Creach began playing violin in Chicago bars when the family moved there in 1935, and eventually joined a local cabaret band, the Chocolate Music Bars. Moving to L.A. in 1945, he played in the Chi Chi Club, spent time working on an ocean liner, appeared in a couple of films, and performed as a duo with Nina Russell.
In 1967, Creach met and befriended drummer Joey Covington. When Covington joined the Jefferson Airplane in 1970, he introduced them to Creach, who was invited to join Hot Tuna. He would remain with the band, although legally regarded as a session musician, for the next five years, before leaving in August 1975 to concentrate on a solo career. Despite this, he was a guest musician on the spring 1978 Jefferson Starship tour. A year later, he renewed his working relationship with Covington as a member of the San Francisco All-Stars, as well as Covington's Airplane predecessor, Spencer Dryden, as a member of The Dinosaurs (1982–89). He also continued with occasional guest appearances with Hot Tuna, and was on stage at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1988 when Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna were reunited with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick for the first time since Jefferson Airplane disbanded.
In 1992, he became one of the original members of Jefferson Starship - The Next Generation, and performed with them until suffering a heart attack during the 1994 Northridge earthquake on January 17, 1994. Because of this, Creach contracted pneumonia, from which he died a month later at the age of 76.
Jefferson Starship performed a benefit concert to raise money for his family after his death and released tracks from their performances as the album Deep Space/Virgin Sky.
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