Vanilla Fudge - Biography
By Nick Castro
Vanilla Fudge are often overlooked by the record buying youth of today, but in the 1960's the band were as big of stars as any of the other groups around. They began in Long Island, as The Electric Pigeons, in 1965. The lineup was Mark Stein on organ, Vince Martell on guitar, Tim Bogert on bass and Joey Brennan on drums. Together they cultivated a reputation as one of the first supergroups. Funkadelic have also recalled that the Fudge were responsible for their sound, when at a concert, the Funkadelic's gear did not show up and the Fudge generously allowed Funkadelic the use of their gear. The Fudge being superstars already, had the biggest amps that Funkadelic had ever played on and that night changed their sound forever. Vanilla Fudge did write some of their material themselves, but mainly they are known for their huge and overblown cover versions of popular songs. They were one of very few groups who could take nearly any songs and completely rework it, thereby making it uniquely their own. The Fudge also have reputations for their connections to organized crime. The band definitely had a tough guy east coast attitude and look, and were managed by mobster Phillip Basile, who secured professional work for the group in his many clubs in the New York area.
Vanilla Fudge released their debut album in 1967, entitled Vanilla Fudge (1967 - Atco). Their choice of covers and the method in which they interpreted them, made this record an instant classic. Their organ heavy, slow dirges juxtaposed with there pop selection of material was brilliant. Their choice of songs included the album's opener, "Ticket to Ride", by The Beatles, "People Get Ready", by Curtis Mayfield, "She's Not There", by The Zombies and "Bang Bang", by Sonny Bono. Another noteworthy contribution to the album is their version of Mott the Hoople's song, "Laught at Me". Unfortunately, the very nature of the album being finite seemed to limit the ferocious strength of the band at times, who might have benefited by extending these epic jams, such as they could do in a live show. They also had a huge hit from the album with the song, "You Keep Me Hanging On", which the Supremes originally had a big hit with,
The Fudge have claimed that the east coast band the Vagrants, which was the first professional band of guitarist Leslie West, later of Mountain fame. Soon the band got a new drummer, Carmine Appice, who was amazingly proficient and loud. The band began doing national tours and getting prestigious show, headlining large shows with bands like Steve Miller Band and Blue Cheer. People began to label their sound as heavy metal. Their many television appearances only served to promote the band and keep them in the minds of America. They were on shows like Ed Sullivan around the time of their second release, Renaissance (1968 - Atco). Again they struck it big with thei visionary renditions of popular songs. This time they chose songs like "The Look of Love", by Burt Bacharach. The album also featured many originals this time, like Martell's "Thoughts", which was one of the band's most far reaching compositions at the time, and the song "All in Your Mind", written by the whole band. Appice also contributed the song, "Faceless People", is a shining example of the best Fudge has to offer. There are elements on the album that are almost prog, but the band always keeps their feet firmly planted in their r&b roots. This album has been reissued by the Sundazed label. many of today's fans overlook this, and other, Fudge albums, mostly because the bulk of their work consists of covers, but as was common in the time, the band showed remarkable skill in arrangement and interpretation.
The next Vanilla Fudge album was called The Beat Goes On (1968 - Atco), and was again a record consisting of half originals and half covers. Their version of Sonny Bono's "The Beat Goes On" is one of the most memorable versions of the song in a sea of imitators. This album also finds the band incorporating not only classical influences, but psychedelic ones as well, though the band has an air of psychedelia, probably derived from their heavy use of hammond organ. One can hear the group trying to find a sound among the records of the time, which seemed to be one psychedelic magnum opus after anoher. Rhino records has recently released an expanded version of this album, which contains many extended versions of songs, along with outtakes. The band is said to have become strained around the time of this album, though they would continue on a little while longer.
In 1969, the Vanilla Fudge released their fourth album, called Near the Beginning (1969 - Atco), which consisted of four long tracks. With less songs on the album, the band has more time to develop ideas on each arrangement. "Brak Song" exceeds 20 minutes, and is composed by the band. On the expanded CD version, you can hear some singles released around the time of the album. Deep Purple were very influenced by this era of the Fudge, and it can be heard in the organ sound of both bands.
the final early album by Vanilla Fudge was Rock & Roll (1970 - Atco), which finds them switching producers, from Shadow Morton, who had nadled all of their earlier efforts, to Adrian Barber, who can be heard on AeroSmith's early works. This is the Fudge's most straight ahead sounding album, as the title suggests. Shortly after this album the band broke up.
The Vanilla Fudge would later reunite and tour again as well as record. They released an album of Led Zeppelin covers, called Out Through the In Door (2007 - Escapi Music Group). The band still makes occasional live appearances. Guitarist Martell now hosts a weekly radio show in his native Long Island. Appice and Bogert also work in the recently reformed band, Cactus, which they originally began in the 1970, after the break up of the Fudge.
