Early life and influences

Stein was born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began playing piano at age four and later attempted the accordion. Upon being exposed to rock and roll in the 1950s, Stein settled on the guitar. He worked his way through various bands in his high school. While performing with one of these early groups, he spied an "old beat-up organ on the stage and started jamming on it."

Stein himself influenced organist Jon Lord of the band Deep Purple. Lord, in a 1989 interview said " used to listen to Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge in the late sixties. He was a useful source of tricks on the Hammond."

[ Source: Wikipedia ]