Tim Bogert of Vanilla Fudge dies

Bassist Tim Bogert, a founding member of the psychedelic rock act Vanilla Fudge, has died. He was 76.

Bogert was half of a popular and well-regarded rhythm section with drummer Carmen Appice. Together, they also played in the hard rock act Cactus and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice.

“He was my friend for over 50 years,” Appice said in announcing Bogert’s death Jan. 13. “Tim was a one of a kind bass player. … He was as masterful at shredding as he was holding down a groove, and Tim introduced a new level of virtuosity into rock bass playing.”

Hollywood’s Musicians Institute, where Bogert later became a fixture, said it mourned “the loss of our friend and former faculty member.” Bogert’s “groove will live on through all the students he inspired and his impressive catalog of recordings.”

Born in New York, Bogert co-founded Vanilla Fudge in 1967, the band evolving from an act called the Pigeons.

The Long Island group’s signature move was to slow down, lengthen and freak out the top 40 hits of the day. Promoters called it symphonic psychedelic rock. More than a few critics called it shit.

Their self-titled debut album cracked the top 10, largely on the strength of a thick-as-syrup cover of the Supremes’ recent hit “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” Hippie nation embraced the odd mix of the familiar — the Motown trio’s instant classic — with the heady-spooky vibes of the day.

Vanilla Fudge built its debut album around songs by the Beatles, Curtis Mayfield, and Sonny and Cher. The Vanilla Fudge sound featured the Hammond organ of Mark Stein, anchored by the bass and drums of Bogert-Appice. The group often employed the light & heavy dynamics that found favor in hard rock over the coming decade. Deep Purple, in particular, found inspiration in that first Vanilla Fudge album.

Throughout 1967, Vanilla Fudge was red-hot, playing gigs with Janis Joplin, Cream, and the Mamas and the Papas. They bragged for years about blowing Jimi Hendrix off the stage.

Producer Shadow Morton arm-wrestled Vanilla Fudge into “The Beat Goes On,” a double concept album based on another Sonny and Cher song and the historic march of time. The album remains an infamous dud, the “Ishtar” of the psychedelic era.

Bogert said, ” ‘The Beat Goes On’ was the album that killed the band.” 

The ride was over by 1970, and Bogert and Appice founded Cactus, a blues rock outfit in the vein of Humble Pie and the Shadows of Knight. They recorded four albums and became known for blistering live shows.

Later, the duo teamed up with Jeff Beck in Beck, Bogert & Appice. Bogert said the moody star guitarist struggled with sharing the stage with a bassist who also liked to play lead licks. (Beck performed on a Vanilla Fudge reunion LP in 1984, one of several attempts to reheat the band.) The Beck group lasted for a few years but produced only one studio album.

Bogert, along with James Jamerson and Paul McCartney, are “classic examples of (bass) players using the entire fingerboard while serving the song,” the hard rock bass star Billy Sheehan has said. Upon hearing of Bogert’s death, he praised his “awesomeness, generosity, and kindness.”

Bogert taught at L.A.’s Musicians Institute for several decades, beginning in 1981. “It was a wonderful way to decompress and become normal without going off the deep end like an awful lot of my peers did at the time,” the bassist told Geeks of Doom. “I think it very much saved me.”

Bogert retired from touring in 2008 but continued to record. HIs discography includes a pair of solo albums from the early ’80s.

Other projects included Bobby and the Midnites (with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir), Boxer, Pata, Hollywood Monsters and DBA, with Appice and Rick Derringer.

Bogert had been ill for some time and reportedly died of cancer.

“He was the last of the legendary ’60s bass players,” Appice said.