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Tribute to a Tribute
Year 2006 A.D.
The Vanilla playing the Zepp.
Square Rock mold, as Sfascia would say.
As usual, Hagiographic and Old (Noble readers, be advised for what follows).
But now, enough joking.
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Have any of you ever celebrated your birthday or an anniversary by dedicating it to someone else?! Have you ever paid tribute to someone else during your own occasion?!
I've done things like that (though, generally, I'm not a point of reference) and, anyway, it seems to me a situation rarely found in this world.
If then a great band (not just 4 losers!) decides to celebrate their 40 years (!!!) of activity by making a new album entirely of covers of a "colleague" band, it seems to me more unique than rare, I'd say.
In 2006, Vanilla Fudge, for this historic date, decide to dedicate an entire album to their contemporaries, Led Zeppelin.
Friendship, as I mentioned in my last writing... loyalty and respect. Hard to understand in general, almost impossible nowadays. If we then look at history, in the usual way of thinking (useless docet), the opposite should have happened.
At the end of 1968 (December 26th, if I remember correctly), the New Yardbirds, recently renamed Led Zeppelin, start their first tour (Jeff Beck declines and Grant seizes the opportunity). The Led Zeppelin are completely unknown (they haven't released an album yet, even though they've signed a record contract—out of nowhere—with Atlantic). At the very first concerts, they either don't even have their name on the bill or are called by the most absurd names (from a "Jimmy Page's Led Zeppilen" to a tragicomic "Len Zefflin"), and they open for already famous groups.
There's a "small" problem right away; the Led Zeppelin are a hypnotic tank, rolling over everything and mesmerizing everyone. Going on stage after them, with the audience calling for them in ecstasy, is not exactly the height of delight.
It’s obvious then that, as an opening band, they last very little and are put on the bill “together” with the other groups. There are those who are savvy and understand this and those who are foolish and get angry for an undeniable and unchangeable reality.
And so, in front of the Iron Butterfly, who, indignant (??!) by the long and "brazen" performance of the "opening band," refuse to take the stage, there are the Vanilla Fudge who, once they understand the situation, simply play first themselves (simple, right?! Not that it took a genius, but pride usually takes over).
This is how the relationship between these eight guys begins (yes, because before two bands, we are talking about people).
How much they enjoyed themselves together in that 1969, during the first American tours of the Zeppelin, only they know ("shark episode" July 1969 at the legendary Edgewater Inn in Seattle, just the most "famous"). A truly rare camaraderie.
"We always wondered who would get us out of the way, and it was the Led Zeppelin.
The concerts we did with them were always a lot of fun. We all became good friends. Sometimes we exchanged rhythm sections in the middle of "How Many More Times" Carmine Appice
"There was a part of "Dazed and Confused" where we all stopped to let Page and Plant do their solo parts, then we came back with the fast riff... but when Jimmy and Robert turned around, they found Bogert and Appice instead of me and Bonham. We swapped places while the other two were up front, and since we were always in the dark at that point in the song, no one ever noticed!" John Paul Jones
Friendship and respect spring up immediately and remain forever. The Vanilla would disband in 1970 (to reform much later), but what was created between those guys was now solidified.
Especially between Appice and Bonham, everything blossomed spontaneously. It's as if the "older" Carmine had decided to take care of the naive and inexperienced colleague. Between the two, there are only 18 months of age gap, but those couple of years of tour and successful albums "favor" the New York mustache, making such a big difference in on-field experience. The drummer of Italian descent perceives both the musical talent and, especially, the fragile personality and character of Bonzo... probably one of the few to realize it from the start.
"I adored Bonzo. He was a magnificent man. He always treated me with kindness and respect, even when he had drunk a little too much," the heartfelt words of Carmine.
Appice, Bogert, Martell, and Stein, from their very beginnings, have always played a lot of covers. I’m not an expert, but listening to a lot from that period, I think they were among the most technically/musically gifted bands. Perhaps they were among the first, if not the first, to mix, as naturally as possible, beat, soul, funk, hard rock, psychedelia, and progressive.
After the release of their first album, they start a UK tour. It's said that in that magnificent London 'sixty-seven, where all the spotlight was on the new guitar phenomenon (one James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix), the real attraction was, in fact, the Vanilla concerts.
Word of mouth was the word, and many came to hear them play. Blackmore and Lord would say they were their first Heroes, the Beatles and Clapton would go whenever they could. Much of the rock to come would be influenced by them (so many bands claim, from Uriah Heep to Yes and Funkadelic, to name three greats of different genres).
The band's center of gravity was the fabulous sound of Mark's Hammond (how many took notes only to become much more famous than him!). Around him, the decisively bluesy and psychedelic guitar of Vince and the rhythm section of Tim and Carmine.
Indeed... Bogert and Appice, few equals in the history of rock for my personal taste. Tim was among those bassists who give the impression they could do anything with the instrument, and Carmine combined a wild force with a creativity and versatility I’ve heard in very few others. Krupa and Rich were his idols and reference points, just like Bonzo.
I am not, most of the time, against or for something by principle.
I am in favor of everything that transmits emotions to me, where I feel much passion. On the contrary, I am not interested in anything that seems mechanical and soulless to me (even if done very well).
That's my stance on music and life too. I am not interested in the impeccably flawless situation. What matters is that it moves me, makes me laugh or cry, hurts me... that kind of hurt that makes me feel alive.
Toward people, this distinction is even more pronounced... that's why I tolerate almost nothing now and have respect for very few. For these few, however, I would give everything. No balance, there's the issue... but it doesn't matter at all... let's go back to the nobles.
It's the same for covers, but I admit there are few, compared to the multitude I know, that I remember as being as worthy or even more than the original.
The covers by these guys have always been of the highest level. It was clear they played them with enthusiasm and passion.
There was that personal touch that made even someone as clueless as me recognize that it was them playing. Many on the first albums and in the live shows; famous and particularly beautiful and distinctive are the covers of the Beatles.
I should talk to you about the album....
Naaaaaaa, The Vanilla playing the Zepp with so much class is enough; I can’t explain these things, too grand.
And the class lies also in avoiding those inimitable classics where anyone would risk embarrassment, not for their own fault (primarily Stairway, Whole, Kashmir, Black Dog, Achilles, Heartbreaker, etc. etc. etc......).
And anyway, 12 pieces executed magnificently, trust me (just on this, but trust me).
So beautiful that on a first listen, you’d say that "Immigrant Song" and "Baby, I'm Gonna Leave You" are truly super in this version. Then by the second listen, you notice how sublime the soul and gospel choruses are in "Fool In The Rain" and "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and decide they are the album's highlights. By the third, you’re nailed to the true Vanilla sound, full-bodied and baroque, heard in "All My Love" and a "Dancing Days" that sounds beautifully as if released in the early nineties.
But then you listen to "Moby Dick" and remember those two guys together that year, the "older" advising and taking care of the "younger".... and you feel that here Appice has given his all for his friend. Outstanding, Carmine.
However, I highlight my Best in "Dazed And Confused", majestic and powerful at the same time (even though that synth intro almost gave me an embolism... but then everything went smoothly).
Perhaps it's because the version by "my" guys never thrilled me that much - except for the epic intro, obviously.
(ssssssshhhhhh because if the Wizard knows he'll stick the bow in my butt eh).
A score?! ..... For the Vanilla playing (magnificently) some Led Zeppelin tracks?! I hope you're joking....
Good Nobles
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