Vanilla Fudge (album)

Untitled

Vanilla Fudge (Atco 33-224/mono, SD 33-224/stereo) is the first album by the American psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge. It was released in summer 1967 and consists entirely of covers of songs, which were slowed down to about half speed of the original recordings by their original artists. The album is dedicated to Mrs. Lucy Monaco, the mother of Joseph Monaco who had a basement studio where groups associated with album's producer, Shadow Morton, were known to record. Publicly she has only been acknowledged as a close friend of Shadow Morton [1]

The album was Vanilla Fudge's most successful, peaking at #6 on the Billboard album charts in September 1967. An edited version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was released as a single and also charted.

In 2010, Rhapsody called it one of the all-time best "proto-metal" albums.

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Ticket to Ride" (John Lennon-Paul McCartney) – 5:40
2. "People Get Ready" (Curtis Mayfield) – 6:30
3. "She's Not There" (Rod Argent) – 4:55
4. "Bang Bang" (Sonny Bono) – 5:20

Side 1 of the album ends with: "The following is a series of high-frequency tones..."

Side 2

1. "STRA (Illusions Of My Childhood - Part One)" – 0:20
2. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland) – 7:20
3. "WBER (Illusions Of My Childhood - Part Two)" – 0:23
4. "Take Me For A Little While" (Trade Martin) – 3:27
5. "RYFI (Illusions Of My Childhood — Part Three)" – 0:23
6. "Eleanor Rigby" (John Lennon-Paul McCartney) - 7:40
7. "ELDS" - 0:31

The letters in STRAWBERRY FIELDS only appear on the CD cover and not the original album release.

The rills (spaces where the groove shifts bands) between "Illustions Of My Childhood - Part Two" and "Take Me For A Little While" were not cut accurately on the second pressing of the album. "Take Me For A Little While" begins within the band of "Illustions Of My Childhood - Part Two" and is continued while the rill shifts to the band for "Take Me For A Little While". The track "ELDS" is not a separate band on the album, being combined with "Eleanor Rigby".

Personnel

• Carmine Appice - drums, vocals
• Tim Bogert - bass, vocals
• Vince Martell - guitar, vocals
• Mark Stein - lead vocals, keyboards

Curiosity

• The intro of Eleanor Rigby was used by French rapper Booba in his 2002 Temps Mort album.