Papa John Creach

Violinist for a long period for great acts all through his career. Born May 28, 1917, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and died on February 22, 1994 in Los Angeles, California. Died from pneumonia, after he had a heart attack during the Northridge earthquake on January 17, 1994. John Henry Creach, better known as Papa John Creach, was an American blues violinist, who has also played "classical, jazz, be-bop, R&B, pop and acid rock" music. Early in his career he played with Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Stuff Smith, and Charlie Christian as well as Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Nat King Cole and Roy Milton. Later, he played for Jefferson Airplane (1970–1972), 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.