Blues Creation ‎– Demon & Eleven Children

Blues Creation ‎– Demon & Eleven Children

This album is no secret to aficionados of the early Japanese psych rock scene—it is usually on “best of” lists for that genre and era. The band followed the typical evolution of the late ‘60s UK blues-rock sound, but broke ground with this album in 1971.

It owes much of its power to guitarist Kazuo Takeda who, as of this writing, is still revered as major influence in the sound of the era and has enjoyed a long career as a session player, both in the United States and Japan.

Interestingly, subsequent to the release of Demon & Eleven Children, the band toured with Mountain in Japan and Takeda formed a collaboration with the great Felix Pappalardi, who produced The Cream and was central to Leslie West’s Mountain. Along the way, Takedi changed band members and sounds. Takedi’s other albums- he has released many- are good and varied—the name was simplified to “Creation.” There is even one direct to disc release, Super Rock In The Highest Voltage, from 1978, a sort of jazz-lounge-y blues record that pales in comparison to the raw energy of Demon and Eleven Children.
First pressings of Demon and Eleven Children were on the Denon[1] label, a fairly early “audiophile” release. Those copies are dear and seldom come up for sale in top condition.

I found a second Japanese pressing on the Blow Up label, from 1975, which turned out to be another imprint of Denon. Cheap by comparison to the first pressing.[2]

Not as “far out” as Satori, and not as uneven as Too Much, this album probably deserves a place in your collection if you are a fan of hard psych rock and have any interest in the important records that came out of Japan at the time.
 

Bill Hart

Austin, TX.

Jan. 8, 2017

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[1] Denon is a well-known consumer electronics company and at the time, was a subsidiary of Nippon Columbia, which also owned the Blow-Up imprint.
[2] The “Therapeutic” label reissue from Spain in 2011 isn’t bad, but its chief virtue compared to these early Japanese pressings is price: https://www.discogs.com/Blues-Creation-Demon-Eleven-Children/release/3309234 The Blow Up copy is worth the extra money and should hold its value.