Papa John Creach

[PrayForPlagues]

Good addition to the Airplane? Bad?
I personally really love his work with Hot Tuna, but I've not been impressed by his live performances with the Airplane on their songs. He does a lot of random trills and swoops... but other than that, he sounds a bit out of place.

[plasticfantastic]

I think that after Marty and Spencer both left, the Airplane needed to change. They were really forced to, given that those two members, who both brought a lot to the band, were gone. Had Airplane gone on doing exactly what they were doing before, we probably would be sitting around criticizing them for that. In changing their sound, they did what was definitely riskier, and from some perspectives easier.

I think that John Creach was a fantastic musician, and I agree, what he did with Hot Tuna was very cool. In terms of Airplane though, it's hard to say. Long John Silver is often my second-favorite Airplane album, so I'm not one to put down their later stuff, but it was just very different from what they did earlier. A very acquired taste, most definitely. He does seem out of place sometimes, but a lot can be said for his musical ability, which is pretty much mindblowing.

[PrayForPlagues]

I love LJS too. His work on that album is solid, but I'm just curious as to how he fit in in a live setting. Perhaps it had to do with amplification, because there are many songs on Last Flight in which you'll hear one or two trills by him, but nothing else in the rest of the song. I can't imagine he would just stand around waiting for one long note in a song. I've not paid much attention to his performance on 30 Seconds, other than 'Milk Train' (IMO one of the best vocal works by Grace).