"I drink Coca-Cola for breakfast. I've Got Jackie Onassis in my pants."
Orang-Utan - Orang-Utan (1971) It's always amazing to check out an album, expecting it to be some sort of obscure novelty album, and discover it's a "real" album. The vocals walk the fine line between Led Zep and Budgie and the songs are reminiscent of the latter's better mellow material. The last tune reminds me of the James Gang and hardly anyone does that. Twins guitar lead that don't harmonize or trade back and forth, they sort of overlap, like singing in a round. They manage to be impressive without drifting into excessive noodling. The songs have atmosphere, emotion and all the intangibles. This is heavy English blues rock at it's best.
Haystacks Balboa - Haystacks Balboa (1970)
There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding this band. A bio of them on the actual CD (a bootleg, I assume) refers to them as them as an early English hard-rock band. They are from New York.
There was a rumor that Leslie West's brother Larry played guitar in this band. Larry played bass in Leslie's pre-Mountain band, The Vagrants and both Wests were supposedly friends with members of Haystacks. The big dude in the band photo, with the afro who looks like Leslie's twin is actually guitar player Mark Mayo. To confuse matters further, Larry West gets co-writing credit on one of the songs on this album.
There are also two versions of this album available. One is the self-titled 1970 release pictured above. At some point the record was re-released under the name "Detoxified," with a picture of a guy in a gas mask on the cover.
The final intriguing tidbit is that, in an interview I found their former bass player, says that members of the band (guitarist Mayo, drummer Mark Babani and keyboardist Lloyd Landesman) played in a band called Tangerine Puppets when they were in high school, in Forrest Hills New York. Tangerine Puppets was the name of the first band or Johnny and Tommy from the Ramones, also from Forrest Hills. The only problem is I can't find any mention of the Balboa members in any of the Tangerine Puppets info. As well, there is no mention of either Ramone in any of the Balboa articles mentioning Tangerine Puppets.Wow.
This is a good example of an album that I needed to hear a few more times before making a judgment. Initially I thought it was horrible. Now I'm not really sure what it is. It starts out simply enough with "The Spoiler," a straight up rocker with macho "fuck 'em and forget 'em," lyrics.
Then it takes a left turn on "The Children of Heaven," with a raspy-voiced second singer that reminds me of that song "The Crusher," ("do they eye-gouge, you turkey neck,")and weird chicken
shrieks. The songs begin to follow some confounding story-line and the music becomes very spastic and Zappa-ish. There is a strange first person narrative that goes back and forth role-playing between the devil (sounding like tom Waits) "here I come, I'm gonna burn you alive!" and then "eek! Oh no! I must escape the devil. This weirdness really kicks off at "The Auburn Queen," where the Queen in question is possessed or ...something. There's a build up of tension, conflict (both mostly played out in spooky organ music) then a climax and some sort of resolution.. "Ode To The Silken Men" gets all "Battle of Evermore," before the organs take over with a weird ascension vibe. Then the silken men sound like they are supposed to be marching in all "Wizard of Oz," style. I'll give credit where it's due for trying to do something different but this type of rock opera is a bit ambitious for a first album and, especially taken out of context, some of the songs are just weird and irritating. My knee-jerk reaction was to say that it sucks but, ultimately, it's an interesting record that goes overboard with experimentation. I'm sure it sounds brilliant on acid.
Fresh Blueberry Pancake - Heavy (1970) Speaking of curiosities this Pittsburgh band pressed only 54 copies of their LP, making it highly sought after by folks who really should find other things to do with their lives. It was released by a German label so the rest of us could see what the fuss was about.
So ... here's the scoop. At some point in music history, after garage bands banged out simple three chord "Louie Louie," style stuff, then guitars and equipment got better and louder and you have the heavily distorted 60's lead guitar sound, wringing each note for all it's worth. At some point in the 70's it seems everybody and their dog had a Les Paul and a Marshall (or a Sunn if they were really cool) and a distortion box and could rip pretty decent, fast blues leads a la Jimmy Page. Also, since so many variables effect guitar tones and because sometimes the planets just align a certain way and a shitty, budget set up just sounds like God, there are a wealth of good raunchy guitar licks on old-dusty albums like this. So the first track, "Hassles" and the tune "Clown on a Rope" have some nice nasty guitars, the rest is a bunch of hippie bullshit like "Country Joe and the Fish," meets jazz influenced light rock. Then you're just left with this guy's annoying, braying donkey voice on the nauseating piano ballads like "I Call Him Lord." A straight up tune about God for fuck's sake . Fuck you fuck you fuck you, you fuck! I officially pronounce this album - "not heavy".
San Francisco's Shiver (1972)
Real raw, grimy, heavy 70's rock which actually wasn't released in the 70's. It sat around somewhere, until being unearthed and released on CD by Shadok's Music. It sounds like it this album was recorded live, or at least live off the floor, with copious amounts of microphone feedback. Swirling, spacey guitars and also brings the sludge. You can almost hear flares rippling in the wind. Nasty shrieked vocals sound like the bastard child of Janis Joplin and Sam Kinison caught in a lawnmower and in case you're confused by this, it sounds fucking great.These are shirtless, pot dealing, shop-class kids who are about 35 by the time they graduate. Matthew McConoughey's character in Dazed and Confused was in this band. Grab your eagle-feather roach clip, put your headphones on and look at yer black light posters.
Black Widow - Sacrifice (1970)
Here's another new arrival, straight from What-The-Fuck Land. Satanic prog rock from the 70's.
The closest comparisons I can draw musically are some of the odder King Crimson folky bits mixed with "Goblin,"the band that soundtracks all the Dario Argento horror movies, and a bit of Herbie Hancock thrown in. The singer sounds to me like he must be wearing a ruffled shift and/or cape without any trace of irony
It's bizarre to hear a band attempting play very dark music with lyrics about satanic rituals, using jazz flute and Hammond organ. Imagine trying to invoke Satan on a clarinet. Obviously (duh) it is the greatest thing I have ever heardThe closer, "Sacrifice," is my pick for best track on the album.
11 minutes of elevator doom jazz to die for.
Cactus is a band that will ultimately be remembered more for what they were supposed to be than for what they actually were. Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge, was going to be joined by Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart but then Beck fell off his bike and Rod Stewart had to go get his stomach pumped.
Jim McCarty, formerly of Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels ended up playing guitar instead. Rusty Day, formerly of The Amboy Dukes became their singer.
They were cursed with the label of "super group," early on and also billed (by whom, I have no idea) as the American Led Zeppelin. They failed to match Zep's popularity and are noted primarily as being unsuccessful.
Cactus were a hardcore blues/boogie rock outfit who put out a few albums from 1970 onward and then fizzled out only to be forgotten, then thawed out and re-discovered 30 some odd years later.
Now their relative unknown status just makes them that much cooler. Regardless of time, place or context, they are a smokin' tight band. Jim McCarty's leads absolutely rip, Rusty Day sings his fuckin' balls off and Bogert and Appice bring the heavy bottom end, so essential to a groove based band.
Jim McCarty
Rusty Day was later replaced on vocals by Peter French from Atomic Rooster and Leaf Hound and McCarty by Werner Fritzschings on guitar but by this time it was already over.
Keyboardist Duane Hitchings also joined. He is notable for putting a band called "Son of Cactus," together featuring himself and no original members of the band.
Rusty Day was tragically machine gunned to death along with his eleven year old son as a result of a bad cocaine deal in 1982. RIP.
Rusty Day
Cactus (1970) The first album starts with the most blazing version of "Parchman Fram," I've ever heard, and bear in mind it was also covered by Blue Cheer the previous year. McCarty absolutely stands on his head on this one. The album order is a bit strange as they slow it down for the next two Lady from South of Detroit is not one of my faves, while "Bro Bill," is country blues and reminds me a bit of "The Band," (or "Cripple Creek," which is as far as I go with them) but with good lyrics. Howlin' Wolf's "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover," features some bad-ass harmonica by Mr. Day. "Let Me Swim," kicks the energy level back up to begin side 2, Then "No Need To Worry," is slow traditional blues. "Oleo," breaks from blues rock with a Bogert bass solo that becomes so distorted and rad (I'm talkin' Cliff Burton style) that it's fucking retarded. Ends with another ripping rock tune "Feel So Good," which gives Appice his drum solo at the end, where it actually seems to fit and doesn't totally piss me off. At that point it feels like he's earned it. A good debut with 2 smokin' covers, unfortunately, the better original tunes are pushed way back to side 2. This is still a classic slab or rock 'n' roll that you need. Oh, and by the way, the cactus on the cover sort of looks like a ... oh, never mind.
One Way ... Or Another(1972)
What these guys do to old standards has to be heard to be believed. The way they rip into "Long Tall Sally," absolutely destroys. This is prototypical heavy blues rock. "Rockout, Whatever You Feel Like," and "Rock n Roll Children," drift into Foghat territory with some of the backing vocals and you get the feeling they're reaching for a single but it doesn't quite make it and just ends up slowing the pace down too much. Bad Mother Boogie 1&2 feature more bad-ass harmonica from Mr. Day and more straight up blues, before plugging in and kicking some ass.
"Feel So Bad," Opens side 2, on a strong note, then the mellow but awesome instro "Song for Aries," and the smokin' "Hometown Bust," and the explosive title track. "One Way ... Or Another" is one of, if not the best tune these guys ever did. One of the best examples of the genre period. If someone were to me, what do you like about this type of music, I wouldn't say anything, I'd just put the song "One Way ... Or Another," by Cactus on the stereo. Quote me
This begs the question - "why not put it up first," before "Long Tall Sally," or at least second. Why bury it at the end? You could play the album backwards and the sequence would be better. Buh-reeeew-tul!
Still, even better than their debut for my money. and heavy blues rock at it's raddest.
Restrictions (1971)The decent title tune, kicks the album off on a good note, "Token Choken," and "Alaska," are both goofy throw-away numbers. "Guiltless Glider," stretches way to long and is simply not a good fit this early on the album. Their cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Evil," is one of their all-time best recordings and was released as a single.
"Bag Drag," is another poor choice to be buried all the way on side 2. If you can get past the odd title, it will kick your ass. Fuckin' raw tune. Lyrics are about the Vietnam war "What a drag, livin' in a plastic bag etc." Rusty Day just howls. What an amazing song. It wasn't released as a single ... or even a B side. Career sabotage? you be the judge. The mellow "Mean Night in Cleveland," is a perfect closer. Despite having more tracks than the previous two records, "Restrictions," has fewer highlights. Still, another good record hampered by poor sequencing.
*
(A quick note about sequencing);
The first two Cactus albums start with a high-energy cover tunes, "Restrictions," starts with the decent title track. Immediately they all change direction.
Song 2 could possibly be the weakest tracks on each record;
"My Girl From South of Detroit," "Rock Out Whatever You Feel like,"and "Token Choken" are not typical of the band's sound and lousy choices for such a prime spot on a record.
These are followed up by "Bro Bill," "Rock n Roll Children," and "Guiltless Glider," respectively.
"Glider" is too long and is out of place so early on. The other two just aren't strong enough to be placed so far up front, especially since they are already preceded by a weak track.
It seems like the band (or some record company bozo) didn't have the confidence to put their most heavy, rockin', original material on side 1, and then, for some reason, put their hokiest crap in the 2nd and 3rd spot every time! I'm sure this caused some to stop listening when things went steadily downhill after their energetic opening tunes.
As a casual listener, I was really mostly aware of their covers of "Parchman", "Evil," and "One Way... Or Another," and wasn't as familiar with some of their best original material, which is mind-blowing. Who says sequencing doesn't matter?
'Ot N Sweaty (1972)Their last official release is a bit of a grab bag. The first side is recorded live in Puerto Rico, the second half in the studio. Duane Hitching's keyboards are prominent, and that's a strike against, because I think keys suck, but whatever. Boogie woogie? Meh.
So Rusty Day was out at this point but ... I can't tell. They seem to have cloned him. Leaf Hound's Peter French is the singer on this album but the live side 1 and "Bad Stuff," the first of the studio tracks sound like Rusty Day to me. McCarty's replacement is more noticeably different. Possibly because because the songs have a mellower, country twang to them, which I am choosing to blame, again, on the dreaded piano.
The studio material is pretty standard fare for either Cactus or Leaf Hound (it's not super distinguishable at this point. Noticeably less raw but a better album than it had any right to be. Decent but not essential.
"USA! USA!"
