VANILLA FUDGE

The band shrugged it off and moved on quickly and in 1968 released not one but two albums. "The Beat Goes On" emerged early in February 1968 and although catching fans and critics off guard did give the quartet of Vince Martelli (vocals, guitar), Mark Stein (organ), Tim Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums) a new lease on life that propelled them beyond the status of being a mere cover band. By summer, VANILLA FUDGE released what many deem should've been their proper second album. On June 14, 1968 the band unleashed its third album RENAISSANCE, the first of which featured all original tracks and although two covers were employed, their choices were more suitable with the psychedelic acid rock that the band had developed as its primary expressive mode. Yes, the sound that VANILLA FUDGE made famous with clever reinterpretations of classic pop hits such as The Beatles' "Eleanor RIgby" and Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" was back only this time with completely original self-penned cuts that propelled the band into the next arena of competency. VANILLA FUDGE was now a bonafide force of musical creativity to that the likes that the band had become a pioneering force in developing the earliest sounds of both progressive rock and the harder rock and heavy metal sounds that would dominate in the 1970s.

Opening with "The Sky Cried - When I Was a Boy," RENAISSANCE reacquaints its listener with its innovative mix of fuzzy organ ponderosity along with the emphasis on heavier guitar, bass and drum playing. Also making a much needed reprise are all those intricately designed vocal harmonies that propelled VANILLA FUDGE's music to a magical 60s psychedelic universe that had been gestating all throughout the previous two years. It becomes immediately clear that RENAISSANCE really does reflect its titular definition and signifies a rebirth in the band's development. With all aspirations of pop hit stardom extinguished, VANILLA FUDGE instead evolved its distinct style into something much more - that being a veritable art rock band that embodied all the contemporary developments that were steeped in psychedelia, mystique and complexity. The album featured only seven tracks with the opening "The Sky Cried" and the closing cover of Donovan's "The Season Of The Witch" both exceeding the seven-minute mark. RENAISSANCE also was a concept album thus showcasing on the rock's paradigm of focusing on album long listening experience rather than the banality of short catchy singles to lure audiences in. The involvement of producer Shadow Martin helped sculpt the band's new aspirations into a captivating adventurous musical performance.

While the tracks may have been unfamiliar, VANILLA FUDGE's sound was back and firing on full pistons. The band retained its slow and steady pace of developing strong melodic constructs before unleashing its heavier display of instrumental virtuosity. RENAISSANCE also introduced a more cosmic feel to the band's style which allowed brooding keyboard-induced atmospheres to seep into every motif and cadence like a leaky bottle of pancake syrup. The band was essentially carving out an early prototype of keyboard dominant rock that would become popularized by Deep Purple and Uriah Heep just a few years down the road. As the album continues with "Thoughts" and "Paradise," the album delivers a mesmerizing display of ritualistic organ performances, fuzz guitar and rhythmic ingenuity of the bass and drums. Vocal harmonies are accompanied by varying variations including short spoken word narrations and more emotive outbursts.

RENAISSANCE is an amazingly adept and consistent album with the perfect 60s sounds that emerged from the very opening of the album to the excellent cover of Donovan's "Seasons Of The Witch" which takes a rather straightforward pop song and transmogrifies it into a magical display of excess, a trait that would become the hallmark of all that progressive rock to come. The track also wove in interpolations of Essra Mowhawk's "We Never Learn." Mohawk was the first female member of Frank Zappa's Mother of Invention" and was the writer of the track "The Spell That Comes After" thus displaying VANILLA FUDGE's true intent of taking music into the true world of innovation and leaving behind their pop hit origins without hesitation. While stylistically perfect at this point and a totally satisfying display of acid rock, VANILLA FUDGE unknowingly created some of the most accomplished mix of proto-metal that would lead to bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple all the while crafting a proto-progressive sound that would quickly find its way around the world and reemerging as the explosive wellspring of creativity that would erupt the following year in 1969. Wow these guys came a long way from a mere cover band the year before! RENAISSANCE is a true classic of the 1960s.

NEAR THE BEGINNING was the band's fourth album but in retrospect would've suitably been titled "Near The End" as the band's momentum which peaked on "Renaissance" was clearly derailed leaving the band a victim of its own whims and shortcomings. One of the biggest developments in VANILLA FUDGE's career was the fact that after three albums, the band decided to self-produce and take full creative control into its own hands. While on one side NEAR THE BEGINNING showcases the band's developing taste for harder and heavier rock as showcased on the feisty opening cover of Jr. Walkter & The All Stars top 10 hit "Shotgun" however without a producer who served as an intervening force to keep the band focused, this fourth album emerged as an interesting but highly disheveled collection of tracks.

Clearly restless and ready to jump headfirst into the world of hard rock, NEAR THE BEGINNING opens with an adrenalized hard rock version of "Shotgun," the 1965 hit single that peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led the way for similar Motown artists to capture the soul market in the 1960s. An unlikely opening track to say the least, "Shotgun" succeeded in showing that VANILLA FUDGE was indeed a multi-faceted band that refused to be pigeonholed into any particular style of music but also displayed a complete disregard for the organ-fueled psychedelic magic that had come to full fruition on "Renaissance." The six-minute track sounds woefully out of place as a VANILLA FUDGE remaking and basically sounds like one of those tracks you throw in as a bonus cut when finding extra tidbits for a re-issue of some sort.

The band surprisingly features two covers as the first tracks, the second being the hit "Some Velvet Morning" recorded by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. The band returns to its expected stylistic approach that featured a slowed down build up fortified with trippy organ runs and the accompanying guitar, bass and drum combo effect. Unlike the traditional symphonic pop style of the original, VANILLA FUDGE transmogrifies this classic song into a veritable slice of psychedelic acid rock which to be honest wouldn't have sounded out of place on the the debut album as it takes the exact same approach topped off with the exquisitely divine vocal harmonies contrasted by the bombast of the crushing organ, guitar, bass and drum rock heftiness. In this process it leaves the song almost unrecognizable in comparison to the original, a knack VANILLA FUDGE was wise to continue since it appears that it was its greatest strength.

After eking out 7 1/2 minutes of a the classic Hazlewood / Sinatra pop hit, the track is followed by the Appice original "Where Is Happiness" which opens with some trippy avant-garde freakery with strange organ noises frenetically conjured from an unseen realm and slowly develops into a melodic musical score that sounds very much like a continuation of the previous track with the same lackadaisical build up, Mark Stein's emotive and emphatically emphasized lyrical delivery and a slow build up as the guitar, bass and drum chomp at the bit to get on with the heavier action to come. That very action emerges as an energetic display of beefed up bass, sporadic jazzy drumming and a sizzling guitar soloing sequence with a tinge of Middle Eastern influences to exude an exoticism unheard of in the band's usual repertoire. Probably one of the best songs of the band's career actually.

The album's second side is another head-scratcher curveball delivers by the band. It consists entire of the live recording "Break Song" which was performed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The track pretty much just showcases the band's ability to jam, improvise and engage in extended solos. Everyone gets a crack with some nice moments of guitar, others of bass and a rather droll drumming sequence that outstays its welcome. This track really seems pointless and drags down the entire album's momentum, well what there was of it. Also the band jettisoned its trademark build up techniques as well as its vocal harmonizing. In fact this track exudes a sense of the generic and pretty much comes across as one of those type of "milk it for all its worth" performances of a typical 60s blues rock band that didn't have the talent to inject anything innovative. This track unfortunately doesn't highlight the VANILLA FUDGE sound but rather detracts considerably. A studio version was recorded but nixed in favor of this for some reason but personally i like the studio version better. It is featured on the remastered editions of the following album "Rock & Roll."

Basically NEAR THE BEGINNING was a followup album that had just been thrown together without much care for an album experience. There are really only two interesting songs here and a decent if not outstanding Motown cover. The live track is listenable but not amazing or even remotely successful in delivering what you would expect from VANILLA FUDGE. It seems like the point of this album is to announce the band's freedom from any controllers and that it just wants to do what it wants. Unfortunately that didn't translate into a compelling album. In retrospect A NEW BEGINNING signified a transfer of the band's innovation on the first three albums into a quick downfall that would give the baton to a new breed of rock musicians who would take the band's unique approaches and gestate them into some of the most exiting and dynamic sounds of the 1970s. While seemingly the end, VANILLA FUDGE had one more album in them. While highly influential for so many VANILLA FUDGE was indeed "Near The End."

The band ended its career with its fifth and final album ROCK & ROLL which emerged on 25 September 1969 and thus not only ending one of the most dynamic decades in the entire history of musical innovation but also the end of one of the bands that became an extremely influential force for the many other acts that would soon adopt its unique perspectives on merging the seemingly disparate worlds of soul music, pop and experimental psychedelia that would soon take on a greater role in morphing into hard rock and progressive rock. VANILLA FUDGE's last offering featured a more streamlined approach after the rather scattered "Near The Beginning."

One of the primary forces that whipped the band into being focused was by having a producer who could offer a perspective that a bunch of drifting musicians could realize on their own. ROCK & ROLL welcomed Adrian Barber who had worked his magic with The Velvet Underground and would eventually go on to usher Aerosmith into the limelight. His contributions forged ROCK & ROLL into another cohesive album's worth of material that coexisted snuggly side by side and teased out all the brilliance that had put VANILLA FUDGE on the music map in the first place without all those annoying excesses that emerged when the band was left to its own devices on the self-produced "Near The Beginning."

This final chapter once again saw a track listing of self-penned psychedelic rock tunes along with cover songs stripped of their hit making immediacy and given the proper psychotropic makeovers. ROCK & ROLL begins with the fiery "Need Love" sung by guitarist Vinnie Marteli and showcases what sounds to me like an early prototype of what Deep Purple would crank out the following year on its classic "In Rock" album. This feisty track mixes energetic blues guitar rock with the fuzzy organ and boogie-woogie piano rolls along with a sizzling rhythm section that finds bantering bass and drums rolls screaming that the band has successfully taken the genre of ROCK & ROLL into the world of hard rock and a sampling of proto-metal intensity.

"Lord Of The Country" follows and features some of the earliest examples of what i would call Queen. The soulful gospel rock track crafted by Mark Stein almost sounds like something that would fit in on Queen's "The Night At The Opera." The style only awaits Freddie Mercury to charismatically animate it to the next level. The first cover track, Carole King's "I Can't Make It Alone" is another soulful heavy psych reinterpretation that the band excelled at from its earliest origins. Tight vocal harmonies, skillful rhythm section and a reweaving of the melodic fabric to allow for another tasty treat of VANILLA FUDGE charm. "Street Walking Woman," another Martelli sung track allows another band original to follow suit with the same soft / hard tradeoffs.

Another captivating song is the brilliant "Church Bells Of St. Martins" which features an army bugle i believe and military march drumming introducing the main song which goes on into folk and rock territory but once again highlighting the band's evolution of its vocal harmonizing. Once again this sounds exactly like what Queen would build its career on throughout the 70s but once again Stein's vocals don't quite have that Freddie Mercury magic. It's still a highlight of the album though as the arrangement is brilliant.

The near 9-minute "The Windmills Of Your Mind" is the other cover, this time a song written by Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman for the film score "The Thomas Crown Affair." While originally sung by Noel Harrison, the track was covered by Dusty Springfield in the same year as this version in 1969 except her version found its way into the top 40 whereas VANILLA FUDGE was imploding and failed to capture much fanfare with this final release. This soulful interpretation pulled out all the usual VANILLA FUDGE punches and the band owned it much like it did with Donovan's "Season Of The Witch" on its previous album. The original vinyl ended with the 1961 James Ray hit "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" sung by drummer Carmine Appice which the band teases into a soulful hard rock sensation. Some remastered versions also feature a studio version of "Break Song" which appeared in a side-long B-side on "Near The Beginning" only this version is far superior as it emphases the band's strengths.

Given all the low ratings of ROCK & ROLL and almost ubiquitous panning by critics and reviewers alike, i was quite surprised to love this final offering from VANILLA FUDGE. This is one of the most focused album of its five album run and mixes all the things that made the band so unique. It retains the soulful covers turned heavy psych while emphasizing the newfound love for hard rock turned up a few notches. Likewise the band's unique vocal harmony arrangements took a leap in ingenuity and clearly passed the baton on to Queen whereas the organ dominated hard rock in the vein of Grand Funk Railroad only more soulful was ripe to gift to Deep Purple for an upgrade. It's a shame VANILLA FUDGE couldn't develop its own creations into the next phase of rock and metal but it cannot be understated how influential this band was to the next generation of rockers that dominated the 70s. I personally love this album a lot and find it to be third in line after the masterpiece "Renaissance" and the crafty self-titled debut. A great way to go out and i'm surprised very few have taken notice.

The year 1967 was the Summer of Love and offered a last air of innocent hippie glee before the calendar year 1968 roared in full force. The idealism of perpetual peace and free love were interrupted by a turbulent world stage where everything seemed to go topsy turvy overnight. The music of the era reflected this by shifting from simpler musical forms that had only just evolved out of the straight forward approach of rock and roll to headier and ever bolder musical experiments. The Beatles' classic "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" deserves the lion's share of credit for upping the ante in the world of simpler rock forms that focused on singles as a means of marketing to a full-fledged concept albums in an art rock style which hit the world with the subtlety of a lightning bolt.

While the world of psychedelic pop and rock would sally forth unscathed with many simpler forms of rock continuing to occupy the hit singles charts, some intrepid acts followed the cue of The Beatles and went for the concept album avant-garde jugular. VANILLA FUDGE was one such band having never even released a single song of their own making and then suddenly delivering a followup album that recklessly abandoned all the rules and engaged in a fearless exploration into the unknown musical possibilities that could result from just simply going for it. THE BEAT GOES ON was basically a meandering sampling of the entire history of music without any regard to how things connected or fit together in any way, shape or form. Based on the smashing success of the debut, the album still sold its share of copies but quickly alienated any fans who were expecting a continuation of the band's soulful psychedelic rock playfulness that put VANILLA FUDGE on the map.

Broken into four phases with various short snippets called tracks, THE BEAT GOES ON meanders through a maze of crossover classical music (Mozart, Beethoven etc), medleys of famous pop hits by Elvis Presley and The Beatles as well spoken word speeches and one of the very first recordings of all time sampled by Thomas Edison. The band retains its psychedelic rock at key moments with the already established fuzzy organ heft and heavier rock combo effect of the guitar, bass and drum but in reality there are no actual songs on THE BEAT GOES ON and merely samplings strewn together into a psychedelic haze of consciousness shifting. Clearly the year 1968 was a traumatic one for the world and the methodologies of finding the proper musical escape hatch were becoming bolder and more ambitious with THE BEAT GOES ON being one of those albums that at first listen may seem completely pointless but also when placed into the context of the time fits in with how the world of musical exploration was panning out.

The album is compared with Frank Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy" however VANILLA FUDGE beat Zappa to the punch by a few months with a nerdy concept album that engaged in the everything and the kitchen sink approach. The major difference of course that being that Frank Zappa was a gifted and brilliant composer of the avant-garde and VANILLA FUDGE being a naive quartet of youngsters who didn't quite have the chops to bring their ambitions to a high level of competency. While many really hate this album including the band itself as they blame this unwise followup as a total career killer, as far as experimental avant-garde albums go it's not that bad. While its hardly any milestone of creative fortitude, as a historical reference point and unorthodox art rock album from 1968 it's a totally listenable experience.

Luckily the band would quickly follow up with a new album of mostly self-penned tracks titled "Renaissance" but momentum had been lost and THE BEAT GOES ON has been ridiculed by many ever since. Personally i admire VANILLA FUDGE's audaciousness as the band clearly had no idea of how to keep an audience enthralled. One of those cases of moving too quickly into an arena where the artistry wasn't up to snuff. It would've made a lot more sense to release "Renaissance" first and establishing the band as a bonafide creator of its own material and sound and only then after retaining its momentum by releasing something like this a year or two later. But when all is said and done, THE BEAT GOES ON exhibits a trend of a musical expedition into completely uncharted territory and that's pretty remarkable for a band that could've simply put out another album of psychedelically tinged cover songs. Despite not crafting the next great art album of all time, VANILLA FUDGE earned its place as a bonafide proto-prog act that helped propel the spirit of the evolution of the rock music paradigm. While results were mixed, the spirit of the creative process excelled.

VANILLA FUDGE was organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, guitarist Vince Martelil and drummer Carmine Appice. While Stein handled lead vocals, the entire band engaged in intricate harmonies influenced by bands such as The Beatles and The Rascals only VANILLA FUDGE was a pioneering band in bridging the world of black soul music with the brave new world of psychedelic rock. The band's eponymously titled debut emerged in 1967 and found instant gratification as it literally shot up to the #6 position on the Billboard album charts even before the release of the crafty cover of The Supreme's 1966 smash hit "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was released as a single and too shot up the charts. Graced with an impeccable sense of harmony and by playing cover songs at half the original speed, VANILLA FUDGE delivered an irresistible new perspective on well known songs on its self-titled 1967 debut.

This first album was unique in the band's five album run that lasted only three years as it featured no original songs whatsoever however the band did contribute three very short self-made instrumental intros that were listed as separate tracks but in reality served as nothing more than short snippets that connected the cover songs. With no original songs to showcase VANILLA FUDGE made it count in their unique and original approach into how they interpreted each song. The band excelled at crafting a mix of top notch soulful harmonies with Mark Stein's vocals showing a particularly engaging style that mixed traditional soul singing with bouts of wailing and extended vocal techniques. The use of acid rock organ runs, energetic drumming excursions and heavy guitar moments earned the band the reputation as one of the few American acts that bridged the gap between the world of 1960s psychedelic rock and the future worlds of prog and metal.

Following only a year after The Supremes hit #1 on the Billboard singles chart with "You Keep Me Hangin' On," VANILLA FUDGE's version shot up to the top 10 as well only stalling at the #6 position. The single was enough to keep the band's album racing up the charts and propelling VANILLA FUDGE into the big time. The success allowed the band to tour with Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and eventually the band would tour with Led Zeppelin as their opening act. The band was a major influence on Deep Purple with its emphasis on the use of bombastic organ heft and harder rocking moments of guitar and drumming. The album walked a delicate balance between beautifully delivered soulful harmonies laced with tender orchestrations and the contrasting hard rock, the likes of which had never been attempted.

To be honest i'm not a fan of cover albums for the most part and the mid-1960s found many newly established acts not ready for prime time releasing albums that relied too heavily on cover songs to fill up space but VANILLA FUDGE is the exception as they definitely reinterpreted a diverse set of covers all the while drenching them in the sounds of the organ-fueled excesses of acid rock and heavy psych. The album flows perfectly from beginning to end and the band members really did take full command of the cover songs and make them their own. VANILLA FUDGE's debut is an excellent slice of traditional soulful pop songs transmogrified into proto-prog and proto-metal splendor. This one really is a unique moment in history since the band would follow with the avant-garde sophomore release "The Beat Goes On" before delivering an album of all original material on "Renaissance." While i don't want to love this one, i can't help myself! It's a brilliantly bold move from a band that masterfully crafted one of the most uncanny hybridization albums of the entire 1960s.

The addition of Vanilla Fudge to this classic songs, in my view, is not trying to improve the heavy element in them (an almost impossible task), but rather to bring out some implicit acid and soulful traits to the light of day. There is also a funkier accent impregnating, for example, Trampled Under Foot through the rhythm section and the vocals. In the very enjoyable rendition of Willie Dixon's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, we get a tasty flurry of acid guitar with wha-wha. In Dancing Days, the mellotron plays the part of the acid creeper, with the necessary involvement of the rest.

I don't think the Vanillas were trying to beat the Zepps in any dexterity contest either, more likely they try to shed new light on some colour shades, like the acoustic psychedelic folk fingerpicking in Black Mountain Side, Page's instrumental track gracing Zepp's 1969 debut. That kind of truly satisfying details, I came across time after time through the one well-invested hour of listening that this album demands.

Most certainly, nobody should postpone the discovery of Led Zeppelin's own recorded legacy, since there's no doubt that therein lies the real thing in its prime. But if you have explored those treasures enough, and you are looking for a view of that classics from a different angle, consider that this album offers an excellent choice, presented by a band that is a classic in its own right.

At first it sounds to me Vanilla Fudge had decided to make funk versions of every piece in this album. What really irritates from the beginning is plashing drums, totally out of sixties spirit. In "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" you can´t recognise the song from anything else except lyrics. It´s very boring groove piece. "The Letter" was originally unknown song to me, so I listened also The Box Tops version of it. Original wasn´t the greatest song in the world, but anyway it has good sixties sounds instead of pompous sounds in Fudge version. First it was pain to hear "I Can See For Miles" as funk version because it´s one of my favorites from the Who-songs. When first shock is over, this piece sounds decent and becomes the best one in this album. The Doors classic "Break On Through" starts promising. It´s the first one that really has in the beginning psychedelic feeling. But of course there comes those plashing drums in the middle and in the end song is more Whitesnake than the Doors or anything from the 1967.

"The Tracks Of My Tears" is again unknown to me. Both Johnny Rivers and this album version are really mediocre, so you can wonder, why they pick this song. "I´m a Believer" is the first one that has arranged in the same method as they did in 1967. But again they sound more Whitesnake than Vanilla Fudge. "Gimme Some Lovin" is made as rhythm and blues song. Not bad, but again it sounds like Coverdale and co. Finally in "For What It´s Worth" they achieve something that made them interesting in the sixties. Their version of that really hippie song is really dark and all the way totally different song, reminding their great version of Donovan´s "Season Of the Witch". Sadly they return to "Whitesnake"-mood in "Ruby Tuesday". If they had done something to those plashing drums, their version of "Whiter Shade Of Pale" would have been decent. "Let´s Pray For Peace" is only own piece in this album, it´s sympathetic ballad with it´s universal message.

It´s sad my suspicios were right. When thinking only music in this album, this really is only one stars album. But guys anyway play really good, so that rises it into two stars. I believe they had fun in the studio, but I think best solution would have been this had been never released. There are old artists like Faust, Roy Harper, Gong, Magma, Van Der Graaf Generator, King Crimson and Haikara, that has made really great albums after seventies. When listening this album I don´t think Vanille Fudge is. Not yet heard those other albums, I guess as old fan I have to listen them at least once. Anyway young people who haven´t got any idea of sixties music, don´t listen this album! Instead put on original albums of the Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who etc. In this album there is no spirit of ´67.

Vanilla Fudge's second album from 1968 may well be their best known for all the wrong reasons. A concept album that was the direct result of the psychedelic movement that exploded after the Beatles released the seminal Sgt. Pepper's album in 1967, it's a collection of faults. By stringing together snippets of songs "through the ages", VF tried to make their own avant garde psychedelic classic. While the song selection may have been inspired, the performances certainly were not. Particularly on a run of mid sixties Beatles covers, as who but the Fab Four could do justice to songs like "Day Tripper" and "I Feel Fine". The singers of VF, Mark Stein and Tim Bogart, are merely passable vocalists to begin with, and musically the songs are boring straight covers. It's only when the band turn on their own organ drenched and heavy bass and guitar sound on Beethoven's Fur Elise/Moonlight Sonata that real proggy musical fireworks erupt. But it's a case of too little too late, after the band takes one on a musical history lesson that is well known, basic and boring.

A tape collage of politician's speeches that's some kind of anti war statement does little to bring the album to any type of climatic close, but "Voices In Time - Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and others" is probably the most inspired idea on the album.

If Vanilla Fudge had focused solely on working their musical magic on only or mainly classical compositions, the result would have been a very good proto prog album in the vain of the Nice's Ars Longa Vita Brevis. I must say that the album does hold a strange fascination for me, like watching a highspeed car crash, but that's not art, is it? What's left is this failed experiment that shows off the worst excesses of the late sixties' psychedelic movement. No wonder it was short lived. 2 stars.

Back to 1967, a magical year in rock music. The UK is flooded by very exciting and adventurous albums, from The Nice, Pink Floyd and The Beatles to Procol Harum and The Moody Blues. These bands are scouting the boundaries of a wide range of styles, with the emphasis on rock, folk and classical, the press labels it as progressive rock. In the USA there is also an interesting progressive movement, but more focussed on blending styles with the emphasis on blues and psychedelia. The most famous bands are The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane and Santana. Another interesting band in the USA in 1967 is four piece formation Vanilla Fudge, in that magical year their eponymous debut LP reaches # 6 in the Billboard Album Top 100. Soon Vanilla Fudge is embraced by the young music fans in the USA and within a few years the band becomes the headliner during concerts with Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Deep Purple and Canned Heat. Later legandary bands like Yes, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple point at Vanilla Fudge as an important source of inspiration. But despite these facts Vanilla Fudge is the most overlooked progressive band, in a world where Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and ELP are hailed as 'the gods of prog'. So how about Vanilla Fudge their music, and the 'prog factor'?

The story of Vanilla Fudge started in the New York-area when Mark Stein (organ and lead vocals) and Tim Bogert (bass guitar) played in a band called Rick Martin & The Showmen. When Mark and Tim listened to the popular band The Rascals they were so impressed by the hot R&B covers with floods of Hammond B3 organ that they decided to form their own band, named The Pigeons. Together with Rick Martin's drummer Joey Brennan and new guitarist Vinnie Martell they started rehearsing and playing but Brennan was replaced by Carmine Appice. He played one night at the same place as The Pigeons and he was simply asked to join The Pigeons. At about the same time The Pigeons decided to change their name into Vanilla Fudge, after the nickname of the female singer of The Unspoken Word (she liked ice cream very much). And also a bidding war started to contract them because the band was very promising. Eventually in July 1967 Vanilla Fudge signed with Atco Records, a division of the famous Atlantic label. They released the single You Keep Me Hangin'On and then their first album Vanilla Fudge, soon Vanilla Fudge became the darlings of the underground, like Pink Floyd in the UK. The second album The Beat Goes On was the over-ambitious project of producer Shadow Morton to tell the entire history of contemporary music , from Mozart to Elvis Presley. Unfortunately it all sounded too weird and then Atco decided to re-release their first single You Keep Me Hangin' On, in order to stop the possible demise of the band. Atco hoped for the best, and indeed, the single became a small hit and soon they released their third album Renaissance that consisted primarily of original material. February '69 their fourth album Near The Beginning came out and in september '69 their fifth and final album called Rock & Roll was released. After these five LP's Vanilla Fudge decided to split up and to look for other musical challenges. During the years they reunited several times, and for me a dream came true when I attended a very inspired and exciting Vanilla Fudge gig in 2015 (see my avatar).

This review is about Vanilla Fudge their eponymous debut LP featuring only covers. How ironical, the creative way Vanilla Fudge re-arranged the covers showcase their unique and pivotal sound. Their trademark has two elements: on one hand the soul and gospel inspired vocals (with different lead singers) and vocal harmonies and on the other hand a pioneering Hammond-harder edged guitar combination.

Ticket To Ride (The Beatles) : The sound of the Hammond organ and the bluesy atmosphere creates a very special climate, fuelled by a dynamic rhythm-section (acknowledged by Jeff Beck who later founded Beck, Bogert and Appice). On this first track Vanilla Fudge also introduced thei trademark blend of soul and gospel inspired vocals. And the fiery guitar is a perfect counterpart to the powerful and omnipresent Hammond organ.

People Get Ready (The Impressions, written by Curtis Mayfield) : A slow rhythm and compelling work on the Hammond, and again fiery guitar runs and gospel/soul vocals.

She's Not There (The Zombies): The lush Hammond and raw electric guitar sound awesome, topped with strong vocals, this is trademark Vanilla Fudge.

Bang Bang (Cher, and Nancy Sinatra, written by Sonny Bono) : An omnipresent Hammond, pleasant vocal harmonies, a psychedelic touch and a strong final part with heavy guitar and Hammond outbursts.

Illusions ? The 3 parts are short psychedelic sonic impressions.

You Keep Me Hangin' On (The Supremes) : This is the single that got Vanilla Fudge on the map and for me the highlight on this album. Vanilla Fudge presents a captivating and dynamic blend of rock, blues and gospel with exciting Hammond waves, powerful electric guitar, distinctive vocal harmonies and excellent lead vocals, an extra dimension on this cover.

Take Me For A Little While (Jackie Ross) : A slow rhythm with soul inspired vocals and vocal harmonies, the Hammond gives a special flavour.

Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles): In the original version of The Beatles they don't play instruments, Paul MaCartney did the double-tracked lead vocals and Harrison and Lennon the vocal harmonies, George Martin arranged the string quartet. Vanilla Fudge replaced the strings by Hammond and electric guitar, creating a huge tension between the slow and bluesy parts and the bombastic outbursts, topped by strong vocals and a propulsive rhythm-section. To me this sounds as a very good rendition (superior to The Beatles but that is personal, I am more a Stones fan). And it showcased the inventive composing and exciting musical potential of Vanilla Fudge.

A band to discover, if you are up to the soul and gospel inspired vocals, that will not be everybody's cup of tea. But the work on the Hammond B3 is a Big Plus for the Hammond aficionados!