Vanilla Fudge
Then And Now
Fuel 2000
Some people are never too old to rock and roll, and I count Carmine Appice high on the roster of classic rockers still not only alive, but functional. Somehow, this band made its living bloating songs by more mainstream artists to over the top psychedelic trip-outs. They had one really big hit with “You Keep Me Hanging On,” originally a Supremes tune. Their most recent version opens this disc, and the painful depths of a song about uncertain love is less a female lament than a guy who FINALLY gets the idea that his woman is less than faithful.
Then and Now finds a clear certainty in its brazen use of other people’s hits. Tunes from the Beatles, Rod Stewart and even Donovan sound somehow more whole, more connected and more relevant when stripped from their Top 40 pop roots and plastered into the electric boogaloo style. These guys could take the Lutheran hymnal and wring some ’60s sensibility out of it. If ever there was a band that ought to live in some weird little aisle of the rock and roll hall of famous living artists, it’s Vanilla Fudge. Rock on, Dudes!
Vanilla Fudge: http://www.vanillafudge.com
