The drummer who helped Led Zeppelin become rock giants: “I got John Bonham a Ludwig”
Although people rightly credit metal with being founded by the British trio of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin, others played a key role in rock becoming darker and heavier as the late 1960s transitioned into the new decade. One of these was Vanilla Fudge.
Due to the significance of the British triumvirate of bands, the influence of their members, and the innovations they enacted, it is often overlooked that these other groups during the shift from the countercultural period to the grotty 1970s had a hand in guitar music evolving according to the times.
Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who played a consequential role in this era, has noted this point many times. In one interview, he asserted that his band peaked in 1970 after releasing the classic Deep Purple In Rock, a landmark metal album featuring ‘Black Night’ and ‘Speed King’.
The guitarist once explained: “It seemed in our time, which was like 1970, the biggest bands were Led Zeppelin, ourselves – Deep Purple – and Black Sabbath. On the American side, there was Mountain, and Vanilla Fudge was fading out a little bit, unfortunately, fantastic band.”
Although Mountain were greatly influential in their time thanks to ‘Mississippi Queen’, with another cut ‘Long Red’ widely sampled, you could argue that Vanilla Fudge were even more significant in bridging 1960s rock and early 1970s metal. Most famous for their pulsating cover of The Supremes’ ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’, they had a sound that was far ahead of its time, featuring a crunching guitar, searing keys and, most crucially, the heavy bass drum work of Carmine Appice.
While Vanilla Fudge influenced the ‘Mark II’ line-up of Deep Purple finding their sound – their most crucial iteration – their rhythmic blaze also had a defining impact on Led Zeppelin. Now, we often think of the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ band as being purely original, but they were no strangers to using the sounds of others. They even got in trouble for it on occasion.
While the Fudge played with many notable acts, the most famous was when Led Zeppelin supported them on their inaugural US tour in 1968. This stint would be pivotal for the group, particularly drummer John Bonham, who was given the key to his legendary status by Appice.
Speaking to Songfacts in 2004, Appice recalled playing with the “green” Led Zeppelin. He revealed he was responsible for getting Bonham his Ludwig endorsement: “I got John Bonham a Ludwig endorsement, the same drums that I had, which were big 26 bass drums – a totally unique Ludwig kit that started all these crazy sizes. Bonzo saw it and loved it, so I got him the endorsement.”
Six months later, Led Zeppelin returned to America to tour again, but this time, thanks in part to Bonham using a big Ludwig kit like Appice, they had improved markedly. Now, the bill was far more equal, and Led Zeppelin were set to take over the world. By that point, Vanilla Fudge had played with the likes of The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Cream before, but according to Appice, no one had beaten them in the live setting, that was until Led Zeppelin returned with Bonham sat behind his new Ludwig setup. The sound was elemental, and a new era beckoned.
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