Pete Bremy (born October 15, 1952) is an American rock bass player. He is best known for his associations with
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 ...
and
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
.
Biography
Originally from Paterson, Bremy is a lifelong resident of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. He started singing at a very early age, and when his mother's friend, opera singer Lupe Landin, heard him sing she encouraged his mother to provide him with music lessons. He played music on and off through school. He got serious about music when he, as so many others, heard
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
.
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
inspired him to play drums and Bremy became a drummer for some local garage bands. He also took up bass in his early teens, inspired by
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and Vanilla Fudge bassist,
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 ...
. He received formal music training at
William Paterson University
William Paterson University, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education.
Founded in 1855 and was named after American ju ...
. Here he met jazz great
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists".
Biography
Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...
from whom he received more training.
Bremy spent most of his career as a local New Jersey musician, but got a break in 1997 when he met original Vanilla Fudge lead guitarist
Vince Martell
Vince Martell (born Vincent James Martellucci on November 11, 1945 from the
Essra Mohawk
Essra Mohawk (born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz on April 23, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter who has recorded a dozen albums, many receiving critical acclaim.
Her best-known songs include "Sufferin' Til Suffrage" and "Interjections!" (both from ...
. Her album ''
Primordial Lovers
''Primordial Lovers'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Essra Mohawk. Released on June 6, 1970, the album sold poorly. In 2000 the album was re-released by Rhino Handmade as a 22-track collection, combining the original al ...
'' was rated by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' as one of the top 25 albums of all time. He toured again with Mohawk in 2005.
In 2008, Tim Bogert once again became ill and Bremy substituted for him once again, but this time it was with
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
.
In 2010, Bremy became a member of
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 Bogert retired. The next year, a reunited Cactus, which is the band Vanilla Fudge drummer
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 bassist Tim Bogert formed after Vanilla Fudge broke up in 1970, also featured Bremy. Bremy is the only non-original member that played in both bands. Cactus released ''Black Dawn'', its first studio album in ten years in 2016. In 2016, after five years in the band touring the USA, Europe and Japan, Bremy, along with original guitarist
Jim McCarty
James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only member of the band to featur ...
, left Cactus.
Vanilla Fudge released its first studio album in ten years also in 2015, ''Spirit of '67'' with Bremy on bass and background vocals. Vanilla Fudge is still touring.
Since 2000, Bremy has also been a member of Vanilla Fudge lead guitarist Vince Martell's band.
Discography
Albums
* ''Vince Martell of Vanilla Fudge'' – Vince Martell
* ''Psychedelic Cymbals'' – Vince Martell
* ''Vince Martell Live'' – Vince Martell
* ''Where Broken Hearts Go'' – Bill Pascali Project
* ''Adopted Son'' – Jeff Guenther
* ''Mud and Stone'' – Loretta Hagen
* ''TKO Tokyo: Live in Japan'' – Cactus
* ''An Evening in Tokyo'' – Cactus
* ''Spirit of '67'' – Vanilla Fudge
* ''Black Dawn'' – Cactus
Singles
* "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" – Pete Bremy
* "Above the Storm" – Pete Bremy
* "Freedom" – Billy Killoran
* "Harley Chick" – Justin Jaymes