interviewsofrecordingartists.com (Q)-Please state your name, age and place of birth.
(A)-Carmine Appice. I'm fifty-eight. New York City.
(Q)-Why has Vanilla Fudge released the new disc, "Then And Now", at this time?
(A)-Because for years, we weren't doing anything together on a steady basis. We'd get together now and then. One of the last things we had done was the Atlantic (Records) 40th Anniversary Show in 1988. Then we went to Japan and did a very unpublicized gig there. When a friend of ours offered us his (recording) studio to re-record all of our hits we decided to put them all on one record.
(Q)-Why did the band decide to record the material in that fashion?
(A)-If we do anymore gigs, we can sell it on one record to the people with the band that they came out to see at the gig. So, our new manager began working with FUEL 2000 and he was into the idea of doing a then and now record
and that lead to the new disc, "Then And Now".
(Q)-Is there a single off of the new disc?
(A)-Yes. "Tearin' Up My Heart". We've been doing some gigs and we've got some gigs coming up, so we decided to put some new arrangements on there so we added the "N Sync song and a Backstreet Boys song ("I Want It That Way")and we added a song I co-wrote, "DA YA Think I'm Sexy?". Doing a Fudge version of those songs was great! We'd talk about the song and then we'd play it and then we'd screw around with it, until we get something that we liked. That's the way we've always done it. We're actually going to release the single, "Tearin' Up My Heart", with a video, after the first of the year (2005). We've also got some gigs coming up.
(Q)-In your opinion was Vanilla Fudge somewhat a jazz ensemble,
as well as a rock band?
(A)-Vanilla Fudge was about what I'd call artistic rock, progressive rock.
Yet, there was a certain amount of spontaneity that went on. We were embellished into a skeleton of arrangements. For me, I would play basically the same kind of drum parts overall but the parts were a little different every night. The same thing with Tim Bogert, his bass riffs were often different every night. He'd play different notes at times during his bass solos. So on that level it was like a jazz thing. When we did songs that had solos that were twenty minutes long, the solos were absolutely different every night. So in that respect I'd say, 'Yeah', we did music that would be considered like a spontaneous jazz ensemble.
(Q)-Was there an actual bandleader?
(A)-No. Not really. We were all equal members at the time.
There were no actual leaders.
(Q)-How do you view your position as drummer in Vanilla Fudge?
(A)-I probably was the hardest hitting drummer at that time. I figured if it is bigger, it is louder. So, that started a fad of heavy drum-oriented stuff with us. What I started doing was playing louder and playing bigger drums harder and heavier, so that I could be heard.
(Q)-Why was that the case?
(A)-In the early days, I did not have my drum kit run through a PA system.
In some of the clubs I was playing in, there was no PA systems. So, I played hard from necessity and that started us to have more heavily-oriented music within Vanilla Fudge. I had to turn the end of the stick around and play really hard and loud for the drums to even be heard. I went and got a big twenty-six inch bass drum at a pawnshop for five bucks and covered it with red sparkle to match the rest of my drum kit.
(Q)-So, before progressive rock and before the phrase, "heavy metal",
was coined, Vanilla Fudge was already creating electric music that was truly unique?
(A)-Yeah. It was something that started out of Long Island at the time. We
did what we called, "production numbers". The songs that we did were more R&B-oriented. We did take a Beatles song and we made it a bit more R&B sounding vocally, because we what had over these other bands was, a solid four-part harmony and our musicianship was a little better.
(Q)-In what way did Fudge differ from the rock band's emerging on the scene in 1967?
(A)-We made it valid to evaluate and do a cover song. We took songs apart. It was about doing the song with a little bit more soul and emotion.
(Q)-Was that factor a key to Vanilla Fudge's success?
(A)-Yes. I think that is one of the main reasons we made it.
(Q)-Were you aware of any other drummer at that time playing heavy sounding drums in a rock band?
(A)-No. Ginger Baker(Cream),Mitch Mitchell(Jimi Hendrix)
and Keith Moon(THE WHO)were all light players. What I was doing was playing louder and playing bigger drums, harder and heavier,so the sound was heavier. Ginger Baker never played loud, he was from a jazz background, Mitch Mitchell was like that too. So in looking at the drummers and what I was doing with Vanilla Fudge back then, there was no one else playing as heavy as I was.
(Q)-What other innovations did Fudge bring about?
(A)-Our bass player Tim Bogert and his bass playing was unique. He was the first, "wild", bass player. He created so many different sounds by banging on the bass and pulling on the strings. Eventually that bass style wound up with that popping sound that all the black bass players do now. Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone) got that thing from Tim and developed that. Tim played bass guitar with five (Fender) Dual Showman amplifiers. Tim played lead bass lines. I mean at the time Tim, John Entwistle (The Who), and Jack Bruce (Cream) were the only three bass players who were into playing lead bass lines and they all played their instrument differently. I used to run a bass drum mike into my bass drum and put it through Tim's (speaker) cabinets.
(Q)-Why?
(A)-To simply try and get the bass and drum thing going like Motown used to have on some of the classic Motown songs. When I did that, my drum sound
used to come out real heavy.
(Q)-How did that drum sound influence other rock bands over time?
(A)-That is the music Vanilla Fudge made that Led Zeppelin 's John Bonham (drums) and John Paul Jones (bass), as well as the members of Deep Purple,
would listen to. They took what we were doing and did it their way. What is ironic is we broke up (1970) just before all of their music was starting to happen. If we'd stayed together,we probably would have been a much bigger band.
(Q)-Why does Vanilla Fudge's old music remain vital in today's popular culture, without heavy radio airplay of the classic Vanilla Fudge music?
(A)-I honestly don't know. I guess all classic rock from that era is still around. Actually I am a bit disappointed in the fact that our music is not around stronger than it is today. We were out and successful and our album
was on the charts at the same time as Jimi Hendrix and the Doors. Yet, we don't get near any of the airplay on classic rock radio today. Now, I'm not being negative, I'm just being realistic. We never once got mentioned for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. I think we got screwed out of a lot of things.
I think maybe some of it was because of the fact that we did cover songs. But, I don't know and I'd like to rectify it, if I did know how to. We were soulful and powerful, we were right in with the times, we started a whole new genre of (rock) music. Now basically,we don't get the recognition for some reason. We had successful tours. We played the great venues with premiere gigs.
I mean what happened to our audience? Did they all die? I mean Eric Clapton remembers the moment and exactly where he was when first heard Vanilla Fudge's, "You Keep Me Hangin' On". Jimi Hendrix used to tell me that he loved the band.
(Q)-What was Vanilla Fudge's primary contribution to the history of the rock music genre?
(A)-I think that our biggest contribution was to evaluate a cover song and then re-interpret that cover song. So, we made it valid to do a cover song. Because all of a sudden, Joe Cocker came out with, "Mad Dogs and Englishman"
(album) and recorded (Beatles original song)"With a Little Help From My Friends" with the big organ introduction and totally changed the feel of that song. That was yet another Vanilla Fudge influence. The list goes on and on.
(Q)-Is there any truth to the rumors that Vanilla Fudge could not get other rock acts to tour with them because Vanilla Fudge were such dynamic performers?
(A)-Absolutely. Without a doubt. We toured with Jimi Hendrix for about thirty days. We were blowing him off the stage quite a bit because he was drugging out quite a bit and having off nights (performing). He read
(concert) reviews the next day on several occasions, that stated the Fudge was blowing him off the stage and he went up to his manager, Mike Jeffrey and asked that we get taken off of the tour.
(Q)-What happened?
(A)- Well nothing happened in that case because there was too much politics going on behind the scenes. We played with everybody and we blew a lot of other bands off of the stage. Another example is when we blew THE WHO off the stage in London, on their own turf! I mean I still have in my scrapbook, the newspaper reviews of the concert we did with THE WHO in London from the next day and the press said that we blew THE WHO completely off the stage. And, the whole time we were wondering who would blow us off the stage.
(Q)-Who did?
(A)-Later on, Led Zeppelin.
(Q)-To change the subject.
(A)-OK.
(Q)-As a man who is known as one of the premiere drummers in the world,
what was it like for you personally to watch in the late '70's and mid '80's, drum machines and computer generated drum and percussion sounds, being utilized in pop and rock music?
(A)-I actually used it (drum machine) with Rod Stewart on the song, "Young Truks". (He laughs.) We actually used that technology. I played the drum machine but I added real high-hat and real cymbals to it with success. Then I used it in 1983 with Rick Derringer. But, I would add drum machine to the verses and then add real drums to the choruses. I used drum machines like that. But, I never really did a large amount of session work, so that technology didn't really effect me that much. I didn't really care all that much about it. I utilized it when I wanted as a creative part of the drumming and percussion section of the music.
(Q)-Once rock music is broken down to the most basic parts, in your opinion is rock still heavily anchored in that "Big Beat" drum sound?
(A)-Yes.
(Q)-Rock music remains a primal, almost tribal art form.
(A)-That certainly is true.
(Q)-Why do you continue to stress education for young people about drums and percussion?
(A)-I want to keep the art form going.
(Q)-I addition to recording and performing, you've chosen a career as an drum instructor and an author. Why?
(A)-I want to keep the art form going because that is important.
(Q)-What do you see as an important factor today that is influencing rock drummers and thus the modern rock music genre?
(A)-Well, it still is all an art form. But at times, the drumming itself has gotten so mechanical and so scientific and because of those factors, so predictable, that it's at times, ridiculous. So, while drumming has developed quite a bit, the stuff that some (younger) drummers are doing today
is unbelievable. They are like machines, they play like machines. That's not what I try to teach my students.
(Q)- Who was your major influence as a drummer whenever you first began playing?
(A)-Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Joe Morello in the old days.
I became friends with Buddy Rich before he died which was really cool.
End.
