Vanilla Fudge
Near The Beginning

The versatility of Vanilla Fudge is demonstrated by their first self-titled album, filled with excellent covers ranging from the Beatles to "Bang Bang" and even the famous "You Keep Me Hangin' On." The chameleonic "The Beat Goes On" from the following year, 1968, featured more covers of the Fab Four rendered unpredictably, even including a sensational remake of "Fur Elise." The dawn, albeit sometimes raw, of the progressive era.

During the era of protest, we also have the first work containing all pieces signed by the quartet. Well, not quite, as "Season Of The Witch" elevates the level (also redone by Bloomfield, Kooper & Stills). The sound presented by the band in this "Renaissance" is enhanced by Mark Stein's Hammond and the unpredictable bass of Tim Bogert, which inaugurates the roaming of Hugh Hopper's four strings. Let's not forget Carmine Appice's pounding beats, which will have their consecration in the subsequent "Near The Beginning."

Along with Procol Harum and Moody Blues, it is the group that inaugurates the first sonic complexities of rock, beat, and psychedelia (although we shouldn't overlook the Americans Red Krayola). However, the arrangements and style of Vanilla will certainly influence their countrymen Uriah Heep. The ecstatic choruses that float over the otherworldly suspension hidden within the Hammond are the trademark of Stein and company. But they make it clear that you have to hit especially hard in live performances, and here come the likes of Grand Funk Railroad, though perhaps more fond of Creedence.

"Near The Beginning" is the 1969 album that closes the band's golden era before dissolving the project with the "cacophonous" "Rock & Roll." With "Near The Beginning," there is greater freedom for the individual elements, more individuality, and the experience necessary to produce a masterpiece with four tracks. It begins with the explosive cover of "Shotgun" by the forgotten Junior Walker, who will even feature in the sax of "Urgent" by Foreigner, and the reworking leaves no room for pauses. Straight as a train for six minutes, driven by Bogert's unbridled bass and Appice's snare that raises the white flag.

"Some Velvet Morning" is the band's jewel, a gem of music in general and of the Sixties. Of course, this is also a cover, penned by Lee Hazlewood. But the way Vanilla gave birth to it is something unique. Even today, I have my dad's 45 with "People" as the B-side, but that subtle Hammond intro like a march, broken by the overflowing attack of toms and guitar, will never leave my mind. The best cover of this track, subsequently redone by a thousand artists, even by the shoegazers Slowdive. The harmony reaches divine peaks, everything seems so easy yet at the same time unfathomable. The sublime variations caress us in this all-too-brief, all-too-rare journey.

After this, the rest seems like nothing. "Where Is Happiness" closes Side A, while Side B is occupied by the twenty-minute live "Break Song." The former recalls the crepuscular and "dark" sound of "Renaissance." The guitar of Vince Martell, an unfortunately forgotten figure never glorified by anyone in any past decade, takes center stage. "Break Song" is their "Do What You Like." I don't think it reaches the mastery of Blind Faith, but Appice gives us a virulent solo behind the drums, while the rest is a jam (and what a jam...)