I was reminded the other day that exactly 20 years ago, Vanilla Fudge reunited in New York for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert. This event is significant to me for many reasons. For one, my good friend Lanny Cordola was hired to play guitar at the gig, replacing original guitarist Vinny Martell (who later rejoined the Fudge for subsequent reunions). Lanny had been playing with Fudge vocalist/keyboardist Mark Stein in a band called Danger Zone, plus he had also worked with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, so the chemistry was there.
I attended a few Danger Zone rehearsals, and got to know Mark and his wife Patty. So when Vanilla Fudge was invited to New York and Lanny was brought in, I was fortunate enough to get an invite as long as I helped out. I wrote an article about my experience at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary, if you want to read all the gritty details.
On May 14, 1988, I saw what will probably be the best concert of my life. Not only did I get to work with and see a pioneering band like Vanilla Fudge; I also witnessed reunions of the Rascals and Led Zeppelin, along with 14 hours of once-in-a-lifetime performances by Genesis, Yes, Foreigner, Paul Rodgers, Keith Emerson, Carl Palmer, Robert Plant, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and many others. I took lots of pictures, met lots of interesting people, and had a glorious time.
Today, as a sort of update to the article I wrote over 10 years ago, I still am in touch with Lanny Cordola and the members of Vanilla Fudge. Lanny is a busy session musician involved in numerous projects, including a unique film and album focusing on John Coltrane’s jazz masterpiece, A Love Supreme.
Five years ago, I did an interview with Mark Stein, and I still stay in touch with him and Patty, who reside in Florida. After a few shifts in personnel and a little fence mending, the four original members of Vanilla Fudge are back together and on the road. I’ve been wanting to get out to a show and say hello, but I just haven’t had the chance. Hopefully, that will change this summer.
A related item recently came across my desk about Carmine Appice. If you know anything about Carmine, you know how ambitious and busy he is. The guy always has a lot of things going on. His latest project is called SLAMM USA , a band/theatrical experience that features five drummers and one guitarist, combining elements of “the Blue Man Group, Home Depot, NASCAR, and melodic hard rock.” Interesting.
Described as “Stomp on steroids,” SLAMM is playing all over the place these days. They also appear in a promotional video for ESPN that features the SLAMM boys playing the NASCAR garage and beating the hood of a multi-million dollar NASCAR car to a custom SLAMM-composed Nascar theme song. “I’m glad NASCAR didn’t make us pay for playing the garage!” Carmine remarked.
Anyway, I hope to be talking to Carmine in the near future about SLAMM and other things he has going. Below are dates for upcoming SLAMM, Vanilla Fudge and Cactus shows.
May 23 - SLAMM at the Hard Rock Cafe, Foxwoods Resort Casino Ledyard, CT
June 13 - Cactus at Dexter’s Nightclub, Riverdale, NJ
June 14 - Cactus at The Crazy Donkey, Farmingdale, NY
June 15 - Cactus at Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, NJ
June 28 - SLAMM at Festival Pier, Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, PA
August 28 - Vanilla Fudge at Cannery Casino, Las Vegas, NV
September 6 - SLAMM at University of Washington with the drum line
September 19 - SLAMM at Sellersville 1894 Theatre, Sellersville, PA
September 20 - SLAMM at Boulton Center for the Arts, Bay Shore, NY
September 26 - Vanilla Fudge at Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
September 27 - Vanilla Fudge at Westbury Music Fair, NY
Check out the video below of Vanilla Fudge performing “Keep Me Hangin’ On.” It’s from the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden on May 14, 1988….
