9th Creation was a 1970s R&B, funk band who had chart hits with " Why Not Today" and " Lets Dance". Other songs, such as "Falling in Love" made the charts. They recorded for a variety of labels including PYE/

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...

Prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...

and Hilltak etc..

Background

The group's origins go back to Stockton, California when they started out as the Soul Struts. They were formed by bass guitarist A.D. Burrise in 1970. In 1971, his brother J.D Burris came on board. At 6'4" tall, he was an imposing frontman.FUNKMYSOUL.GR
The 9th Creation – 1975 – Bubble Gum
/ref>textura, April 2019

/ref>

Recordnet.com ''The Record'' is a daily newspaper based in Stockton, California, serving San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Record'' was founded in 1895 by Irving Martin as the ''Evening Record.'' It is a newspape ...

, June 19, 2016
MUSIC, Sauro: Irreplaceable brother, grandfather and musician: Services for funk band leader JD Burrise to be held today - Tony Sauro
/ref> According to the FUNKMYSOUL.GR website, they had a hit with their first record, "Still Your Friend" which got into the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' top 25. They had more success with "Falling In Love" which made the ''Billboard'' r&b top 10. They also did well with "Let's Dance".''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'', December 12, 1979
Page 92 CASH BOX TOP 100
/ref> After appearing on Soul Train in 1975, they did a tour North America and Japan on a few occasions. They also bill with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, Con Funk Shun, The Main Ingredient, The Sylvers, Irma Thomas and The Whispers. They are #40 on the Bygonely "Drugs, Nudes, Letters, And Weird Things: Vinyl Collector Reveals Secret Stuff That People Hide Inside Vinyl Sleeves" list for weird things found inside record covers. A cardboard cutout record and an article, both about the Assassination of John F. Kennedy were found inside their ''Falling In Love'' record sleeve.

Career

1970s

With J. D. Burrise now on board and fronting the group, he convinced his brother A. D. to change the name of the group to 3rd Creation. They ended up on Bill Withers' Sussex Records roster. Due to there being another band with the name 3rd Creation, they changed their name to 9th Creation. In 1974, they had a 45 issued on the Clarama label, "Skin It Back" bw "I'm Still Your Friend". Their first album ''Bubble Gum'' was released in 1975. They appeared on the January 25, 1975 episode of ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'' performing "Sexy Girl" and "Falling in Love". In 1976, "Falling In Love" was released in the US on Pye PYE 71069. It was charting in the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 R&B Chart and the band was listed as Ninth Creation. By October 23, with nine weeks behind it, the single had moved up five notches to #54. In February, 1977, it was reported by ''

'' that 9th Creation and other artists who had their music issued on PYE/

shortly before the company closed down would have their releases on Prelude Records. The new label had recently been formed by Marvin Schlacter who was the former head of PYE/ATV. In March that year, their single " Why Not Today" was released. It was produced by Buddy Scott and released on Prelude 71085. Running at 4:45, it had been getting play on J. D. Black's show at KOKY in Little Rock and Calvin John's show at WDDO in Macon. Eventually the record made it to the ''Billboard'' Soul chart. It held the #98 position in the Hot Soul Singles Chart for two weeks. It did better in the ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' R&B Singles chart, debuting at #67 on June 4. It got to #63 on the 18th at its third week. In December 1979, the group's single, " Lets Dance", had moved up two notches from #72 to 70 on the ''

'' Black Oriented Singles Chart. Also that month it peaked at number 53 on the ''

'' R&B chart. It also peaked at #54 on December 1 on its third week in the Billboard Hot Soul Singles Chart.

1980s

In January 1980, "Lets Dance" was still in the ''Record World'' Black Oriented Singles Chart, peaking at #47 on the 19th, having spent a total of seven weeks in the chart. This was their last single for the Hilltak label. Also in 1980, the group ended up in a difficult situation. They had recorded tracks at a studio east of Stockton. Unknown to the group, the owners were drug dealers. The studio was raided and the DEA confiscated the master tapes. In an attempt to get them back, J.D. Burrise sued the DEA but had no success.Boomkat
The 9th Creation, A Step Ahead
/ref>

Later years

J. D. Burrise died on May 27, 2016, at age 67. A service was held for him on June 19. Due to Mike Micenheimer saving some of the mixdowns to cassette, an album which was deemed to be lost as a result of the DEA raid on a studio in 1980, ''A Step Ahead'' was released by Past Due Records on 30 April 2019. Due to the format the album was mastered from, there were some audio imperfections present. Some of their albums including ''Superheroes'' have been re-released on the Past Due record label.phonica
9TH CREATION Superheroes LP
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Discogs: The 9th Creation
Hilltak Records artists Prelude Records artists