keyboardist
A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
, who is a member of the
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
group
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On".
The band's original line–up—vocalist a ...
. Stein also worked in the
Tommy Bolin
Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining a ...
band and
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
's band during 1978 and 1979.
Career
Stein was born and raised in
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...
. He began playing piano at age four and later attempted the
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
. Upon being exposed to
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
in the 1950s, Stein settled on the guitar. He worked his way through various bands in his high school. While performing with one of these early groups, he spied an "old beat-up organ on the stage and started jamming on it."
Stein and
Tim Bogert
John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III (August 27, 1944 – January 13, 2021) was an American multi-instrumentalist, musician. He graduated in 1963 from Ridgefield Memorial High School in his hometown of Ridgefield, New Jersey. As a bass guitarist an ...
had played in a local band called Rick Martin & The Showmen. The pair were so impressed by the swinging, organ-heavy sound of
The Rascals
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
they decided to form their own band in 1965. Originally calling themselves The Electric Pigeons, they soon shortened the name to The Pigeons. Eventually,
Carmine Appice
Carmine Appice ( , born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's ...
and
Vince Martell
Vince Martell (born Vincent James Martellucci on November 11, 1945 from the
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On".
The band's original line–up—vocalist a ...
when they signed to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. The name change came because Atlantic didn't like the name The Pigeons. The origin of the name Vanilla Fudge came from a woman called Dee Dee, who worked at the Page 2 Club in
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, who stated her grandfather nicknamed her Vanilla Fudge. The bands debut was released in August 1967 and is a
Gold Record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
. Their cover of
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...
'
You Keep Me Hangin' On
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown girl group the Supremes, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. American rock band Vanilla Fudge ...
is their most well known track. Vanilla Fudge are known for performing slow and heavier covers of fast and upbeat songs.
Mark published the autobiography, ''You Keep Me Hangin’'' On in 2011. Stein released the solo album There's A Light was on November 26 2021. During the pandemic of 2020, Mark wrote, recorded and released the single “''We Are One''”, a reflection on the
Black Lives Matter movement
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
. Stein, Appice and Martell still continue to tour as Vanilla Fudge.
The band has been cited as; ''"one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal."''
Stein himself influenced organist
Jon Lord
John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...
of the band
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
. Lord, in a 1989 interview said; ''" eused to listen to Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge in the late sixties. He was a useful source of tricks on the Hammond."''
Mark was in the Tommy Cooper band from 1978 to 1979.
Vanilla Fudge Discography
Studio albums
Collections and live albums
* ''Vanilla Fudge – The Fantastic Vanilla'' (1969)
* '' Best of Vanilla Fudge'' (1982)
* ''The Best of Vanilla Fudge – Live'' (1991)
* '' Psychedelic Sundae – The Best of Vanilla Fudge'' (1993)
* ''The Return – Live in Germany Part 1'' (2003)
* ''The Real Deal – Vanilla Fudge Live'' (2003)
* ''Rocks the Universe – Live in Germany Part 2'' (2003)
* ''Good Good Rockin' – Live at Rockpalast'' (2007)
* ''Orchestral Fudge'' (live) (2008)
* ''When Two Worlds Collide'' (live) (2008)
* ''Box of Fudge'' – Rhino Handmade (2010)
* ''The Complete Atco Singles'' (2014)
* ''Live at Sweden Rock 2016: The 50th Anniversary'' (live) (2017)