Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider on February 8 1943) is an actor and former member of The Grass Roots.
Born 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 catalogue. He became a professional musician during his high school and college years. Upon his mother's remarriage, his name was changed to Chuck Ertmoed.
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.
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.
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". Iconic hit songs such as "Midnight Confessions" cemented their standing as major contributors to the rock music scene. Bratton played with the group on the albums Let's Live For Today, Feelings and Lovin' Things.
Bratton left the group in 1969 to pursue an acting career. He has appeared in films such as Mask and Heart Like a Wheel. Still an active musician, Bratton released three solo albums in 2001 and 2002. He is a current cast member (playing a fictional version of himself) on NBC's Emmy and SAG award winning The Office. In 2007, he presented an induction award to The Wrecking Crew (music) at the Musician's Hall of Fame. That year he also took part in a short film with Kyle Gass titled "Just One Of The Gynos" and produced an album of new music with producer Jon Tiven. Both projects will premiere in 2008.
