CREATION/EDDIE PHILLIPS INTERVIEW
Creation guitarist Eddie Phillips has added to his formidable legacy a new solo project, Woodstock Daze, in which he combines ambitious remakes of several Creation and Mark IV classics with duly inspired new material. Phillips discusses the highlights of that project and his work with the Creation and the Mark IV with Blitz Editor/Publisher Michael McDowell below. (Click on image to enlarge).
DREAMERS OF DREAMS: CREATION GUITARIST
EDDIE PHILLIPS DISCUSSES HIS NEW SOLO PROJECT
EDDIE PHILLIPS DISCUSSES HIS NEW SOLO PROJECT
“I think it’s great that kids aren’t all taken in by the manufactured crap that’s around nowadays and that some are digging back deeper to find out what’s behind it all.”
So said one time Mark Four guitarist, Creation co-founder and Leytonstone, East London native, Edwin Michael “Eddie” Phillips in an interview with W. Lynne Aldridge that appeared in the July - August 1982 issue of Blitz Magazine. Therein, Philips was making an observation about the ongoing interest in the music of the Creation, who at the time were in the middle of a protracted sabbatical.
In the three decades since that interview transpired, interest in the music of the Creation has continued unabated, with good reason. Over a two year period, the Creation released some of the most groundbreaking original material in all of music, with such landmarks of psychedelia and first generation garage rock as Making Time, Biff Bang Pow, If I Stay Too Long, Life Is Just Beginning, Painter Man, Midway Down and Uncle Bert among their numerous triumphs.
Formed in April 1966 from the remnants of the Mark Four, the Creation also featured the late Kenneth George “Kenny” Pickett as lead vocalist, plus bassist Robert Anthony “Bob” Garner (who succeeded Pickett as lead vocalist in June 1967, with Christopher “Kim” Gardner assuming bass duties) and drummer Jack Llewelyn Jones. Shortly before the band embarked upon a protracted sabbatical in June 1968, Phillips was succeeded as guitarist by Ronald David “Ronnie” Wood, who, like Gardner, had come to the Creation from the London-based Birds.
Immediately post-Creation, Phillips served briefly as guitarist for vocalist P.P. Arnold, while Gardner went on to form Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. Pickett enjoyed a brief tenure as front man of the Kennedy Express before again joining forces with Phillips as co-author of Teacher, Teacher for the Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe-led supergroup, Rockpile.
However, in the wake of the 1982 two-part feature in Blitz (which also included extensive dialogue with Pickett), interest in the Creation resumed in earnest, to the point that the band reunited on a permanent basis. Initially, Pickett and Phillips were joined by Kinks alumni John Dalton on bass and Mick Avory on drums, with one 1987 single (A Spirit Called Love) to their credit.
But by 1994, the definitive line up of Phillips, Pickett, Garner and Jones was back in action. Their triumphant celebration culminated in the 1996 Power Surge album. However, that triumph was short lived, with Pickett’s unexpected passing on 10 January 1997 from heart failure at age 54. Garner then returned to the lead vocalist slot, although early in the twenty-first century, both he and Jones again retired from the band.
With Phillips as the lone original member, the Creation has persevered to the present day. At present, he is joined by Simon Tourle (lead vocals), Tony Barber (bass) and Kevin Mann (drums). But with more than a half century of musical experience to his credit (which began in earnest for Phillips after attending a Buddy Holly concert in 1958), Phillips has decided the time has come to begin work on his memoirs.
In the interim, Phillips decided that a solo project was also in order, so that he might address in greater detail musically some of the highlights of his career. The resultant Woodstock Daze CD on the Deliverance Of Sound label was one of the most captivating releases of 2011. Therein, Phillips not only revisits the Mark Four’s I’m Leaving and Work All Day (Sleep All Night), as well as the Creation’s Biff Bang Pow, but also offered insight on various career highlights through such engaging originals as If I Ever Stop Moving (I’ll Fall Out Of The Sky), the self-analyzing PsychArelic, the relentlessly optimistic Dreamer Of Dreams and the Robert Johnson tribute, Waiting At The Crossroads.
“Things have been a bit crazy”, Phillips acknowledged. Nonetheless, the vaunted guitarist found time for the following exchange with Blitz in mid-January, in which he shared his observations on the ongoing impact of the Mark Four and the Creation, as well as the inspiration behind many of the highlights of the Woodstock Daze project.
BLITZ: Based upon the information in the accompanying sleeve notes, you are obviously the guitarist throughout the Woodstock Daze album. But to what extent is Simon Tourle involved as a vocalist? Do you share that responsibility with him in this project?
PHILIPS: Yes. Simon sang on Work All Day, Biff Bang Pow and I’m Leaving.
BLITZ: The notion of titling an album after the 1969 Woodstock festival in some respects seems to be paradoxical. Given that in many ways the societal and musical developments in vogue at the time were anathema to the work of bands such as Creation (who persevered and innovated on their own terms), the notion of viewing an event that in many ways personified the growing schism, conformity and elitism within the world of music seems curious and at best, a demonstration of a considerable amount of generosity on your part. As you said in the lyrics, love may have been all around. But it certainly was not evident in the frequent disregard shown for any outside perspective that was often demonstrated by its audience. You obviously recognized and articulated the contrast brilliantly in the superb Good Times. Your thoughts?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you are correct. Bands like the Creation pushed contemporary music to the limit, so Woodstock could happen. The reason I wrote this song was that Woodstock sits at the end of a remarkable and unique decade, the 1960s. I used it to try and encompass the whole thing.
You mentioned Good Times. The café in the lyrics really did exist. It was a second home for many musicians on the London scene, including myself. The café was called La Giogonda. That might ring a few bells if any old rockers are reading this!
BLITZ: If I Ever Stop Moving (I’ll Fall Out Of The Sky) seems in some respects to be a metaphor for your ongoing commitment to innovation. Given the relatively unproductive musical atmosphere that has characterized significant portions of the past few decades, has such resolve ever proven difficult for you?
PHILLIPS: It was always easy for me to get too far in front, trying to create trends. My workroom/studio is like a desolate battleground of wasted projects. Things that I tried, but never saw the light of day, because they were too way out and ahead of time.
The violin bow idea, which I started almost fifty years ago, still fascinates me, though. It now has been taken much further by composers writing for movies, using guitars built for that purpose. Having said that, I still enjoy using it on my Gibson 335, like in the solos on Woodstock Daze and PsychArelic!
BLITZ: Mr. X is a touching tribute to your fallen Creation colleague, Kenny Pickett. Given that much of your work was done in collaboration with him, what changes in procedure and or methodology did you find necessary to be able to persevere in a solo capacity?
PHILLIPS: Kenny was so good at lyrics that it was hard for me to work without him. I just had to learn to get ideas out of my head onto paper, a beer mat or whatever was handy. I had to work at it! But Kenny made it look so easy.
BLITZ: In many ways, the remake of the Creation's Biff Bang Pow stands on its own merits. At certain points, the new arrangement sounds as if it was being executed through the eyes and ears of Dave Edmunds. Was he an inspiration in the new version?
PHILLIPS: Well, though I like Dave Edmunds, he was not the inspiration for this version of Biff Bang Pow. I have always wanted to have another shot at it. So that is why it is on this album, even though I had to wait forty-odd years to do it!
BLITZ: In turn, your remake of the August 1965 Mark Four track, I'm Leaving incorporates the basic Elmore James/Howlin' Wolf template and processes it through the various fluctuations in tempo and instrumentation championed in the interim by the likes of the Yardbirds, Canned Heat, Cream and the Rolling Stones. Given that the format has enjoyed a generous amount of interpretation in that respect, did building upon it (which you nonetheless did quite well) present any particular challenges for you?
PHILLIPS: I’m Leaving was always a special song to me, because it was the first song I was able to use feedback on, around 1963 - 1964. But this time, we changed it quite a lot. The challenge was to find a good groove, which I think we did.
Instead of feedback, I used an E-Bow. A groovy gadget that will sustain a note for ages! I got this one from Shel Talmy in 1973.
BLITZ: The album closes with PsychArelic, which suggests that the battle for creative autonomy amongst musicians at large is not over yet. While your contributions in that respect with the Creation are more than obvious, how would you impart your wisdom and experience to the present fourth and fifth generation of like minded musicians who must deal with pursuing their own respective mission statements in what can comparatively be termed a post-literate society?
PHILLIPS: It must be hard now for young musicians to come up with something new. Many people say that it has all been done. But the truth is that it hasn’t. There is something new out there. Maybe a new way of doing old material. I don’t know.
But to every musician, whether you are a pro or you just like to play at home, just believe in yourself. Being involved with and playing music is fantastic. So cherish your talent. Stay cool!
So said one time Mark Four guitarist, Creation co-founder and Leytonstone, East London native, Edwin Michael “Eddie” Phillips in an interview with W. Lynne Aldridge that appeared in the July - August 1982 issue of Blitz Magazine. Therein, Philips was making an observation about the ongoing interest in the music of the Creation, who at the time were in the middle of a protracted sabbatical.
In the three decades since that interview transpired, interest in the music of the Creation has continued unabated, with good reason. Over a two year period, the Creation released some of the most groundbreaking original material in all of music, with such landmarks of psychedelia and first generation garage rock as Making Time, Biff Bang Pow, If I Stay Too Long, Life Is Just Beginning, Painter Man, Midway Down and Uncle Bert among their numerous triumphs.
Formed in April 1966 from the remnants of the Mark Four, the Creation also featured the late Kenneth George “Kenny” Pickett as lead vocalist, plus bassist Robert Anthony “Bob” Garner (who succeeded Pickett as lead vocalist in June 1967, with Christopher “Kim” Gardner assuming bass duties) and drummer Jack Llewelyn Jones. Shortly before the band embarked upon a protracted sabbatical in June 1968, Phillips was succeeded as guitarist by Ronald David “Ronnie” Wood, who, like Gardner, had come to the Creation from the London-based Birds.
Immediately post-Creation, Phillips served briefly as guitarist for vocalist P.P. Arnold, while Gardner went on to form Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. Pickett enjoyed a brief tenure as front man of the Kennedy Express before again joining forces with Phillips as co-author of Teacher, Teacher for the Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe-led supergroup, Rockpile.
However, in the wake of the 1982 two-part feature in Blitz (which also included extensive dialogue with Pickett), interest in the Creation resumed in earnest, to the point that the band reunited on a permanent basis. Initially, Pickett and Phillips were joined by Kinks alumni John Dalton on bass and Mick Avory on drums, with one 1987 single (A Spirit Called Love) to their credit.
But by 1994, the definitive line up of Phillips, Pickett, Garner and Jones was back in action. Their triumphant celebration culminated in the 1996 Power Surge album. However, that triumph was short lived, with Pickett’s unexpected passing on 10 January 1997 from heart failure at age 54. Garner then returned to the lead vocalist slot, although early in the twenty-first century, both he and Jones again retired from the band.
With Phillips as the lone original member, the Creation has persevered to the present day. At present, he is joined by Simon Tourle (lead vocals), Tony Barber (bass) and Kevin Mann (drums). But with more than a half century of musical experience to his credit (which began in earnest for Phillips after attending a Buddy Holly concert in 1958), Phillips has decided the time has come to begin work on his memoirs.
In the interim, Phillips decided that a solo project was also in order, so that he might address in greater detail musically some of the highlights of his career. The resultant Woodstock Daze CD on the Deliverance Of Sound label was one of the most captivating releases of 2011. Therein, Phillips not only revisits the Mark Four’s I’m Leaving and Work All Day (Sleep All Night), as well as the Creation’s Biff Bang Pow, but also offered insight on various career highlights through such engaging originals as If I Ever Stop Moving (I’ll Fall Out Of The Sky), the self-analyzing PsychArelic, the relentlessly optimistic Dreamer Of Dreams and the Robert Johnson tribute, Waiting At The Crossroads.
“Things have been a bit crazy”, Phillips acknowledged. Nonetheless, the vaunted guitarist found time for the following exchange with Blitz in mid-January, in which he shared his observations on the ongoing impact of the Mark Four and the Creation, as well as the inspiration behind many of the highlights of the Woodstock Daze project.
BLITZ: Based upon the information in the accompanying sleeve notes, you are obviously the guitarist throughout the Woodstock Daze album. But to what extent is Simon Tourle involved as a vocalist? Do you share that responsibility with him in this project?
PHILIPS: Yes. Simon sang on Work All Day, Biff Bang Pow and I’m Leaving.
BLITZ: The notion of titling an album after the 1969 Woodstock festival in some respects seems to be paradoxical. Given that in many ways the societal and musical developments in vogue at the time were anathema to the work of bands such as Creation (who persevered and innovated on their own terms), the notion of viewing an event that in many ways personified the growing schism, conformity and elitism within the world of music seems curious and at best, a demonstration of a considerable amount of generosity on your part. As you said in the lyrics, love may have been all around. But it certainly was not evident in the frequent disregard shown for any outside perspective that was often demonstrated by its audience. You obviously recognized and articulated the contrast brilliantly in the superb Good Times. Your thoughts?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you are correct. Bands like the Creation pushed contemporary music to the limit, so Woodstock could happen. The reason I wrote this song was that Woodstock sits at the end of a remarkable and unique decade, the 1960s. I used it to try and encompass the whole thing.
You mentioned Good Times. The café in the lyrics really did exist. It was a second home for many musicians on the London scene, including myself. The café was called La Giogonda. That might ring a few bells if any old rockers are reading this!
BLITZ: If I Ever Stop Moving (I’ll Fall Out Of The Sky) seems in some respects to be a metaphor for your ongoing commitment to innovation. Given the relatively unproductive musical atmosphere that has characterized significant portions of the past few decades, has such resolve ever proven difficult for you?
PHILLIPS: It was always easy for me to get too far in front, trying to create trends. My workroom/studio is like a desolate battleground of wasted projects. Things that I tried, but never saw the light of day, because they were too way out and ahead of time.
The violin bow idea, which I started almost fifty years ago, still fascinates me, though. It now has been taken much further by composers writing for movies, using guitars built for that purpose. Having said that, I still enjoy using it on my Gibson 335, like in the solos on Woodstock Daze and PsychArelic!
BLITZ: Mr. X is a touching tribute to your fallen Creation colleague, Kenny Pickett. Given that much of your work was done in collaboration with him, what changes in procedure and or methodology did you find necessary to be able to persevere in a solo capacity?
PHILLIPS: Kenny was so good at lyrics that it was hard for me to work without him. I just had to learn to get ideas out of my head onto paper, a beer mat or whatever was handy. I had to work at it! But Kenny made it look so easy.
BLITZ: In many ways, the remake of the Creation's Biff Bang Pow stands on its own merits. At certain points, the new arrangement sounds as if it was being executed through the eyes and ears of Dave Edmunds. Was he an inspiration in the new version?
PHILLIPS: Well, though I like Dave Edmunds, he was not the inspiration for this version of Biff Bang Pow. I have always wanted to have another shot at it. So that is why it is on this album, even though I had to wait forty-odd years to do it!
BLITZ: In turn, your remake of the August 1965 Mark Four track, I'm Leaving incorporates the basic Elmore James/Howlin' Wolf template and processes it through the various fluctuations in tempo and instrumentation championed in the interim by the likes of the Yardbirds, Canned Heat, Cream and the Rolling Stones. Given that the format has enjoyed a generous amount of interpretation in that respect, did building upon it (which you nonetheless did quite well) present any particular challenges for you?
PHILLIPS: I’m Leaving was always a special song to me, because it was the first song I was able to use feedback on, around 1963 - 1964. But this time, we changed it quite a lot. The challenge was to find a good groove, which I think we did.
Instead of feedback, I used an E-Bow. A groovy gadget that will sustain a note for ages! I got this one from Shel Talmy in 1973.
BLITZ: The album closes with PsychArelic, which suggests that the battle for creative autonomy amongst musicians at large is not over yet. While your contributions in that respect with the Creation are more than obvious, how would you impart your wisdom and experience to the present fourth and fifth generation of like minded musicians who must deal with pursuing their own respective mission statements in what can comparatively be termed a post-literate society?
PHILLIPS: It must be hard now for young musicians to come up with something new. Many people say that it has all been done. But the truth is that it hasn’t. There is something new out there. Maybe a new way of doing old material. I don’t know.
But to every musician, whether you are a pro or you just like to play at home, just believe in yourself. Being involved with and playing music is fantastic. So cherish your talent. Stay cool!
posted by BlitzMagazine at 11:34 AM
<< Home