Vanilla Fudge
Studio album by
Vanilla Fudge
ReleasedAugust 1967
Recorded1967
Genre
Length42:41
Label
ProducerShadow Morton
Vanilla Fudge chronology
Vanilla Fudge
(1967) 		The Beat Goes On
(1968)

Vanilla Fudge is the debut studio album by the American psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge. Released in summer 1967 as Atco 33-224/mono, SD 33-224/stereo, it consists entirely of half-speed covers and three short original instrumental compositions.

The album was Vanilla Fudge's most successful, peaking at #6 on the Billboard album charts and number #8 in Finland in November 1967.[1][2] Parts of the original stereo LP were actually mixed in mono, including the entire track "You Keep Me Hangin' On". An edited version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was released as a single and also charted.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]

Allmusic's Paul Collins retrospectively rated Vanilla Fudge four out of five stars some time in the 2000s. He stated that "nobody could accuse Vanilla Fudge of bad taste in their repertoire" and that most of the tracks "share a common structure of a disjointed warm-up jam, a Hammond-heavy dirge of harmonized vocals at the center, and a final flat-out jam." However, he also said that "each song still works as a time capsule of American psychedelia."[3]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ticket to Ride"John Lennon-Paul McCartney5:40
2."People Get Ready"Curtis Mayfield6:30
3."She's Not There"Rod Argent4:55
4."Bang Bang"Sonny Bono5:20

Side 1 of the album ends with: "The following is a series of high-frequency tones..."

Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Illusions of My Childhood-Part One" 0:20
6."You Keep Me Hanging On"Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland7:26
7."Illusions of My Childhood-Part Two" 0:23
8."Take Me for a Little While"Trade Martin3:27
9."Illusions of My Childhood-Part Three" 0:22
10."Eleanor Rigby"Lennon-McCartney8:24

CD reissues have a modified track listing for the tracks on side 2 of the LP:

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."STRA (Illusions of My Childhood-Part One)" 0:20
6."You Keep Me Hanging On"Holland-Dozier-Holland7:26
7."WBER (Illusions of My Childhood-Part Two)" 0:23
8."Take Me for a Little While"Martin3:27
9."RYFI (Illusions of My Childhood-Part Three)" 0:22
10."Eleanor Rigby"Lennon-McCartney8:03
11."ELDS" 0:21

The text in all uppercase letters in the CD reissue track listing spells out "STRAWBERRYFIELDS".

Personnel

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Billboard". 18 November 1967.
  2. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 243. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  3. ^ a b Collins, Paul. Vanilla Fudge [1967 - Vanilla Fudge] at AllMusic. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  4. ^ "American album certifications – Vanilla Fudge – Vanilla Fudge". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

The Allmusic review is of the 2002 album of the same name rather than of the original 1967 LP.

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