In rock and pop music the phrase “rhythm section” normally refers to the drummer and bass player of a band.  The rhythm section is the foundation of every band’s sound but it seldom gets the attention of the singer and/or the guitar player.  If you think of the Who my guess is that you either think of Pete Townshend and/or Roger Daltrey but I don’t think there would have been a Who without their amazing rhythm section of Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

In today’s Two’Fer Tuesday post we celebrate one of the best rhythm sections in rock history, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice.  They provided the rhythm section for three major bands in the 60s and 70s, which to best of my knowledge is an accomplishment that has not been equaled by any other bass player/drummer combination.

Bogert and Appice initially got together in Vanilla Fudge, a late 1960s psychedelic group.  Let’s listen to their biggest hit, a psychedelic remake of You Keep Me Hanging On.

Vanilla Fudge – You Keep Me Hanging On

As Vanilla Fudge started to break up a an idea for a new supergroup started to take shape.  The new super group was going to consist of Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge along with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart from the Jeff Beck Group.  Unfortunately, this group never came together due to a car accident which forced Jeff out of the music scene for a year.  With the collapse of the planned super group, Rod ended up joining forces with Ronnie Wood to create The Faces while Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice combined with Jim McCarthy and Rusty Day to form Cactus.  Let’s listen to a song from Cactus’ debut album……..

Cactus – Let Me Swim

In 1972 Cactus was starting to breakup as was Jeff’s latest incarnation of the Jeff Beck Group.  The end result, leaving out a lot of boring details, was that Beck, Bogert and Appice finally managed to join forces and form a real super group/power trio with the simple name of Beck, Bogert, and Appice or BBA for short.  We have talked about BBA in earlier posts but just to refresh your memory here is one of the cuts from their one and only studio album.

Beck, Bogert, & Appice – Sweet Surrender

One rhythm section, three great bands, and a little know piece of rock history.  You just never know what you will learn from this blog!

As always…..let me know what you think……..