Customer Reviews

Vanilla Fudge

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Perhaps Vanilla Fudge is not for everybody because of their unique style and strange vocals, but the truth of the matter is that they were original. This writer sees the album as possibly the first progressive rock release. There are quasi-classical introductions and interludes throughout, predating Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the like. The originality is remarkable, despite the fact that they only covered well-known pop songs of the day. The Beatles Ticket to Ride, the Zombies She's Not There, and the Supremes You Keep Me Hanging On, are the songs that may interest fans of heavy metal. The Fudge gave them a slowed down, dramatic treatment with the heavy organ, active bass, pounding drums, and fuzzy psychedelic guitar. Their version of the Impressions People Get Ready is quite effective with the band's unique vocals, and church styled organ. The only possible weak spot would have to be Sonny Bono's Bang Bang. It has the feeling of a corny soap opera at times, but there are passages between the high-pitched vocals that are extremely heavy. Take Me For a Little While is an effective soul/pop fusion, and was probably the most normal sounding cut. The album ends with a most disturbing, psychedelic, and climactic version of Elanor Rigby, which truly captured the flair the band had for dramatic intensity. This album contains the Fudge's only top 40 hits, Hanging On(#6), and Little While(#38), but the Fudge should really be seen as an albums band. This album is one of Vanilla Fudge's best, and recommended. NOTE: Some reviewers have made the incorrect assumption that the band was nothing more than a studio creation thrown together by the record company. Actually, they were an established band for some time before this album, known as Mark and the Pigeons, influenced by the Long Island Sound of the Rascals, and Vagrants.

How many bands could produce an album that reached number three on the national charts consisting entirely of covers of classic compositions ranging from The Beatles, to The Zombies, to Sonny Bono, to The Supremes? That's exactly what Vanilla Fudge accomplished in 1967, "the Summer of Love", with their debut album. The organ heavy/heavy organ arrangements remained on the Top 100 for a remarkable 200 weeks.

'Vanilla Fudge' consists of Vince Martell on guitar, Mark Stein on organ and vocals, and the rugged rhythm section of Tim Bogert on bass and Carmine Appice on drums, who would in the 1970's team with Jeff Beck to form the minor supergroup (how's that for an oxymoron?) 'Beck, Bogert, and Appice'.

This groundbreaking album opens and closes with John Lennon/Paul McCartney compositions. The bombastic 'Ticket To Ride' features organ riffs that sound like a skateboard running over the keys. The band made up for whatever was lacking in their musical expertise through volume and intensity, and this track is the perfect example of that. An elegant funeral dirge-like arrangement of 'Eleanor Rigby' concludes the disc, with a last-second homage to 'Strawberry Fields' titled 'ELDS'. There are three other shorter-than-30 second blips on the disc, along with a couple announcements of tonal offerings from the engineer that lace the set with an atmosphere of experimental psychedelia. These brief tracks are titled 'WBER', 'STRA', and 'RYFI'. Lord knows what they stand for, but you can play them as anagrams for things like 'SLED', 'BREW', 'FIRY' and either 'RATS' or 'STAR'. Knock yourself out.

Other tracks covered on the disc are 'People Get Ready', sounding like a psychedelic church hymn, not up to par with 'The Chambers Brothers' version released the same year, or Curtis Mayfield's own original, but given it's unique treatment by The Fudge is still worthy of its six and one-half minutes. 'She's Not There' also doesn't approach The Zombies original, but it's an interesting cover nonetheless. The intro to Sonny Bono's 'Bang Bang' is something of an insane asylum's version of several childhood rhymes, and the song itself has a haunted feel to it. Great Halloween music.

The major classic on the disc is the white man's psychedelic take on The Supreme's 'You Keep Me Hanging On'. The song is one of two singles released from the album, and it rose to a deserving number eight on the national charts in August of 1968. Everything is right on this number (making it "right on" I suppose...), from the organ to the lead and background vocals, and especially Martell's nuanced lead guitar touches. The second single from the collection, 'Take Me For a Little While' was the band's sequel to 'You Keep Me Hanging On', and rose to number thirty-eight on the charts in October of '68. At 3:27 it's the shortest song on the album, while 'Eleanor Rigby' is the longest, timing out at 8:03. Most of the running times are beefed up by the band's penchant for extended, slowly emerging instrumental introductions. It's not uncommon for the band to stretch these covers into the five, six, and seven minute range, so that the seven major tracks total over 40 minutes of music.

There is nothing like this album. 'Vanilla Fudge', along with 'Creedence Clearwater Revival' were the two great cover bands of the 1960's, and this debut album is far and away their finest effort. Unfortunately the liner notes are nothing to write home about here, a serious shortcoming for far too many classic rock discs.

When I was young (gad, I'm 56 already), our band listened to this 33 rpm album over and over to mimick their renditions of previous hits, particularly "You Keep Me Hanging On," "Ticket to Ride," "Bang, Bang, You Shot Me Down"....Vanilla Fudge had a very unique sound, an experience (of course, psychedelic), with a suspenseful beginning in each song, building up to a dramatic climax....It was definitely listening music, whether stoned, tripping, or just fantasizing out to the infinite limits of the galaxy: definitely not dance music. The songs sound as original and different as the first time I heard the album nearly 40 years ago....LOL!

This is a must have album for anybody that loves 60's music. It has a kind of mystical quality about it. I especially liked "Bang Bang" and "People Get Ready". The whole album is great from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.

This project reminds me that great music came out of the 60's, not just "groovy" schtick. Vanilla Fudge worked music much like clay, not just 4:4 beat, Great dynamics..going soft, then booming volume. If ever you can see Ed Sullivans old show with Vanilla Fudge like I did last week on cable, it was a treat worth trying to locate.

Vanilla Fudge was one of the original psychedelic rock bands. I remember seeing them play several times out at the Wild Goose and Kinetic. Younger people don't realize just how popular these guys were in "head" circles. They were headliners. Top British head groups opened for these guys. Their music was not heavy metal as one reviewer questioned... metal music didn't even exist yet!! This stuff is what "hippies", "heads", the turned on generation was listening to. This was FM. We used to call it "acid rock" cuz half the people were trippin at the concerts and it was good music to trip to. This music is a reflection of what we were doing at the time. It speaks for us during those days.

Vanilla Fudge were great performers with some pretty cool tunes. They might not be the greatest band of all time but they gave us a really good rush every time they played! This album is a momento of some of the most wonderful times ever experienced on this planet... the late sixties.

"Vanilla Fudge." Even the name is funny. They play soul/pop classics, but white-guy-style, get it? Waaaay slow. Best heard through a, um, smoky haze that makes your brown eyes bloo. Histrionically speaking, off the frickin' scale. This one basically supplants Diana Ross's "Hangin' On" recording, but that's not all: "People Get Ready," "Take Me For A Little While," even brontosaurus-tempoed versions of "Ticket To Ride" and "Bang Bang." Man, this is the real deal. If you ain't got it, get it.

This is a superb album. Whoever would have thought that an album of all covers would be so successful, artistically and financially? Vanilla Fudge's biggest hit, You Keep Me Hangin' On, is far superior to the original version. It's an epic cover, running 7 1/2 minutes. Elenaor Rigby and Ticket to Ride are fantastic too. These songs are not straight forward covers. The Fudge took them and changed them drastically, but in an original and dramatic way, which is why they work so well. Their playing is incredibly intense as well. I always thought Vanilla Fudge could have been an American Pink Floyd, with their spooky, epic sound, but after this album, they put out a horrible "experimental" album called The Beat Goes On. They did release 3 more albums (which were excellent), but the "beat" album really screwed up their career. This is their best one. Play it loud and often...

How do you rate an album like this? It is what it is, a classic. Listening to it now, it sounds totally over the top and sadly, out dated...but at the time, this was what it was all about! I remember I was 19 and doing the light show (remember light shows?)in 1968 for a knock off band that did all of these Fudge songs and a couple Hendrix and Doors songs...They were quite good, I think--much of their great sound, I'm sure could be attributed to what I was on! But the Fudge and psychedelic light shows were made for each other! It was 'the scene'! This album is probably extremely hard for youngers to get into...this was at the beginning of feedback, fuzz boxes, black lights, dayglo body paints, hooka pipes, paisley, bell bottoms, etc...dig? It was far out, man. But like the Edsel, the Fudge got old fast, but still, like the Edsel, they were special, one of a kind. I have to give this album 5 stars...they hold a special place in history. Truly a collectors item...honestly, an original decent Vanilla Fudge vinyl album cover can bring a pretty good buck these days....just like a nicely restored Edsel, very collectable.

To put this in perspective, VF came on the scene at a time when most groups were concentrating on having matching jackets & haircuts. Sure, its over the top--but this level of musicianship is pretty serious, even today(!) The only exception might be Tim Bogert who seemed unfamiliar with the concept of tuning. Does anybody know what became of Stein & Martell? Dissapeared without a trace, as far as I can tell.