directly to the crushing force of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, assembled the band. Its first incarnation featured vocalist Fumio Nunoya, bassist Takayuki Noji, and drummer Shinichi Tashiro, and this lineup delivered a self-titled 1969 debut devoted to dense blues covers—an approach later echoed by Flower Travellin' Band. Takeda soon rebuilt the group around vocalist Hiromi Osawa, bassist Masashi Saeki, and drummer Akiyuki Higuchi. Their 1971 effort, Demon & Eleven Children, delivered raw proto-metallic acid rock that would earn retrospective cult acclaim. That same year Blues Creation also backed singer Carmen Maki on the album billed as Carmen Maki & Blues Creation and captured a loose performance on the concert release Blues Creation Live. Takeda then dissolved the band, relocated to London, formed friendships with American hard rockers including Mountain, and toured Japan with them in 1975. Leading a new power trio simply called Creation, he recorded a string of albums extending into the early 1980s: Creation in 1975, Felix Pappalardi & Creation in 1976 (tracked with its namesake in Nantucket), Pure Electric Soul in 1977, Super Rock in the Highest Voltage in 1978, Lonely Heart in 1981, and Rock City in 1982. Takeda continued live work, session playing and production, and issued more than twenty solo albums, yet the brief explosive run of Blues Creation remains the most prominent entry on his extensive résumé.