''The Beat Goes On'' (Atco Records 33-237/mono, SD 33-237/stereo) is the second album by the American

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 ...

band

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 ...

, released in early 1968. The album doesn't contain any actual "songs", but rather a

sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or Musical composition, compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as musique concrè ...

featuring many different elements: the voices of world leaders past and present, the band reciting pre-written mantras and reflections, and excerpts of songs (done "Vanilla Fudge style") by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

Recording

The group was at odds with producer George "Shadow" Morton during recording, as Morton made his own concept album without significant input from them. In the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

Sundazed Music Sundazed Music is an American independent record label founded and based in Coxsackie, New York. It was initially known as a '60s-centric surf, garage, and psych label. Over time with the additions of imprints such as Modern Harmonic, American ...

' 1990 CD reissue, the band denounces it as a failed experiment on the producer's part. The Fudge's third album, ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'', released quickly after ''The Beat Goes On'', would be Morton's last collaboration with the band. In his autobiography ''Stick It!'', Vanilla Fudge drummer

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 ...

declares: "Even listening to it now – which, let me tell you, I rarely fucking do – ''The Beat Goes On'' sounds like an album that Spinal Tap would be wary of making."

Reception

While not as successful as their debut album, ''The Beat Goes On'' was a moderate hit despite the band's reservations, peaking at #17 on the Billboard album charts in March 1968. It reached number 9 in Finland in April 1968. Music author Christian Matijas-Mecca describes the album as an "

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

and pretentious album" that, similarly to

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

's album ''

Lumpy Gravy ''Lumpy Gravy'' is a 1968 solo album by Frank Zappa (credited as Francis Vincent Zappa), written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Zappa conducted the o ...

'', does not live up to its meticulous collage creation. Vanilla Fudge's ''The Beat Goes On'' is used as

bumper music Bumper music, also known as a bump, is a radio broadcasting term for short clips of signature songs or theme music used to transition between different elements of a program. These clips typically last no longer than fifteen seconds. Bumper mus ...

in the ''

Pop Chronicles The ''Pop Chronicles'' are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s–60s popular music." They originally aired starting in 1969 and concluded about 1974. Both were produced by John G ...

'' music documentary.

Track listing

Side one

#"Sketch" (Appice, Bogert, Martell, Stein) - 2:55 Phase One #

"Intro: The Beat Goes On" (

) - 1:57 ##Eighteenth Century: Variations on a Theme by Mozart: "Divertimento No. 13 In F Major" (

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

) - 0:46 ##Nineteenth Century: "

Old Black Joe "Old Black Joe" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1860. Ken Emerson, author of the book ''Doo-Dah!'' (1998), indicates that Foster's fictional Joe was inspired by a servant in t ...

" (

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

) - 0:46 ##Twentieth Century - 3:09 ###" Don't Fence Me In" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

) - 0:52 ###" 12th Street Rag" ( Euday L. Bowman) - 0:49 ###"

In The Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by Americans, American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was re ...

" (Garland, Razaf) - 0:45 ###" Hound Dog" (

Jerry Leiber Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

) - 0:43 ## The Beatles - 1:45 ###"

I Want To Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

) ###"

I Feel Fine "I Feel Fine" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in November 1964 as the A-side of their eighth single. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The recording includes one o ...

" (Lennon, McCartney) ###"

Day Tripper "Day Tripper" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out" in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney and ...

" (Lennon, McCartney) ###"

She Loves You "She Loves You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released as a single in the United Kingdom on 23 August 1963. The single set and surpassed several sales records in the United Kingdom c ...

" (Lennon, McCartney) ###" Hello Goodbye" (Lennon, McCartney) Phase Two #

"The Beat Goes On" - 1:32 #Beethoven: " Fur Elise" & "

Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi. Although known throu ...

" (

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

) - 6:33 #"The Beat Goes On" - 1:05

Side two

"The Beat Goes On" - 1:00 Phase Three #

"Voices in Time":

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

and Other Voices - 8:09 Phase Four #

"The Beat Goes On" - 1:50 #"Merchant/The Game Is Over" - 8:57 ##"Merchant" (Appice, Bogert, Martell, Stein) ##"The Game Is Over" (Bourtayre, Bouchety): Vinnie ##"Merchant" ##"The Game Is Over": Tim ##"Merchant" ##"The Game Is Over": Carmine ##"Merchant" ##"The Game Is Over": Mark ##"Merchant" #"The Beat Goes On" - 2:20 Bonus Phase D release only#

" You Can't Do That" (Lennon, McCartney) - 4:27 #"Come By Day, Come By Night" (Appice, Bogert, Martell, Stein) - 3:27

Personnel

- drums, vocals *

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 ...

- bass, vocals *

Vince Martell Vince Martell (born Vincent James Martellucci, November 11, 1945)
from the

Mark Stein - lead vocals, keyboards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beat Goes On, The Vanilla Fudge albums 1968 albums Atco Records albums Albums produced by Shadow Morton Sound collage albums Experimental music albums by American artists