On paper, it’s one of the unlikeliest unions you could imagine.
On the one hand, there’s Melanie - the First Lady of Woodstock, who was indeed the first unaccompanied female performer to set foot on stage that weekend, and one of just two to do so all festival long.
And on the other, there’s Cactus, the hard rocking leviathan formed by legendary drummer Carmine Appice in 1969, and whose latest album Temple Of The Blues: Influences And Friends links them up with the likes of Ted Nugent, Dee Snider, Pat Travers and more.
And, on the third hand (because why not?), there’s Jimi Hendrix, whose “Purple Haze’ stands as one of the defining statements in all of rock history.
What could possibly go wrong?
Melanie originally recorded “Purple Haze” back in the mid-1990s for her Silver Anniversary retrospective album. But, though she kept it acoustic, the electricity that runs through her performance literally screamed out for a band.
Or, as Carmine puts it, “After knowing Melanie’s other doings and releases, when I hear this version of her and the screams she did… it blew me away. It was easy to put a kick ass Cactus band track … behind her. It does kick butt….”
There’s history behind it, as well - both Cactus and Melanie were stars of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, and so was Jimi Hendrix. They didn’t play together at the time, of course. But imagine if they had?
“Purple Haze” might well have been the result.
With Appice joined here by Cactus band mates Tony Franklin (bass) and Artie Dillon (guitar), this breathtakingly audacious performance is out today on all the usual streaming platforms. And it doesn’t matter what you might be expecting to hear. The reality is very, very different.
Hear it here: https://orcd.co/cactusmelanie_purplehaze
View the video: https://youtu.be/frvg5rPgW-M
Catch Cactus here: https://orcd.co/cactus_templeofblues
More Melanie here: https://orcd.co/melanie_silveranniversary
2 comments
What can I say,“This is such a fun recording. AI is opening a whole new world to us Melanie fans”. Would love to have this on vinyl. Please please please.😍Melanie once recorded Dylans “Lay lady lay.” The local radio station in my home town took the Melanie recording and the Dylan recording and phased them together to make one great collaboration! Maybe an AI of Dylan and Melanie doing lay lady lay could happen? It would make a great flip side to a 45 of Purple haze. I know you can make it happen Cleopatra. I bet Bob Dylan would love the idea too. Melanie sang so many of Dylans songs, I’m sure he would give the green light to this collaboration.
It is amazing Purple Haze Melanie
Put it on a single 45 record
Too good
Good work Cleopatra Records