Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Fudge (1967)

Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band, originally active from 1966 to 1970.

Vanilla Fudge formed on Long Island, New York in 1966, with the lineup of Mark Stein (lead vocals/organ), Vince Martell (guitar), Tim Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums). Their debut album was released the next year on Atco Records, spearheaded by their fantastic cover of the Motown classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (originally by The Supremes). The song introduced their distinctive sound, slowing the tempo down and turning it into a heavy rock song. The rest of the album followed the same format, consisting as it did entirely of covers. The other songs that got the Vanilla Fudge treatment were Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang" (a 1966 hit for Cher), The Zombies' "She's Not There", The Impressions' "People Get Ready, Trade Martin's "Take Me For A Little While" and The Beatles' "Ticket To Ride" and "Eleanor Rigby". These songs were completely re-invented with dramatic new arrangements which alternated between loud, heavy passages and eerie, quiet ones, all unified in a distorted haze of psychedelia, with powerful drums, swirling organ and almost choral harmonies.
The album and the single were successes, both making it to #6 on the charts, and the band's popularity quickly picked up. Retrospectively, it can be said that they were one of the few bands in America to be making the link from psychedelia towards what would soon be known as heavy metal.

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