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Papa John Creach

PAPA JOHN CREACH

 
Papa John Creach  (born John Henry Creach; May 28, 1917 – February 22, 1994) was an American blues violinist.  He played for Jefferson Airplane (1970–1975), Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship, Jefferson Starship – The Next Generation, the San Francisco All-Stars (1979–1984), The Dinosaurs (1982–1989), and Steve Taylor.  Creach recorded a number of solo albums and was a frequent guest at Grateful Dead and Charlie Daniels Band concerts.  He was a regular guest at the early annual Volunteer Jams, hosted by Charlie Daniels, which exposed him to a new audience that was receptive to fiddle players.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Another man who stands out in my memory is Papa John Creach, who played electric violin – an instrument that I had never heard of previously – for Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna beginning in 1970; he also stuck it out with Jefferson Starship through the Red Octopus album.  He provided an added dimension to these 1960’s stalwarts, and the presence of that gray hair in the midst of the much younger musicians in the two bands made it clear that you didn’t have to be a kid to rock out.
 
(August 2011)
 
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Jefferson Airplane continued issuing hit albums through the end of the 1960’s but was beginning to run out of steam, so its members began spreading out and working on solo albums and side projects.  When Grace Slick was recovering from throat surgery, Hot Tuna was founded and had a oft-changing line-up of various members of the Airplane and others.  Electric violinist Papa John Creach joined Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna at the same time.  

 

(June 2014)

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