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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....2/13/14


By Danny Coleman

originally published: 02/13/2014

Welcome to my musical world! This is one man's attempt to alert you to the best in area entertainment!

When talking with Vanilla Fudge guitarist Vince "Vinny" Martell, it is impossible to not get a sense of nostalgia nor to feel the pride that this man has for his instrument and his accomplishments. Whether it be his service to our country as a member of the U.S. Navy, the impact that "Fudge" had on the rock music world, his charitable undertakings or the many festivals and countries in which he has appeared; the man that now departed Doors keyboard legend Ray Manzarek once spoke,"A more soulful shredder may not exist in all of classic rock;" is definitely still very much a viable force to reckon with in rock 'n' roll music today.

Yes, the man who was once told by Jimi Hendrix to, "Contact him if the Fudge ever broke up," is still going strong into his sixth decade of making music and currently prepping for an upcoming February 28 appearance at Havana in New Hope PA. "The first set will be acoustic with Peg Perl and I, then the second set will be heavy electric and we'll bring up the band and we'll rock the place out," said a seemingly excited Martell.



 


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Rising to fame in the late '60's as a member of the aforementioned Vanilla Fudge, Martell has left and continues to leave an indelible mark on rock 'n' roll as well as the musicians that he comes across. However, he is well aware that the music industry, players and the times in general have changed; to the point where the creativity and the final product possibly suffers. "It's a different dynamic today," he explained as an air of caution crept into his voice. "Things are different with agents ya' know? Today it's more dollars and cents, there's business people running the show, not the creative people anymore. Years ago radio, live performances were the big deal, it was the way things went; now it's all studio production and video, things that bands can't reproduce live. In Vanilla Fudge we never overdubbed anything because we wanted to be able to do it live."

Continuing on, I asked Vinny to elaborate a bit on his storied past, as well as the band's tenure as one of the top drawing acts of their time and he responded without hesitation. "Well, initially from the start it was wonderful! I mean we did nineteen dates with Hendrix, we got on tours together; it was tremendous! We hung out just talking with Jimi, one night Eddie Kramer says to us around 4 a.m., well, he invited us to go over to The Record Plant and record a few things; so we went down and recorded some jams, Jimi and I together on tape, I'm sure that it's floating around somewhere, I wish I knew where."

One would think that an evening like that would be hard to top if ranking memories but once pushed, Martell was more than happy to oblige my thirst for more. "I don't know if I have a favorite memory to tell the truth; I mean Hendrix was tremendous, oh I know, there was this one night at the Red Rocks in Colorado, the outdoor gigs were always my favorite and Red Rocks is just a mind blowing place. It's this beautiful setting where the stage is set at the bottom and the seats just rise up and, well it's really special. I remember we broke into Hendrix's "Season Of the Witch" and the sky and the clouds all just came together and it was a magical night. Funny thing is we had passed on an opportunity to play Woodstock, our manager didn't think it would be a good idea (laughs); well, we know how that turned out."



 
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Vanilla Fudge aided the careers of several well know bands and Martell in particular has influenced many a player over his time wielding an axe. "We were on the Ed Sullivan Show twice," says Martell. "We were also on David Frost, Mike Douglas, we made the rounds. We shared shows with The Who, B.B. King; we did a show at The Spectrum in Philly with Janis Joplin; she was great, that was a good night." I asked him about Led Zeppelin, what it was like dealing with a band, who at the time were the brash, young, up and comers; he quickly responded, "They wanted to make some noise. We'd known Jimmy Page from his days with The Yardbirds, so we had a great camaraderie with them, we did a bunch of gigs with them opening. They're a great bunch of guys."

Martell went on to mention several shows and documentaries that he is especially glad to have been a part of; one being "Love In - A Musical Celebration" and the other about the tumultuous days behind The Iron Curtain called "Rockin' The Wall." "Love In" was hosted by Ben Vereen and it had me, Peg, The Strawberry Alarm Clock,Buddy Miles and gosh so many others. They flew Peg and I out to the west coast for a four day production for a two hour show, it's on PBS if you want to look it up."

"Rockin' The Wall," I was involved and let me tell you, it was intense," he stated as his voice became very serious, as if warning me about history repeating itself if not careful. "I was involved, Stein, Robby Kreiger of the Doors; this was all about the horrible things going on behind that wall in Germany. There was no rock 'n' roll allowed, it was considered evil because it was western influence. Radio Free Europe, Vanilla Fudge, we were played behind the curtain, we were considered bad influences. One of the stories in this documentary is that of kids who were asked by their school teachers if they watched The Beatles on TV the night before; some of the teachers were working for the government and were loyal so they tricked the kids into a show of hands. The ones who admitted watching the show, well, their parents disappeared courtesy of their government; it was some sad stuff. I was in the Navy during the Cuban Crisis but I never had to deal with anything like that."

Drawing from his military background, Vinny now lends his time to several veteran's charities. "I raise money for them," he told me. "I'm involved in a few, like "Three Hots and A Cot" and "VetAid National" which help homeless vets and some other charities too."

A busy schedule seems to have no effect on Martell as I was impressed with his enthusiasm over the upcoming Vince Martell Band show at Havana and the Vanilla Fudge tour of Europe that follows nearly immediately after his New Hope appearance. "Hippy Fest! St. John Terrell's Music on Magic Mountain," I've played there in 1968, with Vanilla Fudge. Recently I did a thing at The Bucks County Playhouse which is right down the street from Havana, I love the area, great atmosphere, neat town; it's going to be a great show!." "You know, before I was in Vanilla Fudge, I was in a band called The Pigeons. We did one album and they (record label) never released it until Vanilla Fudge took off, then they let it loose. My band for the Havana show features Peg Pearl on vocals, Pete Bremy, myself and Joe D'Angelo on drums. Like I said, it's just Peg and I doing an acoustic first set then we'll rock it out for the second set, I'm ready; it will be a great night."

After Havana, Vanilla Fudge will be spending the month of March in Europe with stops in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Austria and Italy before returning home to the U.S. Three of the long time members will be taking part in the European tour, Martell, Mark Stein and drummer Carmine Appice as well as Pete Bremy; Tim Bogart has retired from music and currently resides on the west coast.

When the topic of a new CD in the works for either The Vince Martell Band or Vanilla Fudge was broached; Martell was somewhat elusive. "We (Vanilla Fudge) did a Zeppelin tribute album back in '06 called "Out Through The In Door." That was a lot of fun, yeah, yeah, we have something in the works but we're keeping it under wraps for now. When we get back from Europe we will start that..."

So as you can see, Martell has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. Two bands, a tour, recording and possibly resurrecting two radio shows which are currently "on hiatus" due to time constraints will keep Vinny a busy man. So catch him along with Hamilton area drummer Joe D'Angelo while you can at Havana on Main Street, in New Hope, PA. Tickets are only $15 in advance and can be found at www.havananewhope.com . To learn more about The Vince Martell Band and/or Vanilla Fudge, please go to http://www.rockersusa.com/vincemartell/main.htm .

Friday, No Way Out is at Pete's Steak House in Hamilton. Good inexpensive food, drink and now music await those who venture out to hear this classic rock cover band perform their fine selection for our listening and dancing pleasure.

El Ka Bong will be at The Ivy Tavern on South Broad St. in Hamilton as well on Friday evening. This good time, party, cover band brings a fantastic selection of rocking tunes to the table every time out and are well worth the trip.

Saturday looks like the more popular of the two nights this weekend as many of our areas finest will be competing for our attendance. Kevin Toft and his All Star Band will be performing for what is the last time at Cedar Gardens Pub on Rte. 33 in Hamilton. Due to recent developments,resulting in a change in bar policy, this great little hot spot, which was very original music friendly, will most likely curtail, if not stop all music. Toft will be giving his all one last time at a venue which is one of his favorites.

Also on Saturday, one of my favorite Jersey Shore area bands will be in New Hope, PA at Fran's Pub located on South Main Street. Classic rockers VyntEdge will take to the new stage at this old spot at 9 p.m. performing their brand of great classic rock covers both. Always ready to rock, VyntEdge plays a great selection and with the statuesque Sondra on vocals has lots of variety to choose from. Check them out and if you do, do tell them that I sent you!

This space welcomes any suggestions and/or comments. Please send them to: Rockonradio1460@hotmail.com


That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!

THIS WEEKS CALENDAR LISTINGS

Alchemist & Barrister



 
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28 Witherspoon Street Princeton
(609) 924-5555


Thurs. 10 p.m. Barley Harvest

Sun. 9 p.m. Joe Kaplow

Wed. 10 p.m. Open mic. night Hosted by Eric Puliti

All shows 21+

Amalfi's Restaurant and Bar

146 Lawrenceville-Pennington Rd. Lawrenceville

(609) 912-1599

Fri. 8 p.m. The Aldrich Brothers Band

Amarones Windsor Inn

29 Church St. Windsor

(609) 448-714

Thurs. 6:30 p.m. Pizza Party Night feat.Scott Gager & Debbie

Fri. 8 p.m. Valentine's Day Dinner feat. Living The Dream

Sat. 7:30 p.m. Tony Malandro

Tues. 7 p.m. Texas Hold'em

Blend

911 Rte. 33 Hamilton

(609) 245-8887

Sat. 9 p.m. Meg Hanson Group

Mon. 9 p.m. Karaoke

Candlelight Lounge
24 Passaic St. Trenton
(609) 695-9612


Sat. 3 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Bruce Williams Quartet. (No cover-$10 minimum)

Cedar Gardens Pub
661 Hwy. 33 Hamilton
(609) 587-0930


Sat. 9 p.m. Kevin Toft & The All Stars "The Last Waltz at Cedar"


All shows 21+

Chambers Walk Cafe
2667 Main St. Lawrenceville
(609) 896-5995


Fri./Sat. 6 p.m. Dick Gratton



 
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The Backstage at Championship Bar
931 Chambers St. Trenton

(609) 394-7437

Fri. 5 p.m. "Headbang For The Highway" feat. Proletariat, Lessons Learned, Premonitions, All For One, Provenance, Endless Sacrifice, A Long Time Waiting, Cranely Gardens, Ingdorf, (TBA). All ages, $15

Sat. 5 p.m. Valacar, Ratfarm, Top Hats and Effigies, Sithis, The Artisan, The KMX Band, Half Ton of Humanity. All ages, $10

Sun. 10 p.m. Shaboizi + Tumultuous Mules + Jay Toxic + Josh. Ages 21+, $5

Tues. 5 p.m. "Headbang For The Highway" feat.Eye 4 An Eye,Last Minute Hero, Inventure, Every Minute Can Kill, The Beggar's Hands, Like Legends, Handed To The Thousands, Born A New, Ancora, Liars And Legends. All Ages, $15.

Wed. 5 p.m. "Headbang For The Highway" feat. Extractus, We...Our War, Bow to the Fallen, Damien The Cat, Reborn Divided, DeathThrob, Panic, We Are Them, Prosper Or Perish, Assayer. All ages, $15

Dubh Linn Square
167 Rte. 130 North Bordentown
(609) 298-7100



Fri. 9 p.m. "Cupid Stupid" feat. The Nog Bhoys

Sun. 4 p.m. Irish Sessions w/ Billy O'Neal

Tues. 9 p.m. Open Mic. Night hosted by Shaun Ruymen


Fran's Pub

116 S. Main St. New Hope, Pa.

(215)862-5539


Sat. 9 p.m. VyntEdge

All shows 21+

Halo Pub

4617 Nottingham Way Hamilton Square

(609) 586-1811

Sat. 7 p.m. Ange & Friends

Havana New Hope
105 S. Main St. New Hope, Pa.
(215) 862-9897

Thurs. "Beat The Clock" College Night DJ Dance Party

Fri. 11:30 p.m. DJ Dance Party


Sat. 8:30 p.m. FM

Sun. 6 p.m. The Battle of The Unplugged

Mon. 10 p.m. Karaoke w/ DJ Ron Sherr and Bridget

Wed. 8 p.m. Wino Wednesday Local Original Music Night feat. Connor Choi

All shows 21+

Ivy Tavern
3108 S. Broad Street, Hamilton
(609) 888-1435

Fri. 10 p.m. El Ka Bong

Sat. 10 p.m. Tangled
All shows 21+


John & Peter's
96 S. Main St. New Hope, Pa.
(215) 862-5981


Thurs. 9 p.m. Matt Rome

Fri. 9 p.m. Mike DiAlto's Lonely Comedy Night

Sat. (3 p.m.) Stew (9:30 p.m.) Red Rover Revue (Burlesque)

Sun. (3 p.m.) Jason Ager (9:30 p.m.) Skip's Museum

Mon. Open Mic.

Tues. John & Peter's Holiday Party

Wed. The Invitational (Featuring John & Peter's House Band)
All shows 21+

JoJo's Tavern

2677 Nottingham Way Hamilton

(609) 586-2678


Sat. 10 p.m. F2 and The Anchovy Brothers

Wed. 10 p.m. Karaoke

Palermo's Of Hamilton
310 Klockner Rd. Hamilton
(609) 838-7979

Thurs. 9 p.m. Karaoke

Tues. Trivia Night

All shows 21+

Patriot's Crossing

1339 River Rd. Titusville

(609) 737-2780

Sat. 7 p.m. Blues in Disguise

Pete's Steak House
523 Whitehorse Ave. Hamilton
(609) 585-8008


Fri. 9:30 p.m. No Way Out

Sat. 9:30 p.m. The Kootz

RHO Waterfront

50 Riverview Plaza Trenton


(609) 393-7300

Thurs. 9 p.m. College Night w/ DJ Jeff Scott


Fri. 7 p.m. "Love Is In the Air" Valentine's Dinner Show w/ The Good Company Band and DJ Jimmie Palumbo. $30 per person

Sat. 8 p.m. "Amor Latino" hosted by Mike Magic w/ DJs JOAO/21/Trump/Flako, a live appearance by Calle Sol! $10


All Shows 21+

Spigola Ristorante

3817 Crosswicks Hamilton Square Rd. Hamilton

Fri. 8:30 p.m. Mark Giovi

Sat. 8:30 p.m. After Dark

Star Subs Café

621 Rte. 130 Buckley Plaza Hamilton

(609) 333-1230

Wed. 7 p.m. Acoustic Open Mic. Night hosted by Bri LoBue

Tavern On The Lake
101 Main St. Hightstown
(609) 426-9345


Fri. (8 p.m.) Sarcasm Comedy Night (9 p.m.) Whiskey Fueled

Sat. 9 p.m. Steve (the band)

Wed. 8 p.m. Karaoke Night

The Cool Cricket

216 4th St. Fieldsboro

(609) 291-9110

Thurs. 8 p.m. Kinky Bingo

Fri. 9 p.m. Karaoke

Sat. 9 p.m. Rush To Judgment / Crosswick

The Record Collector

358 Farnsworth Ave. Bordentown

(609) 324-0880

Sat. 8 p.m. Emily Danger Band. All ages, doors at 7:30 p.m., $12 (advance)

The Sticky Wicket
2465 South Broad St. Hamilton
(609) 439-0007

Fri. 9 p.m. Out Of The Red

Sat. 9:30 p.m. Slightly Used

All shows 21+

The Sun National Bank Center
81 Hamilton Ave. Trenton
(609) 656-3200

Sat. 12 p.m. Mardi Gras Bead Blitz (Cheerleading comp.) Doors at 11 a.m., $10

Tir Na Nog
1324 Hamilton Ave. Trenton
(609) 392-2554


Fri. 9 p.m. Mike Brill

Sat. 9 p.m. John Byrne & Andy Keenen

All shows 21+

Trenton Social

449 South Broad Street Trenton

(609) 989-7777


Thurs. 7 p.m. Social Thursdays w/ DJ Tangency

Fri. 7 p.m. Social First Fridays

Mon. 10 p.m. Service Industry Night w/ DJ-JayKountree

Tues. 9 p.m. LiveMusic/Open Mic.

Triumph Brewing Company (New Hope, Pa. Location)
400 Union Square New Hope, Pa.
(215) 862-8300


Fri. 10 p.m. Wig Party. $5 (coverage)

Sat. 10 p.m. Yo Momma's Big fat Booty Band. $5 (cover charge)

Sun. 7 p.m. Open Jam Night hosted by Up The Chain

Wed. 9 p.m. Twiddle. $8 (advance) $10 (day of show
All shows 21+)

Villa Romanza

429 Rte. 156 Hamilton

(609) 585-1717

Sat. 7 p.m. Uncle Floyd & Randi Lupi

Wildflowers Inn


2572 Pennington Rd. Pennington


Sat. 9 p.m. Live Acoustic Rock
Mon. 9 p.m. Karaoke

All shows 21+


Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program entitled 'Rock On Radio' airing Sunday evenings at 7:00pm EST on ThePenguinRocks.com where he features indie/original bands and solo artists.

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