“I think we got paid three bucks a night, but you got to see everything,” she said. “All they kept saying was ‘The Fudge will be here soon.’ So we just kind of waited it out,” Pera said.Ĭarol Zeh, 69, of New Franklin, was a Blossom usher that evening. The opening group seemed to be stretching its act. Pera sat on the lawn with his teenage band, the Tantrums. They had half of their equipment because the other half was with Vanilla Fudge, but they did get up there and play.” “The warm-up band, I can’t remember who they were,” said musician Mick Pera, 69, of Fairlawn, who was in the crowd that night. “Some people even started little bonfires as the evening drew on.”Ī Cleveland disc jockey introduced an opening act that hadn't been advertised but it could have been Illusion, Underground Sunshine, Supa Heat or Rhinoceros, all of which played dates that summer with Vanilla Fudge. “They’re bringing in their own beer, their own wine, their own food, their own pot - a number of them,” Syroid said. They found seats in the pavilion or set up blankets on the lawn. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 fans had filtered into Blossom after navigating two-lane Steels Corners Road and parking in grass lots at the sprawling complex.
Unfortunately, Vanilla Fudge landed in North Hampton, a Clark County village near Springfield and Dayton. The band had performed in Montreal and chartered a private plane for the Ohio concert. Its other singles, perhaps ironically, included “Take Me for a Little While” and “Where Is My Mind.” Vanilla Fudge, which hailed from Long Island, New York, was best known for its Supremes cover “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” a Top 10 hit. Northampton Township in suburban Akron wasn’t easy to find on the map.” “For one, touring performers had to learn where exactly this new venue was located. “There were learning curves during those early days,” recalled Ron Syroid, 73, of Akron, Blossom’s original director of ushering. at the amphitheater in its second season in Northampton Township, now part of Cuyahoga Falls. Pavilion seats cost $2.50 and lawn tickets were $2 for adults or $1 for kids. The 1969 concert was scheduled for 8:30 p.m. The Blossom crowd waited patiently as the psychedelic group backtracked nearly 200 miles to reach a gig that has become part of rock ’n’ roll legend. The rock band Vanilla Fudge kept its fans hanging on 50 years ago when it flew to the wrong Ohio town for a concert. farewell dates and disbanded in early 1970, although they have reunited and toured together since.A funny thing happened on the way to Blossom Music Center. Following the release of their final album, Rock & Roll, Vanilla Fudge played a few U.S. In 1969, Vanilla Fudge released its first album without Morton, the symphonic Near the Beginning. The band toured with Jimi Hendrix, opened several dates on Cream’s farewell tour, and headlined a tour with the fledgling Led Zeppelin as their opening act. It was followed by the Top 20 hit album Renaissance. In 1968, Vanilla Fudge headlined Fillmore West with the Steve Miller Band, performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and released their second album, The Beat Goes On. The band members settled on Vanilla Fudge, after a favorite ice cream flavor, and would go on to create one of the few American links between psychedelia and what would become heavy metal. The group landed a deal with Atco Records, who requested a name change.
Impressed by their heavy, hard-rocking recasting of The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” Morton offered to record the song. Toward the end of 1966, they welcomed drummer Carmine Appice into the fold, and the following year their manager convinced legendary producer George “Shadow” Morton to catch their live act. Organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, drummer Joey Brennan, and guitarist Vince Martell built a following gigging extensively up and down the East Coast and earned extra cash providing in-concert backing for girl groups. In 1965, Long Island’s Vanilla Fudge began as a blue-eyed soul cover band called the Electric Pigeons (later shortened to “The Pigeons”).
0 kommentar(er)
