The Creation
We Are Paintermen

There is no gesture more noble than acting in support of what urgently needs help, yet remaining in the shadows; giving one's substantial contribution, but without anyone knowing it, except for a few lucky ones. Those lucky to know such a gentlemanly and kind soul.
Usually, in these cases, being showy often involves a hidden agenda. For example, I quote those governments that exploit dramatic situations, yes, helping, but with the (only?) greater interest of profiting, if not in money, then in popularity and approval.
In short, the gesture of the winner of the "meager" 5+1 is far nobler, who, remaining anonymous, donates 80, 90%, the entire prize of his winnings to charity.
The Creation, in this sense, were decidedly noble: they participated in the development of the psychedelic sound, not anonymously - as at the time, they received a decent success thanks to their live performances and a handful of fortunate singles - but without nevertheless receiving the recognition and fortune that were rightfully theirs and which they would have deserved endlessly, up to the present day. Instead, today, they are practically forgotten and are never listed alongside other luxury bands belonging more or less to the same culture, the same era, the same movement. In the group photo, they are among the best but hidden by the taller ones, damn it.

[¹] Last week I went to one of my trusted record stores to see if I could find one of their vinyl records, and when I asked about it at the counter, I felt like I got the "response": "How do you spell it? 'Cre-ation' like 'cre-action'?" - Yes. - "What genre do they play?"

Their style embraced various genres, from rhythm and blues (Cool Jerk) to rock 'n' roll (Try and Stop Me), passing through garage, psychedelia, and "power-pop" surrounded by the first noise cries (How Does It Feel to Feel, no less than 1967).

They were heavily influenced by the contemporary sounds of the early Who, Kinks, and so on, however, their sound not too rarely abandoned a certain mod derivativism (Can I Join Your Band) in favor of more substantial tracks that impressed their era (the epic Tom Tom and the magnificent I'm Leaving).

The band revolved around the figures of Eddie Phillips, an excellent guitarist and riff-maker (Making Time) worthy of his counterpart - younger in age and greater in fame note - Townshend, also undervalued proportionately to his band; and the eclectic and Daltrey-like Kenny Pickett, unfortunately deceased in 1997. Also worth mentioning is John Dalton, who subsequently played with the Kinks, and played bass in the pre-Creation, The Mark Four.

We Are Paintermen (Hit-Ton Schallplatten, 1967) is their first LP; their only real album, excluding Power Surge from 1996 - belonging to the second wave of The Creation, that is, a result of the post-reunion in the original lineup (!).
A concentration of potential singles, the actual ones (see what is probably their most famous track, Paintermen), a couple of covers performed with skill (Like a Rolling Stone and Hey Joe), commendable ballads (If I Stay Too Long, Through My Eyes) and the aforementioned Tom Tom, Cool Jerk and Making Time.

The reissue from a few years ago is highly recommended, which implements a series of essential bonus tracks (like the rousing pop of Ostrich Man) and tracks dating back to the Mark Four era (the aforementioned I'm Leaving, Work All Day (Sleep All Night), etc). In short, an excellent synthesis of what were the various facets of rock 'n' roll as it should be from fifty years ago and which, very often, still today struggles to be dethroned, or, even, simply equaled.

The indispensable foundation of what today is continually exasperated without sometimes actually adding anything new. In short, a great record by a great band that today is remembered more or less like this [¹].