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While it all began
for Tim Bogert in August of 1944 in New York City, the life of his
music began for most of us in 1967 with the release of the debut album
of Vanilla
Fudge.
When Tim was eight
years old, he was already riding his bicycle to piano lessons. The
piano lessons, however, were soon replaced by Little League. Music was
in him, though and at thirteen, Little League was then replaced by a
clarinet. Soon thereafter, Tim picked up the saxophone and played in
his high school marching band. Time was living in New Jersey by now
and he met a friend named Dale. They formed a band called The
Belltones with Tim playing sax and made good money playing gigs around
New Jersey at high school dances and VFW halls. This band evolved into
The Chessmen. |
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The Chessmen was
introduced by WADO disk jockey Allen Fredericks, who helped them get
gigs backing up doowop groups such as The Shirelles, The Crest,
The Earl, and The Doves. The Chessmen were now playing New
York City. With the advent of surf music which didn't have much sax,
Tim Bogert then picked up the electric bass.
After Tim left high
school, he was in and out of a number of bands in the NYC area. In
1965, he went on a lounge tour of the Eastern Seaboard with Rick
Martin and the Showmen, where he met
Mark Stein, the keyboardist and
vocalist. The two of them hit it off, and they soon left to join with
drummer Joey Brennan
and guitarist Vince Martell
to form their own band, The Pigeons.
After recording an album called "While the World was Eating", they
replaced drummer Joe Brennan with
Carmine Appice and changed the
name of the band to Vanilla
Fudge.
A hoopla has been
made about who actually came up with the name. Some attribute it to
Shadow Morton. However, according to Tim, "I think it was Mark's
cousin who came up with Vanilla Fudge. Everyone thought it had
something to do with ' white soul ' because white boys were doing soul
music. It had nothing to do with that, it had something to do with a
nickname."
According to
Mark Stein, he and Tim were "hanging out" one day in early 1967 when
You Keep Me Hanging On
by The Supremes came on the
radio. They both agreed that the words were very soulful and that the
song was too fast. Tim replies that they took the idea to slow it down
back to Vince and Carmine. |
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They performed it that night and refined the
arrangement over the next few weeks and the rest is history. It was
recorded in one take and that's the version we've been listening to
for thirty years! The album soared to number 3 on the national charts
behind The Beatles and The Supremes. It stayed on the charts for over
200 weeks! The first notes Tim plays in the intro to this symphonic
rock piece indicate his incredible speed and his unique ability take
you on a "bass trip" while continuously doing what a bass player is
supposed to do; holding down the bottom and completing the rhythm
section. This was the emerging Tim Bogert style. Tim recorded five
albums with Vanilla Fudge between 1967 and 1969. As Vanilla Fudge
matured, so did his style, on both the melodic and rhythmic sides. His
"bass trips" became even more imaginative, utilizing more effects and
greater speed, yet his rhythmic grooves were just as awesome. These
techniques are prevalent on the
Some Velvet Morning and
Break Song
cuts on the Near the Beginning
album. Tim and drummer Carmine Appice became
undoubtedly the tightest rhythm section in rock. |
(L to R) Mark Stein, Vince Martell and Tim during
a Vanilla Fudge Concert |
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This really became
evident in Vanilla Fudge's last album,
Rock & Roll, in 1969.
Need Love
and Street Walkin' Woman
really smoke! Guitar legend Jeff Beck
was known to have said Tim and Carmine were his favorite rhythm
section.
If you listen closely to Intro:
The
Beat Goes
On from
The Beat Goes On,
Vanilla Fudge's second album, Tim and Carmine actually play "question
& answer" between bass and drums which would normally be done between
between, say bass and guitar, or two drummers. Tim even matches the
pitch of Carmine's drums! Throughout the life span of
Vanilla Fudge,
Tim's bass lines not only solidified and enhanced Carmine Appice's
outstanding performance on the drums, he solidified the bottom half of
that orchestral quality so pronounced in Vanilla Fudge's symphonic
rock style. Tim's incredible vocal range helped Vanilla Fudge win the
coveted "Golden Gondola" award in Italy in 1968.
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On stage with Vanilla Fudge in front of a wall of
Fender amplification |
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Early Cactus Promotional Photo |
Following the breakup of Vanilla Fudge in
March of 1970, Tim went on with Carmine to form
Cactus with guitarist Jim
McCarty (Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels), and
vocalist Rusty Day(Ted Nugent and the Amboy
Dukes). Says Tim, "Carmine and I were lying in the back
of a limo on the way home from a gig in Arizona. We were talking about
leaving the Fudge. We passed under a sign that read ' The Cactus
Drive-In' . It was the easiest band name we ever thought of. "
This high energy rockin' blues band gave
Tim the opportunity to further prove his ability to fill the gaps in
what was essentially an instrumental trio, while maintaining his
meaty, melodic style.
After three studio
albums, Jim McCarty left the band and was replaced by an unknown
guitarist, Werner Friching,
from Germany that they met in New York. Carmine once said that he and
Tim had trouble with many guitarists because the two of them were
"crazy musicians from New York" and were too high energy. Well, so
much the loss for the guitar players! With the addition of keyboardist
Duane Hitchings, from the
original Buddy Miles Express
and a new vocalist, Pete French,
from Atomic Rooster, they
recorded a fourth album 'Ot 'n Sweaty
in 1972. This Cactus version, lasted only another seven months before
breaking up completely. |
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The Bogert/Appice rhythm
section then teamed up once again. This time with the legendary Jeff
Beck. Beck, Bogert, and
Appice was the new supergroup. Tim and Carmine had
wanted to team up with Beck for a long time. Jeff had called them up
to do a session with Stevie Wonder and were asked to join the Jeff
Beck Group. They left Cactus and did a national tour with Beck.
Their rendition of Stevie
Wonder's Superstition was
an instant hit. Vanilla Fudge
harmonies, provided by Tim and Carmine, were evident in
Lady.
BBA's live album from Japan, which was coincidentally
only released in Japan and is now a collectors item, displayed the
intense energy they became known for. Ray
Manzerek of The Doors
described BBA as "one of
the great power trios of all time." |
...with
Jeff (wearing a Cactus T-shirt?) **
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Photo ©copyright Norwood Price, used with
permission
Visit
Vintage Rock Photos for more cool
photos! |
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Ultimately, Tim dissolved his partnership with Beck and moved from New
York to Los Angeles.
"I
did nothing for six months. Just rode my motorcycle. Then I teamed up
with Steve Perry for two years." Tim met Steve at a rehearsal studio
and they put a band together called Pieces."
After that, Tim went to England to do one session and
wound up staying for three and a half years. While there, he joined a
band with Chris Stainton called Boxer. They recorded one album and
toured England. 1979 found Tim back in California mainly living the
life of a freelance musician working local clubs on a casual basis and
doing his share of studio dates with the likes of
Rod Stewart on his "Foolish Behaviour"
album and Bo Diddley
on his "20th Anniversary of Rock 'N' Roll album.
"After that I went back to Europe to live in Italy for seven months to
do session work and tour." Upon his return to Los Angeles, Tim joined
Bobby and the Midnights
with Billy Cobham and Bob Weir. That took him on
another tour of the U.S. for a year and a half. The following year,
Tim toured nationally with Rick
Derringer. |
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Tim reunited with, Carmine, Mark Stein,
and Vince Martell in 1983 for another Vanilla Fudge
album on Atco records called Mystery
. Mystery contained one of Tim's original songs titled
Don't Stop Now. |
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is constantly in synch with whatever drummer he is working with. Most
bass players tune themselves in solely to the drummer's bass drum. Not
Tim. He's aware of everything a drummer does. In one of his
instructional videos, Tim actually teaches aspiring bass players how
to mimic drum rudiments on the bass!
Tim Bogert's unique
combination of melodic ingenuity, and gutsy roaring speed, brought new
dimensions to the role of the electric bass player back in 1967. No
other bass player in rock history has been able to get your heart
pounding so easily, yet turn around and hand you a line on a six
string bass melodically sweeter than any Paul McCartney riff ever was.
And diverse as it is, his style is instantly recognizable. Tim is
bridging the gap between lead and bass guitars and breaking molds for
electric bass players. He believes the bass guitar doesn't need to be
restricted to bottom end and rhythm work, and that bass players can do
lead and chord work too, which adds a new dimension to blues, and to
instrumental trios. |
Photo by Shawn Perry
With Vanilla Fudge
at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration in 1988. |
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Tim was a member of the faculty of
Musician's Institute(BIT and VIT) in Hollywood. However, after
eighteen years, Tim resigned from MI to relax a little, work on(and
ride) his Harleys, and pursue new musical endeavors. People from
around the world came to California to study with him at BIT, and this
site gets many letters from former students that praise him.
The year 1999 was a big
year for Tim Bogert. Most notably, Tim was inducted into the Hollywood
Rock Walk of Fame along with other bass icons on January 27th. Also in
1999, Tim recorded some tracks on Vince Martell's
first solo CD, Endless High. In 1999, Tim reunited with buddy
Carmine Appice. Yes, the world famous Bogert/Appice rhythm section
reunited in two incarnations. They joined with old friend
Vince Martell for two shows as Vanilla Fudge with Bill Pascali
on Hammond organ.
In December, Tim and Carmine toured
Japan with Japanese guitar sensation Char often named as Japan's "Jeff
Beck". They toured as
Char, Bogert, Appice (CBA)!
Tim has performed over
the years, to his credit, with Rod Stewart, Billy Cobham, Steve Perry,
Bobby and the Midnights, Rick Derringer, Ronnie Laws, Boxer, and
Ginger Baker and many more world class players and bands.
The year 2000 brought about another
reunion of the Bogert/Appice rhythm section. This time, with none
other than Rick Derringer! They put together a CD calle DBA... what
else?
Back in 1998, Vanilla Fudge reformed
with Vince Martell on guitar, Carmine Appice on drums, and Bill
Pascali on Hammond. They toured for over five years until the band
received an offer to tour with the Doors if all four original members
would play. Mark Stein decided to return an now, in 2005 all four
original members of Vanilla Fudge are touring once again. |
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