While the present-day incarnation of Cactus continues to defy the passing of time (the band’s new video, “300 Pounds of Joy,” is among the heaviest things you’ll encounter this year), the band’s former self is crushing the opposition as well.
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Formed by Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert after the former Vanilla Fudge-rs initial intention of teaming up with Jeff Beck was derailed by the guitarist’s car accident, Cactus swiftly established themselves among the loudest, and most influential hard rock bands of the early 1970s.
Three killer albums set the stage for a legacy that swept even Van Halen into their court - Carmine still possesses a cassette tape Eddie Van Halen gave him, of the then-unknown band blasting Cactus covers to a clubful of fans. And the last few years have seen Cleopatra Records delve into the band’s archive for a clutch of live albums that capture the original band in even more fiery form - The Birth of Cactus, Ultra Sonic Boogie ’71 and, stressing on December 18, Auxiliary Studios ’71, a truly monstrous performance from fall 1971, and an historic one as well.
This was the night when the band announced that guitarist Jim McCarty was on his way out of the band, and they were searching for a new axeman - a shock split that hit the fan-base like an earthquake. Cactus were already known across the US as “the American Led Zeppelin.” And now the American Jimmy Page was on his way out.
It didn’t affect the show, though. Carmine recalls, ““McCarty’s playing was amazing on this show. He was on fire with us, me and Tim [Bogert, bassist]. As much as he didn’t like playing rock, because he was a blues guitarist, that’s what kicked him into doing what he did.”
From the outset, Cactus were a step ahead of the rest of the field. The drummer continues, ““Everything was so fast, hardly any grooves, just 110mph of energy. It became a really wild band, and we played all over the place. We went to England, Europe, we did the Isle of Wight Festival - that was incredible; we used to do the boogie, Rusty would say ‘come on everybody, let’s boogie!' and the whole place was on its feet, from the front by the stage to the back, a gigantic wave. I’ll never forget it.”
Neither did their fans. Black Oak Arkansas’s Jim Dandy cited Cactus frontman Rusty Day as an influence; later, so did David Lee Roth. And, Carmine recalls how, as he was putting together a new line-up of Vanilla Fudge during the 1980s, he called Eddie Van Halen to tell him the news. Eddie’s response? “**** that, get Cactus back together!”
“Cactus went onto be a really big underground band that really influenced a lot of bands,” Carmine continues. “Evil,” the Chester Burnett classic that highlighted Cactus’s third album, Restrictions, and opens Auxiliary Studios ‘71, “became a giant song of our’s. Dee Snider cut it, the Daisies cut it, so many people cut it.”
Three songs from Restrictions open the Rochester show, “Evil,” “Alaska” and Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.” But the show itself is less about the songs and more about the atmosphere. You listen to Cactus, particularly their live recordings, and you can feel the planet start spinning faster. And, by the time they hit tonight’s closing number, an epic “Boogie Mama”… well, let Carmine explain.
“Rusty had a ball with that. He changed the lyrics every night, Rusty was amazing with lyrics, he’d be singing something and then something else would come into his head, and we used to flow with him, he was with lyrics the same as we were with drums, bass and guitar. There was no other band like us. It was a great time of our lives, we had a ball.”
And now you can have one as well, as Auxiliary Studios ’71 prepares to leap onto your holidays playlist on CD and as a startling red/black/marble double vinyl pack. Just make certain that you play it loud.
VINYL https://cleorecs.com/products/cactus-auxiliary-studios-1971-red-black-marble-double-vinyl-lp
CD https://cleorecs.com/products/cactus-auxiliary-studios-1971-cd
Track listing
1.The Sun Is Shining
2. Evil
3. Sweet Sixteen
4. Oleo
5. No Need To Worry
6. Long Tall Sally
7. Big Mama Boogie - Parts I & II
