The Pigeons - While the World was Eating Vanilla Fudge (1970) [Hi-Res]

In 1965 former RICK MARTIN & THE SHOWMEN members Mark Stein, TIM BOGERT and Joey Brennan formed the ELECTRIC PIGEONS in New Jersey and were joined by guitarist Vince Martell once having shortened the moniker to THE PIGEONS. Martell had met the trio through the musicians union. The guitarist had just returned from a spell in the Navy and had played in bars and Blues clubs in Key West, Florida in RICKY T. & THE SATANS THREE.

THE PIGEONS, booked into venues by vocalist / organist Mark Stein's father and rehearsing at bassist Tim Bogert's home. They established a local following for a set full of R&B standards and, from time to time, were also engaged as the backing group for female singing groups the SHANGRI-LAS (of 'Leader Of The Pack' fame) and the BLUEBELLES. As time went by the group were a known name on the Eastern seaboard having built a solid reputation in the clubs all the way down the East Coast.

1966 the group cut their first album, 'While The Whole World Was Eating Vanilla Fudge', credited to MARK STEIN & THE PIGEONS, although it would remain unreleased until Wand Records issued it in 1970.

During this period the group played with a number of other hard working young Rock bands, including THE VAGRANTS, the GOOD RATS and SPARROW. THE VAGRANTS would certainly be a group that had an undoubted influence on the way THE PIGEONS' own sound evolved as they began to drift away from the standard arrangements of the cover tunes they were playing. They now offered their own adaptations of the hit songs that people came along to dance to, much to the chagrin of both club owners and to some extent the audience as well.

In December 1966 the band parted company with Joey Brennan who joined THE YOUNGER BROTHERS BAND. Tim Bogert, having been impressed with a drummer he had seen playing a gig at New York's Headliner Club took his band mates to see the guy play and the trio quickly invited one CARMINE APPICE into the fold.

With Appice in the group a record contract with Atco would follow after SHANGRI-LAS writer / producer George 'Shadow' Morton had caught a live version of THE PIGEON's new take on the SUPREMES' 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' after being invited down to a gig by manager Phil Basille. Morton cut the track with the group and emerged with the deal from Atco's Ahmet Ertegun and the song was released as the group's first single in the Spring of 1967 backed with an adaptation of LA BELLE's 'Take Me For A Little While'. Prior to its release the group had dispensed with THE PIGEONS name and had become VANILLA FUDGE.

Tracklist:
01. The Pigeons - Midnight Hour (03:39)
02. The Pigeons - Good Lovin' (02:01)
03. The Pigeons - I Who Have Nothing (04:05)
04. The Pigeons - Upset the People (02:58)
05. The Pigeons - Mustang Sally (03:28)
06. The Pigeons - You're My Soul and Inspiration (03:23)
07. The Pigeons - About Me (02:33)
08. The Pigeons - Don't Look Back (03:25)