- Creed Bratton
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This article is about the musician and actor. For the character he plays on The Office, see Creed Bratton (character).
Creed Bratton 
Bratton in March 2009Born William Charles Schneider
February 8, 1943
Los Angeles, California, U.S.Occupation Actor/Musician Years active 1965–present Website http://creedbratton.com/ Creed Bratton (born February 8, 1943 as William Charles Schneider) is an American actor and musician, a former member of The Grass Roots. Today, he is best known for playing a "fictional" version of himself on the American adaptation of The Office on NBC.
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Background and education
Born William Charles Schneider in Los Angeles, he grew up in Coarsegold, California, a small town near Yosemite National Park. His grandparents, mother, and father were musicians, and he took a liking to music at a very early age. At 13, he received his first guitar from a Sears mail order catalog. He became a professional musician during his high school and college years. Upon his mother's remarriage, his name was changed to Chuck Ertmoed.
Musical career
Early years
He decided to try life as a traveling musician and made his way on a global excursion, during which he changed his name again, to Creed Bratton. He traveled through Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Appearing with his group the Young Californians, he played guitar at a large folk festival in Israel. Fellow American and guitarist Warren Entner witnessed Bratton's performance, and asked him to give him a call when he got back to the United States. In 1966, they formed a partnership and recruited the remaining members needed for their group, the 13th Floor. Bratton played lead guitar, Rick Coonce played drums, Entner played rhythm guitar, and Kenny Fukomoto played bass. They recorded a demo and sent it to Dunhill, a new record company headed by Lou Adler.
Bratton playing at The Office Convention in Scranton, PA in 2007
The Grass Roots
Producers/songwriters P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri heard the demo and liked it. They needed new band members for a folk rock group that they had created in 1965. The 13th Floor lost their bass player to the draft during this time, and quickly recruited Rob Grill. They changed their name to The Grass Roots for prior name recognition and went straight to the top 10 with their first recording, "Let's Live for Today" in 1967. The group continued in their hit-making vein and toured the United States. Iconic hit songs such as "Midnight Confessions" cemented their standing as major contributors to the rock music scene.
The Grass Roots had top songwriters offering their best songs to them and they wrote many songs themselves. Bratton co-wrote "Beatin' Round the Bush", "No Exit", and "Hot Bright Lights", and self-composed "Dinner for Eight" and "House of Stone". Bratton played with the group on their first four albums: Let's Live for Today, Feelings, Golden Grass, and Lovin' Things. Three albums charted and Golden Grass received a gold record certification. He took part in the first ten singles released, eight of which charted; Midnight Confessions received a gold record certification.
The Grass Roots played at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Sunday June 11, 1967 in the "summer of love" as their top ten hit "Let's Live For Today" was hitting the airwaves. This music festival is important because it occurred before the Monterey Pop Festival but did not have a movie to document it for the ages (see List of electronic music festivals). On Sunday October 27, 1968 they played at the San Francisco Pop Festival and then played at the Los Angeles Pop Festival and Miami Pop Festival in December of that year as their top ten hit "Midnight Confessions" was hitting the airwaves.
Solo years
In 2001 and 2002, Bratton released three albums showcasing his solo recordings since the 1960s with the assistance of Peter White. In 2007, he presented an induction award to The Wrecking Crew at the Musicians' Hall of Fame. In 2008, he released another album of new music with producer Jon Tiven. In 2010, Bratton released another new album titled "Bounce Back" with producer Dave Way.
Acting career
Bratton began to pursue an acting career in 1969. He has appeared in films such as Mask and Heart Like a Wheel. He is a current cast member (playing a fictional version of himself) on NBC's Emmy and SAG award winning The Office. In 2008, he appeared in a short film with Kyle Gass titled "Just One Of The Gynos", which won an award for best short film at the 2008 Malibu International Film Festival. He appeared in the feature film Labor Pains in 2009. His latest film projects are The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, written, produced and directed by Paul Bunnell, I Am Ben, written, produced and directed by Mathew Brady and Gaelan Connell and Terri produced by David Guy Levy. Terri was selected by the Sundance Film Festival 2011 to appear in the US dramatic competition. It was one of only 16 films selected from 1,102 submissions to the US dramatic category.[1]
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1967–1969 American Bandstand Himself 1967 The Hollywood Palace Himself 1968 With Six You Get Eggroll Himself 1968–1969 It's Happening Himself 1969 Playboy After Dark Himself 1975 Kolchak: The Night Stalker Man Entering Lab Episode "Primal Scream" 1977 Quincy M.E. Young Man Episode "No Deadly Secret" 1977 Eight is Enough Episode "Mortgage Burnin' Blues" 1983 Heart Like a Wheel Photographer 1985 Mask Carnival Ticket Taker 1986 A Fighting Choice Court Clerk 1987 U.S. Marshals: Waco & Rhinehart Agent Jones 1987 The Wild Pair Dalton 1988 Seven Hours To Judgement Subway Worker 1991 Neon City Guard at Neon He was also a grip 1994 Secret Sins Of The Father Gas Station Worker 2004 The War Of Gene Captain Clark 2005–present The Office Creed Bratton 2006 The Bernie Mac Show Funeral Home Employee Episode "Bernie's Angels" 2006 The Manual Major. Edwards 2007–2008 Today Himself Episodes dated 10/26/07, 6/24/08 2008 Just One Of The Gynos Dr. Gus Callery 2008 6th Annual TV Land Awards Himself 2008 Celebrity Family Feud Himself 2009 Labor Pains John Abbotts 2010 In Gayle We Trust Denny Potter Two episodes 2010 Funny or Die Presents Himself Four episodes 2010 The Forgotten Guy Episode "Double Doe" 2011 The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X Rock & Roll Crooner "Mickey O'Flynn" (the Man with the Grin) 2011 I Am Ben Dr. Cobb 2011 Terri Uncle James Discography
Singles
Release date Title Flip side Record Label Chart Positions US Billboard US Cashbox UK 1967 Let's Live for Today Depressed Feeling Dunhill 8 5 Things I Should Have Said Tip Of My Tongue Dunhill 23 36 Wake Up, Wake Up No Exit Dunhill 68 61 1968 Melody For You Hey Friend Dunhill 123 Feelings Here's Where You Belong Dunhill Midnight Confessions++ Who Will You Be Tomorrow Dunhill 5 5 1969 Bella Linda+++ Hot Bright Lights Dunhill 28 20 Melody For You All Good Things Come To An End Dunhill Lovin' Things You And Love Are The Same Dunhill 49 35 River Is Wide, The (You Gotta) Live For Love Dunhill 31 16 ++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
+++ - Composed by Italian superstar Lucio Battisti)
Albums
Release date Title Record Label Chart Positions US Billboard US Cashbox UK 1967 Let's Live for Today Dunhill 75 1968 Feelings Dunhill Golden Grass ++ Dunhill 25 1969 Lovin' Things Dunhill 73 2001 Chasin’ The Ball Kindred The 80’s Kindred 2002 Coursegold Kindred 2008 Creed Bratton Kindred 2010 Bounce Back Kindred ++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
References
External links
Categories:- 1943 births
- Living people
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American singers
- American singer-songwriters
- American musicians
- American folk guitarists
- American rock guitarists
- Musicians from California
- Actors from California
- People from Los Angeles, California
- People from Madera County, California
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