A Taste of Vanilla Fudge
I"m a fan of Seacoast Notes, an e-mail newsletter from SeacoastNH.com, and one recent article particularly caught my eye.
The famous Hampton Beach Casino recently featured a great 1960s group that looms pretty large in my personal musical memories. The first real rock band I ever saw was Vanilla Fudge (I had seen the Lovin' Spoonful but they were more in the pop-folk vein). I was living in Northwest Florida, and the Fudge played a little venue in the closest "city" -- Pensacola. I rode all the way over from Shalimar (about 45 miles) with two other guys. I called shotgun late and wound up riding in the seatless back of an MG Midget. Once there we walked around the place once, no seats, just standing room in a bad hall, I think it was a school "cafetorium." The band began to play their first number (can't even remember what it was) and Mark Stein dove into a power glissando on his keys. Almost immediately he stood up and walked off stage. The band jammed, gamely, in his absence. When they stopped, the crowd started booing and one of the band members told them to shut up, explaining that Mark had cut his hand on a broken piano key. The concert went on without him and was enjoyable enough, though I don't really remember it. I was fixated on a girl I knew from Niceville who was there. When the band finished up it was still pretty early, and the girl's ride hadn't come. We offered her a ride back with us. Since it was my turn to ride shotgun on the way home, she sat in my lap the whole way. This was a memorable episode, as you might expect, for a 16-year-old boy. I still remember the smell of her perfume. And I owe it all to Mark Stein and Vanilla Fudge.
Sorry I didn't know you were coming.
The Fudge, according to SeacoastNH.com, are the longest running rock band still performing with all their original members. Not bad for a one-hit wonder.
The famous Hampton Beach Casino recently featured a great 1960s group that looms pretty large in my personal musical memories. The first real rock band I ever saw was Vanilla Fudge (I had seen the Lovin' Spoonful but they were more in the pop-folk vein). I was living in Northwest Florida, and the Fudge played a little venue in the closest "city" -- Pensacola. I rode all the way over from Shalimar (about 45 miles) with two other guys. I called shotgun late and wound up riding in the seatless back of an MG Midget. Once there we walked around the place once, no seats, just standing room in a bad hall, I think it was a school "cafetorium." The band began to play their first number (can't even remember what it was) and Mark Stein dove into a power glissando on his keys. Almost immediately he stood up and walked off stage. The band jammed, gamely, in his absence. When they stopped, the crowd started booing and one of the band members told them to shut up, explaining that Mark had cut his hand on a broken piano key. The concert went on without him and was enjoyable enough, though I don't really remember it. I was fixated on a girl I knew from Niceville who was there. When the band finished up it was still pretty early, and the girl's ride hadn't come. We offered her a ride back with us. Since it was my turn to ride shotgun on the way home, she sat in my lap the whole way. This was a memorable episode, as you might expect, for a 16-year-old boy. I still remember the smell of her perfume. And I owe it all to Mark Stein and Vanilla Fudge.
Sorry I didn't know you were coming.
The Fudge, according to SeacoastNH.com, are the longest running rock band still performing with all their original members. Not bad for a one-hit wonder.
posted by Rick Broussard at 9:51 PM
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