There’s a persistent rumor that Pete Townshend invited Phillips to join the Who as a second guitarist, and while there is evidence that Townshend may have considered such a move, he never approached Phillips about it directly.

“I’m not sure how that started, and I don’t know if it is true,” says Phillips. “If he had asked, however, I would have turned him down, as the Creation was number one for me at the time.”

The Creation disbanded in 1968, but throughout the intervening years, Phillips has continued to support himself by writing and playing music. Boney M’s 1978 cover of “Painter Man” sold more than seven million copies, and hit versions of Phillips-penned songs by Rockpile, the Shadows, the Woolpackers, and others have kept the revenue streams flowing.

The Creation reformed briefly in the ’90s, performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 1994, and a version of the band is still active from time to time. (Visit the Creation’s MySpace page for sound clips, and YouTube.com to view the band performing live in 1966.)

Was your original ES-335 modified in any way?
I removed the chrome pickup covers to improve sustain, and I took off the scratch-plate because it got in the way of the violin bow, but, otherwise, it was a standard 335 with block inlays. A big plus for this guitar was that it had Little Richards’ autograph on the back. I’m a huge fan of his, and we toured with him in 1967. He signed it on the last night of the tour at Leeds Town Hall.

What amps were you using back in the ’60s?
I played through two 100-watt Marshalls. At the beginning of 1967, I changed from using four 4x12 cabs to two 8x10 cabs, as I liked the sound of the 10s better. With the Mark Four, which was pre-Creation, I used a Vox AC30, which was good for controlled feedback. An example of this is on “I’m Leaving,” recorded around1964.

Did you use any effects?
The only effect I used was a treble booster built for me by an electronics wizard friend named Les Coulson. It was a five-position tone booster—like a graphic equalizer on a switch—built into an Old Holborn tobacco tin.

When did you begin playing with a bow, and why?
That was around 1964, and it began with a desire to create sustained notes. I tried using a hacksaw with the blade replaced by a .046-gauge guitar string, but that didn’t work, so I tried out the bow. That didn’t work at first, either, until I realized that I had to rosin it!

Did Jimmy Page steal the idea from you?
Yes!

What sorts of strings did you use in the ’60s?
In those days, you couldn’t buy custom-gauged strings, so you had to fiddle around with different sets to get what you wanted. The gauges were probably .009, .011, .016, .026, .038, and .048.

What gear are you currently using?
I play an early-’80s Fender Stratocaster, a reissue dot-neck Gibson ES-335, a Gretsch White Falcon, and a DeArmond with FilterTron pick-ups. I use an old MXR Distortion Plus and a Boss EH-2 Enhancer, and everything goes into an old Fender Twin Reverb with Altec Lansing speakers. My strings are Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkys (.009-.046).