Cactus was a hard rock band formed in New York in 1969 that was initially comprised former Vanilla Fudge members, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, after plans to record with Jeff Beck were delayed due to an accident that sidelined Beck from playing for a while. The group’s initial run only lasted until 1972, but the group was resurrected for a few years by Rusty Day, one of the original members of Cactus. Then, in 2006 most of the original lineup alongside other former Vanilla Fudge members. This album, Cactus (1970), was the group’s debut album, which reached up to #54 in the US charts, and seems to have been well-received. I’m pretty excited to give this album a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Parchman Farm” gets grooving right away with some quick rockin’ drums and some really sweet hard blues rock guitar. I’m really digging the track so far. The bass line has a really rockin’ bop to it, which really catches my ear nicely. I really dig the distant harmonica that brings even more bluesy flavors to the soundscape. I’m sort of reminded of Tony McPhee and The Groundhogs. Oh wow, the bluesy licks at the end of the track alongside those drums have really hooked me further into the music. Great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
Holy smokes, “My Lady from South of Detroit” has such a light feel compared to the previous track with the gentle strumming and playing of some acoustic guitar with a really gentle swing in the drums. Oh wow, the beat picks up a bit as the song moves into the chorus. Oh wow, an electric guitar finds its way into the soundscape, and brings some really sweet bluesy and nearly psychedelic flavors with it. The song seems to continually get sweeter as the playing continues, becoming a ballad of some sort. Great track.
Oh wow, “Bro. Bill” gets started right away with a mixture of strange bluesy flavors with a sort of Texas/southern inflection in the guitar work and harmonica that once again reminds me of Tony McPhee a fair deal. The song nearly has a kind of sound that makes it feel like a train gradually rolling down its tracks and picking up steam along the way. I’m really digging the twanginess in both the electric and acoustic guitar work alongside the bluesy flavors from the harmonica. Holy smokes, these licks from the acoustic guitar seem to walk the line between folk and blues at times, all while pulling me further into the listening experience. Wow, great track.
“You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover” starts out with some sort of tentative playing from the bass and guitar, as though they’re going to launch into an epic jam in a moment. Holy smokes, the epic jam has started with a ton of a bluesy of flavors that remind me of some heavy, bluesy psychedelic rock jams from the later 1960s. Oh wow, this track seems to keep on giving and evolving into even groovier bluesy jams. Holy smokes, the electric guitar jumps in with what sound like massive dive bombs, which get the train that is this song traveling even faster down its proverbial tracks. Oh wow, the bass seems to be really driving out the playing of the rest of the instrumentation as the jam continues to climb. Wow, great track.
“Let Me Swim” starts out with some really epic hard bluesy licks from the guitar that are accompanied by the crashing of some cymbals. Oh wow, I’m really digging this track. The guitar riff almost feels like if Chuck Berry were a hard rock guitarist. There are some bongos/congas in the track that seem to somehow relax the song into its hard rock edge, as though the band is carrying you away into a really groovy soundscape while you have no choice but to listen even closer. Holy smokes, the jams at the end of track are smokin’ as they fade out. Great track.
“No Need to Worry” starts out with what sounds to be a bit of a back and forth between the producer and a musician in the studio. Holy smokes, a really relaxed blues tune has taken form, with a gentle swing in the drums and melty blues guitar that remind me a lot of John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, with the addition of some bluesy vocals that get guttural at times. Oh wow, the drums, guitar, and bass all continue to evolve with one another. Though the playing has changed from the start of the song, the slow, relaxed, bluesy tone has stayed constant. Oh wow, the track almost feels like it’s going to breakthrough to a heavier bluesy jam, but never quite does as it becomes a bluesy jam reminiscent of Muddy Waters. Wow, great blues tune.
“Oleo” starts out with some bluesy harmonica and guitar that soon break through to a heavy blues jam that the previous song was nearly teasing at. “Oleo” was a hard bop song originally by Sonny Rollins”, and though I’m not sure this track is intended to be Cactus’ own version, there’s likely some inspiration drawn from it. Oh wow, the bass line gets into a really interesting hard bop solo that gets distorted in a hard rock and nearly punk rock sound as if the volume was dialed up on the amp all the way to 11. After this bass solo, I’m leaning towards this song being Cactus’ own version of the composition originally by Sonny Rollins. Holy smokes, the electric guitar comes in for some hard bluesy licks for a moment before the track comes back to the main chorus for the outro. Great track.
Oh wow, “Feels So Good” immediately starts out with some bluesy guitar licks that make me think of Jimi Hendrix. Though there’s a jazz song by Chuck Mangione called “Feels So Good”, this album predates that single by about 7 years. Oh wow, there are some really groovy notes hit by the guitars in this track. Holy smokes, the drums, bass, and guitars all seem to have their intensity and flavor dials turned up all the way in this track so far. Oh wow, there’s a super sweet drum solo during this track that feels as though the proverbial musical train created by the band that’s been traveling through this album has reached peak velocity moments before it begins to slow down to pull into the station. Holy smokes, this drums solo keeps on giving. Holy smokes, the guitar and the chorus both come in again and seem to release a ton of tension as the song comes to a close. Wow, great track, and a super sweet way to finish the album.
Holy smokes, this album was pretty sweet. I really enjoy Jeff Beck’s playing in the Beck, Bogert & Appice trio, which makes it no surprise that I enjoyed the hard rock and blues rock playing in this album. The bluesy playing ranged from a mellow, old-fashioned Muddy Waters blues jam, to the hard rock infused blues that became more and more popular in the early 1970s. If you’re into blues rock and/or the stylings of Jeff Beck at all (even though he isn’t in the album) or possibly The Groundhogs and/or Tony McPhee, then you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A