A rock & roll supergroup featuring members of
Vanilla Fudge,
Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels, and
Ted Nugent's
Amboy Dukes,
Cactus emerged in 1969 with a sound that combined blues, boogie, and hard rock. Between 1970 and 1972, they issued four full-length efforts, including their Billboard-charting eponymous debut, before ceasing operations after the release of
'Ot 'n' Sweaty. They re-formed in 2006 and unveiled
Cactus V, their first studio album in 34 years. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record sporadically, with drummer
Carmine Appice serving as the sole original member.
The plan was for the
Vanilla Fudge rhythm section of bassist
Tim Bogert and drummer
Carmine Appice to join guitar god
Jeff Beck and singer
Rod Stewart. The project came undone when
Beck had a motorcycle accident that incapacitated him for 18 months.
Stewart then joined pal
Ron Wood in the revamped
Faces, leaving
Bogert and
Appice to find alternates for their dream band. They recruited guitarist
Jim McCarty from Detroit Wheels, and singer
Rusty Day from
Amboy Dukes.
Operating under the moniker
Cactus, the band's assured 1970 self-titled debut included six original cuts and a pair of covers, one of which was a souped-up rendering of
Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm." They applied the same formula to 1971's
One Way... Or Another, laying down six hip-shaking originals along with fiery covers of
Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" and
Chuck Willis' "I Feel So Bad." The like-minded
Restrictions arrived later that year and included a searing rendition of
Willie Dixon's "Evil."
McCarty and
Day left the fold ahead of the release of the band's fourth long-player. The resulting
'Ot 'n' Sweaty, released in 1972, saw
Appice and
Bogert joined by guitarist Werner Fritzschings, keyboardist
Duane Hitchings, and vocalist
Peter French (ex-
Leaf Hound and
Atomic Rooster).
Cactus disbanded shortly after the album's release.
In June 2006, the band re-formed around a lineup consisting of original members
Appice,
Bogert,
McCarty, and new vocalist and former
Savoy Brown frontman
Jimmy Kunes --
Rusty Day passed away in 1982. They issued their long-awaited fifth studio LP, the aptly named
Cactus V, later that fall. Various lineup shifts preceded the release of 2016's Black Dawn, which featured
McCarty,
Appice,
Kunes, and newcomers Pete Bremy and Randy Pratt. Founding member
Tim Bogert died on January 13, 2021 after a long fight with cancer; he was 76 years old. Later that year
Cactus released a new studio album,
Tightrope. ~ Jim Newsom & James Christopher Monger