Creative Rock -

Creative Rock was a German brass-rock band behind the 1972–74 Brain albums Gorilla and Lady Pig.

Members: Heiko Steinsiek (drums), Klaus Weber (guitar, percussion), Rainer Erbel [Steve Haggerty] (vocals), Günter Schmeide (guitar, bass), Michael Maas (bass, guitar), Benny Stremmel (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute), Hubertus Kreutner (trumpet, flugelhorn), Apostolos Papanikolaou (lead guitar)

Inception

Creative Rock originated as The Bourbon Street Paraders, a soul-rock band formed in late 1969 in Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen. Inspired by the transatlantic fusion of blues-rock and jazz (Brainchild, Electric Flag, Keef Hartley Band, Machine), they coalesced as a septet with singer Rainer Erbel and a power-trio rock section—guitarist Klaus Weber, bassist Michael Maas, drummer Heiko Steinsiek—augmented by second guitarist/bassist Günter Schmeide and two brass players: trumpeter Hubertus Keutner and saxophonist Benny Stremmel.

Gorilla

Creative Rock released their debut album, Gorilla, in December 1972 on Brain.

The album features extended ensemble interplay between guitarist Günter Schmeide, trumpeter Hubertus Kreutner, and saxophonist–flutist Benny Stremmel, who alternate lead passages with clustered brass voicings and angular riff figures. Klaus Weber contributes secondary guitar figures and co-composed four tracks alongside bassist–guitarist Michael Maas, who trades roles with Schmeide across multiple cuts.

The band wrote the material collaboratively across two primary writing units: Weber, Maas, and singer Rainer Erbel supplied the majority of the album, while Weber and Stremmel jointly authored “This World Between 6 and 8 A.M.” “Preußens Gorilla,” the closing number, came from producer Conny Plank, who supervised the sessions and contributed its satirical tone. Klaus Hauff, an otherwise uncredited writer, composed the lyrics and/or arrangement for “A Horseman’s Morningsong.”

A1. “Natron” (6:17)
A2. “A Horseman’s Morningsong” (5:00)
A3. “Tapeworm” (5:30)
A4. “Hear What I’m Talking” (5:20)

B1. “Blind People” (9:10)
B2. “This World Between 6 and 8 A.M.” (4:47)
B3. “Wunderbar” (6:40)
B4. “Preußens Gorilla” (2:13)

Gorilla was recorded at Windrose Studio in Hamburg and mixed at Star-Musik Studio. Conny Plank produced and engineered the album in sequence with 1972 albums by Achim Reichel & Machines, Association P.C., Gomorrha, Grobschnitt, Ibliss, Jane, Kraftwerk, Kin Ping Meh, Lucifer’s Friend, Neu!, Night Sun, Scorpions, and Thirsty Moon.

Patrick von Spreckelsen illustrated the cover: a cartoon depiction of a singing gorilla with serated jaws, claws, and cat eyes.

Between albums, Günter Schmeide and Klaus Weber both cleared for one guitarist, Apostolos Papanikolaou. Weber became an apprentice technician under Plank and worked on the 1979 debut by the Zeltinger Band.

Lady Pig

Creative Rock released their second album, Lady Pig, in November 1974 on Brain.

The album emphasizes ensemble coordination between lead guitarist Apostolos Papanikolaou, multi-instrumentalist M.M. Maaß on bass, rhythm guitar, and piano, and reedist Rüdiger Stremmel, who doubles on tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone as well as flute. Trumpeter Hubertus Kreutner adds lower-register counterlines on bass trumpet and shares brass motifs with Stremmel across the album’s thematic sections.

All material was written internally by the performing members, including Maaß and drummer Heiko Steinsiek, who also collaborated on the album’s visual design. The brief closing track, “Strullsinfonie,” acts as an outro vignette, while “I Use to Use” and “Black Woman” serve as the album’s shortest and longest fully developed numbers, respectively. Kreutner, Stremmel, Maaß, and Erbel all share vocal duties across the songs.

A1. “Lady Pig” (5:06)
A2. “Autumn and Winds” (8:40)
A3. “I Use to Use” (3:37)
A4. “Palm Beach Medium Finger” (2:35)

B1. “Evening Adventure” (3:50)
B2. “Black Woman” (6:55)
B3. “It’s Alright” (10:30)
B4. “Strullsinfonie” (0:10)

Lady Pig was recorded and mixed at Conny’s Studio in Neunkirchen with production and engineering by Conny Plank. Metronome GmbH handled pressing for release on the Brain label. Maaß and Steinsiek designed the cover, and K. Sährig and N. Tölle supplied the photography.

Postlude

Reiner Erbel resurfaced in the septet Flight alongside Apostolos Papanikolaou and Heiko Steinsiek. Their self-titled album appeared in 1982 on NOA Musikproduktion.

Discography: