Box sets can be a dicey proposition. As a huge fan of their documentary approach to an artist or scene, they can contain everything you need to know in terms of popular output while also addressing rarities and other surprises. Among the more dubious contributions these compilations offer are demo versions and songwriting diaries which provide a detailed glimpse into the evolution of a song; sometimes, seeing how the sausage is made is not a pretty experience, and one unlikely to be repeated. Previously unreleased live material also factors in heavily, something I personally find enlightening. The recently released Vanilla Fudge box, entitled Where Is My Mind?, exhaustively covers all the bases. The band released five albums in just over two years, and each one is included in its entirety. The first two albums are even represented in both stereo and mono versions. My own youthful experience with the Vanilla Fudge was limited to their ubiquitous cover of the Supreme’s You Keep Me Hanging On, so having the opportunity to do a deep dive was a chance I could not refuse.
The seeds of the band were planted in New Jersey USA in the mid-60s when keysman Mark Stein and bassist Tim Bogert met in a local cover band. After seeing The Young Rascals in concert, the boys were entranced by Felix Cavalieri’s soulful vocals and his unique Hammond B3 organ sound. Concurrently, an experience with The Vagrants, featuring future Mountain climber Leslie West on guitar, was a lesson in drama and dynamics. With the addition of guitarist Vince Martell and, lastly, drummer Carmine Appice, the band started gigging in the NYC area as The Pigeons. The band quickly caught the ears of famed producer Shadow Morton, who had them record their seven minute psychedelic reinterpretation of the Supremes’ hit, which he subsequently brought to Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun. Following a name change, the Vanilla Fudge were unleashed upon the world.
The self-titled debut was a collection of cover tunes that radically reimagined the source material. Aside from the Supremes, the Beatles, Zombies, Curtis Mayfield and Cher all received the Fudgification treatment. Each song was commandeered by the heavy presence of the B3, which made the slower tempos seem practically funereal at times. However, with Martell’s guitar prowess, the concrete hard rhythm section of Bogert and Appice, and four fine vocalists, the band expanded the idea of what pop could encompass. Dare I say, this was one of the initial proto-prog statements that shone a light on the path ahead. Album number two, however, is one of those head-scratching listens. Sure, it was the sixties and weird was in vogue, but even by the standards of the day this one was a little hard to swallow. Envisioned as a history of popular music over three centuries, The Beat Goes On includes Fudged-up compositions by Mozart and Beethoven, the voices of Winston Churchill and Harry Truman, and takes on Cole Porter, Lieber and Stoller, and Sonny Bono. Some of it is barely listenable, some of it is inventive, some a perfect distillation of the trippy times. All of it is held together by variations on The Beat Goes On. What I find ironic is that, as difficult a listening experience as the album can be, it showcases what a talented group of musicians and vocalists Vanilla Fudge were.
Renaissance saw the band relying less on covers and more on original material. The nine minute version of Donovan’s Season Of The Witch is inspired and eerie, combining the boys’ talent for hearing songs in a very different manner with a growing confidence in how to express themselves. That confidence is finally realized in their own songwriting, as each member of the band contributes a song either alone or in tandem with a bandmate. The Sky Cried – When I Was A Boy is an odd combination of horror-movie creepiness and a stab at hard rock. Paradise shows the group’s aptitude for vocal harmonies, while Thoughts sounds like it could have come from an early Uriah Heep album. The problem is that the heavy organ/slow tempo template is already beginning to wear thin. One of the numerous bonus tracks in this set is a studio version of what would become one of their live juggernauts, Break Song. A group composition, it’s a bluesy-jammy tune which goes on for twenty minutes, giving each instrumentalist a showboating moment. Ultimately, it is more an exercise in indulgence than anything else, as the song never coalesces into a proper statement of intent.
CDs six and seven comprise a complete, previously unreleased concert performed live at San Francisco’s Fillmore West on December 31, 1968. The energy in the room is tangible as the Fudge tear through a collection of their greatest covers, the introduction of a couple new ones (Shotgun and Like A Rolling Stone), and a 22 plus minute version of Break Song. As you can imagine, the performances benefit from a looseness as well as an extra bit of noodling that is not present in the studio versions.
Near The Beginning was the band’s fourth studio album. Commencing with Junior Walker & The Allstars’ Shotgun, Martell and Appice go wild on their respective instruments, breathing new life into their arrangements and claiming the R&B hit as a genuine piece of rock. The Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood classic Some Velvet Morning continues the break from the Fudge’s typically glum reading by adding some great harmonies and putting an emphasis on the soft/loud dynamic. Appice contributes his original tune, Where Is Happiness, which falls back to the sound of the first LP, although with better vocals. An energetic, nearly 24 minute version of Break Song completes the album. Bonus tracks Heartache Jam and Love Jam update the Fudge guide with a more prominent blues vibe. Because these guys had the talent and musicianship, it would have been nice to see them use their classical influences to take these long form songs in a proggier direction, but that was not to be.
The final album released by Vanilla Fudge, only 25 moths after their debut, was Rock & Roll, which split the difference between covers and originals. Band composition Need Love is the album opener and is notable for its up tempo, rocking, boogie-woogie feel. There’s even a prominent electric piano solo. The star of the album is the song Lord In The Country, a Stein composition which incorporates a more sophisticated than usual melody and a full-on gospel chorus. The Church Bells Of St. Martins opens with a stately trumpet fanfare and even incorporates acoustic guitar and angelic harmonies. By contrast, Street Walking Woman is exactly the sort of sleazy throwaway tune you might expect from the title. The Windmills Of Your Mind is the sound of a band clinging to the formula that garnered them a hit with You Keep Me Hanging On, but two years later, it just sounds tired. The same holds true for covers of Carole King’s I Can’t Make It Alone and Rudy Clark’s If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody, the latter an obvious paean to the Young Rascals. Several bonus tracks recorded around the same time also stick close to what came before. Movin’ On and Studio Jam are lengthy originals that wallow in the blues and R&B. With some trimming, these songs could have had radio potential. Apparently that was the idea behind All In Your Mind, a three minute slice of pop rock that combines the best of all Vanilla Fudge had to offer, but never even made it onto the final album.
So, was the deep dive worth the 99 songs over 9 discs? Yes, if only to answer the question, “Did the Vanilla Fudge ever break out of its formulaic, funeral approach to covering the hits of the day?” That they surely did, but not nearly often enough. When it happened, there were flashes of brilliance, moments of sheer lunacy (I’m pointing a finger at you, The Beat Goes On), and a general reluctance to go further than the hippy dippy blues/R&B hybrid that was so fashionable at the time. Where Is My Mind? is a completist’s dream. But for the casual listener, I’m afraid it might just put them to sleep.
TRACK LISTING
Disc One – Vanilla Fudge (Mono – August 1967)
01. Ticket To Ride (5:56)
02. People Get Ready (6:30)
03. She’s Not There (4:57)
04. Bang Bang (6:17)
05. Illusions Of My Childhood Part One (0:29)
06. You Keep Me Hanging On (6:40)
07. Illusions Of My Childhood Part Two (0:15)
08. Take Me For A Little While (3:18)
09. Illusions Of My Childhood Part Three (0:35)
10. Eleanor Rigby (8:15)
~ Bonus tracks
11. You Keep Me Hanging On (Single Version) (3:00)
12. Illusions Of My Childhood – Eleanor Rigby Part One (UK Single 1967) (2:54)
13. Eleanor Rigby Part Two (UK Single 1967) (3:08)
Time: 46:16
Disc Two – Vanilla Fudge (Stereo – August 1967)
01. Ticket To Ride (5:55)
02. People Get Ready (6:31)
03. She’s Not There (4:58)
04. Bang Bang (5:19)
05. Illusions Of My Childhood Part One (:30)
06. You Keep Me Hanging On (6:40)
07. Illusions Of My Childhood Part Two (0:15)
08. Take Me For A Little While (3:19)
09. Illusions Of My Childhood Part Three (0:26)
10. Eleanor Rigby (8:25)
~ Bonus tracks
11. Ticket To Ride (Unissued Single Mix) (5:56)
12. Take Me For A Little While (1967 Single Version) (3:26)
Time: 51:40
Disc Three – The Beat Goes On (Mono – February 1968)
01. Sketch (3:00)
02. The Beat Goes On (2:00)
03. Eighteenth Century: Variations On A Theme By Mozart (0:52)
04. Nineteenth Century: Old Black Joe (0:44)
05. Don’t Fence Me In (0:59)
06. 12th Street Rag (0:56)
07. In the Mood (0:51)
08. Hound Dog (0:49)
09. The Beatles: I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Feel Fine / Day Tripper / She Loves You / Hello Goodbye (1:45)
10. The Beat Goes On (1:36)
11. Beethoven: Fur Elise & Moonlight Sonata (6:36)
12. The Beat Goes On (1:08)
13. The Beat Goes On (1:04)
14. Voices In Time (8:15)
15. The Beat Goes On (1:04)
16. Merchant / The Game Is Over (9:48)
17. The Beat Goes On (2:26)
~ Bonus tracks
18. Where Is My Mind (2:45)
19. The Look Of Love (2:49)
Time: 49:27
Disc Four – The Beat Goes On (Stereo – February 1968)
01. Sketch (3:01)
02. The Beat Goes On (1:58)
03. Eighteenth Century: Variations On A Theme By Mozart (0:52)
04. Nineteenth Century: Old Black Joe (0:44)
05. Don’t Fence Me In (0:59)
06. 12th Street Rag (0:56)
07. In the Mood (0:51)
08. Hound Dog (0:49)
09. The Beatles: I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Feel Fine / Day Tripper / She Loves You / Hello Goodbye (1:44)
10. The Beat Goes On (1:37)
11. Beethoven: Fur Elise & Moonlight Sonata (6:35)
12. The Beat Goes On (1:09)
13. The Beat Goes On (1:03)
14. Voices In Time (8:15)
15. The Beat Goes On (1:05)
16. Merchant / The Game Is Over (9:50)
17. The Beat Goes On (2:28)
~ Bonus tracks
18. You Can’t Do That (recorded 1968) (4:25)
19. Come By Day, Come By Night (B-Side Of Single) (2:57)
Total Time: 51:18
Disc Five – Renaissance (June 1968)
01. The Sky Cried – When I Was A Boy (7:39)
02. Thoughts (3:32)
03. Paradise (6:02)
04. That’s What Makes A Man A Man (4:27)
05. The Spell That Comes After (4:32)
06. Faceless People (6:05)
07. Season Of The Witch (8:58)
~ Bonus Tracks
08. Take Me For A Little While (1968 Single Remix) (3:21)
09. Season Of The Witch Part One (A-Side of Single) (3:33)
10. Season Of The Witch Part Two (B-Side Of Single) (3:18)
11. Break Song (Studio Version) (19:57)
Time: 71:24
Disc Six – Live at The Fillmore West 1st January 1969
01. She’s Not There (8:40)
02. Shotgun (6:34)
03. People Get Ready (8:35)
04. You Keep Me Hanging On (7:23)
05. Season Of The Witch (10:51)
06. Break Song (22:37)
Time: 64:40
Disc Seven – Live at The Fillmore West 1st January 1969
01. Good Good Livin’ (5:05)
02. Ticket To Ride (5:45)
03. Medley: Moonlight Sonata / Fur Elise / Eleanor Rigby (15:51)
04. Take Me For A Little While (4:32)
05. Like A Rolling Stone (7:14)
Time: 38:27
Disc Eight – Near The Beginning (February 1969)
01. Shotgun (6:14)
02. Some Velvet Morning (7:33)
03. Where Is Happiness (6:59)
04. Break Song (23:25)
~ Bonus Tracks
05. Heartache Jam (4:21)
06. Shotgun (Single Edit, A-Side Of Single) (2:30)
07. Good Good Livin’ (B-Side Of Single) (2:59)
08. People (B-Side Of Single) (5:25)
09. Some Velvet Morning (Short Version) (3:01)
10. Good Good Livin’ (Unedited Version) (5:47)
11. Love Jam (10:20)
Time: 78:34
Disc Nine – Rock & Roll (September 1969)
01. Need Love (4:57)
02. Lord in The Country (4:33)
03. I Can’t Make It Alone (4:48)
04. Street Walking Woman (6:13)
05. The Church Bells Of St. Martins (4:39)
06. The Windmills Of Your Mind (6:02)
07. If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (6:20)
~ Bonus Tracks
08. Movin’ On (9:14)
09. Studio Jam (12:27)
10. All In Your Mind (3:03)
11. Need Love (Mono Single Version) (2:40)
12. I Can’t Make It Alone (Single Version) (3:36)
13. Lord In The Country (Single Version) (2:44)
Time: 71:17
Total Time – 523:03
MUSICIANS
Mark Stein – Lead Vocals, Organ, Keyboards
Vince Martell – Guitar, Vocals
Tim Bogert – Bass, Vocals
Carmine Appice – Drums, Vocals
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records | Esoteric Recordings
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Date of Release: 27th September 2024
LINKS
Vanilla Fudge – Website | Facebook | Info at Cherry Red Records | Instagram