Vanilla Fudge has had an interesting history. Starting in the mid-’60s, the
quartet quickly became known for their heavy, driving covers of “You Keep
Me Hanging On,” “Season of the Witch” and even the Beatles’
“Ticket To Ride” and “Eleanor Rigby.” In the late ’60s
and early ’70s, this classic American rock band consisting of great musicians
and equally great vocalists, toured everywhere, befriended Led Zeppelin, made
a few albums, splintered, reformed and morphed into other super groups. One
night, in 2004, with two original members (Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert) and
two stand-ins — Teddy Rondinelli for guitarist Vince Martell, and Billy
Pascali taking over for lead singer and keyboardist Mark Stein — the Fudge
hit the stage with the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra, mixing or colliding,
if you will, their talents. The evening was captured on film and packaged as
a DVD called When Two Worlds Collide.
After a short orchestral opening, the Fudge take the reins on “Good Livin’,”
an upfront version that finds the band and orchestra more in tune than on a
collision course. “Ain’t That Peculiar” features some great guitar
work form Rondinelli, and an excellent lead vocal from Appice. “People
Get Ready,” with its infamous Fudge arrangement, illustrates what this
band is capable of — deep groove playing, spot-on vocal harmonies and
an innate knowledge of what they should and shouldn’t do to make a cover their
own while respecting the original.
“Shot Gun” moves with the first Bogert lead vocal, and as always
I am reminded of what a huge, often overlooked talent this man is. “You
Keep Me Hanging On” is about what you’d expect — full of drama stood
on its ear as they blistering the Supremes classic. While it’s hard to
say, at times, if the orchestra makes all that much difference, they really
do add something on “Season Of The Witch” with Rondinelli taking the
spotlight on vocals and guitar. The band also performs the Rod Stewart hit “Do
You Think I’m Sexy.” As you may recall from your rock and roll history,
Appice played for Stewart and even co-wrote the song with the singer. Here,
it gets “fudgified” with a nice and heavy undercurrent.
The DVD includes a short, yet informative documentary on the history of the
band, a photo gallery, even a commentary track on the orchestra/band ‘collision’
performance, which I should note isn’t a concert with an audience really, just
the Fudge set up with the orchestra in what looks like a large recording studio.
Yet, there’s a strange live setting performance where it looks like the band
and orchestra were playing in a park actually, and the members of the Fudge
sit down to sing their rendition of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want
It That Way,” an odd addition that could have just been easily left off
the DVD.
When Two Worlds Collide is some good rocking stuff. While
the mix of orchestra works maybe half the time, the four-man Vanilla Fudge sound
as good as ever, albeit with only two original members. And really, how can
you not love watching Carmine Appice, maybe one of the best rock drummers, certainly
one of the most fun to watch, provide the beat to this American rock institution?
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
