Mark Stein (born March 11, 1947) is an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, who is a member of the

Psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

group

Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of the Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up was vocali ...

. Stein also worked in the

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American rock guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), the James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), with Billy Cobham on his first record tit ...

band and

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

's band during 1978 and 1979.

Biography

Early life

Stein was born and raised in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

. He began playing piano at age four and later attempted the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

. Upon being exposed to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

in the 1950s, Stein settled on the guitar. He worked his way through various bands in his high school. While performing with one of these early groups, he spied an "old beat-up organ on the stage and started jamming on it."

Vanilla Fudge

Stein and

Tim Bogert John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III (August 27, 1944 – January 14, 2021) was an American musician. As a bass guitarist and vocalist he was best known for his powerful vocal ability and his fast runs, fluid agility and ground-breaking sound on hi ...

had played in a local band called Rick Martin & The Showmen. The pair were so impressed by the swinging, organ-heavy sound of The Rascals they decided to form their own band in 1965. Originally calling themselves The Electric Pigeons, they soon shortened the name to The Pigeons. Eventually,

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( ; born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is the older brother ...

and Vince Martell joined the band and they changed their name to

when they signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The name change came because Atlantic didn't like the name The Pigeons. The origin of the name Vanilla Fudge came from a woman called Dee Dee, who worked at the Page 2 Club in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, who stated her grandfather nicknamed her Vanilla Fudge. The bands debut was released in August 1967 and is a

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Their cover of

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

You Keep Me Hangin' On "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown group the Supremes, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song has since been interpreted ...

is their most well known track. Vanilla Fudge are known for performing slow and heavier covers of fast and upbeat songs. Later hits include a cover of Junior Walker & The All Stars’ 1965 single

Shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

. The band has been cited as; ''"one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal."'' As of March 2023, Stein, Appice and Martell still continue to tour as Vanilla Fudge.

Solo

Mark was in the Tommy Cooper band from 1978 to 1979. Mark published the autobiography, ''You Keep Me Hangin’'' On in 2011. Stein released the solo album There's A Light was on November 26 2021. During the pandemic of 2020, Mark wrote, recorded and released the single “''We Are One''”, a reflection on the

Black Lives Matter movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutalit ...

Influences

Stein himself influenced organist

Jon Lord John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English keyboardist and composer. In 1968, Lord co-founded the hard rock band Deep Purple. Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer Ian Paice were the only ...

(1941-2012) of the band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

. Lord, in a 1989 interview said; ''" eused to listen to Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge in the late sixties. He was a useful source of tricks on the Hammond."''

Discography

Vanilla Fudge

Studio albums

Collections and live albums

* ''Vanilla Fudge – The Fantastic Vanilla'' (1969) * '' Best of Vanilla Fudge'' (1982) * ''The Best of Vanilla Fudge – Live'' (1991) * '' Psychedelic Sundae – The Best of Vanilla Fudge'' (1993) * ''The Return – Live in Germany Part 1'' (2003) * ''The Real Deal – Vanilla Fudge Live'' (2003) * ''Rocks the Universe – Live in Germany Part 2'' (2003) * ''Good Good Rockin' – Live at Rockpalast'' (2007) * ''Orchestral Fudge'' (live) (2008) * ''When Two Worlds Collide'' (live) (2008) * ''Box of Fudge'' – Rhino Handmade (2010) * ''The Complete Atco Singles'' (2014) * ''Live at Sweden Rock 2016: The 50th Anniversary'' (live) (2017)

Singles

Solo

Albums

* ''There’s A Light'' (2021)

Singles

* ''We Are One'' (2020)

Bibliography

* ''You Keep Me Hangin’ On'' (released 2011)

Notes

References

External links

Mark Stein's official website

Mark Stein Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Mark 1947 births Living people American rock keyboardists American rock singers Musicians from Bayonne, New Jersey Vanilla Fudge members American male organists Singer-songwriters from New Jersey 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American organists 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American organists 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American keyboardists American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)