Cactus


Cactus I (1970 - 1971)
  • Tim Bogert - bass/vocals - b. August 1944, New York City, New York - formerly with The Pigeons and The Vanilla Fudge.
  • Carmine Appice - drums/percussion/vocals - b. December 15, 1946 - formerly with The Pigeons and The Vanilla Fudge.
  • Jim McCarty - guitar - b. 1947 - formerly with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and Buddy Miles.
  • Rusty Day - vocals/harmonica - b. Russell Edward Davidson; d. June 3, 1982, Orlando, Florida - formerly with Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes.
Albums:
  1. "Cactus" (1970) - Singles: "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover", "Bro. Bill"
  2. "One Way...Or Another" (1971) - Singles: "Long Tall Sally", "Rock n' Roll Children"
  3. "Restrictions" (1971) - Singles: "Evil", "Alaska"

Cactus II (1971)
  • Tim Bogert - bass/vocals
  • Carmine Appice - drums/percussion/vocals
  • Jim McCarty - guitar
  • Rusty Day - vocals/harmonica
  • Ron Leejack - guitar

Cactus III (1971 - 1972)
  • Tim Bogert - bass/vocals
  • Carmine Appice - drums/percussion/vocals
  • Jim McCarty - guitar
  • Rusty Day - vocals/harmonica
Jim McCarty forms Rockets and, later, The Detroit Blues BandRusty Day joins Mitch Ryder's Detroit.

Cactus IV (1972)
  • Tim Bogert - bass/vocals
  • Carmine Appice - drums/percussion/vocals
  • Werner Fritzschings - guitar
  • Duane Hitchings - keyboards
  • Peter French - vocals - formerly with Atomic Rooster.
Album:
  1. "'Ot 'N' Sweaty" (1972)
Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice form Beck, Bogert and Appice (with Jeff Beck). Tim Bogert later joins Boxer.

Cactus V / The New Cactus Band(1972 - 1973)
  • Duane Hitchings - keyboards/flute/vocals
  • Mike Pinera - guitar/vocals - b. September 29, 1948, Tampa, Florida - formerly with Blues Image, Iron Butterfly, and Ramatam.
  • Manuel Bertematti - drums/vocals - formerly with Blues Image.
  • Jerry Norris - drums/vocals
  • Roland Robinson - bass/vocals
Album:
  1. "Son of Cactus" (1973)
Group disbands.  Mike Pinera later forms Thee Image, plays with Alice Cooper's band, and joined The Classic Rock All-Stars [with Pete Hoorelbeke (aka, Pete Rivera) (formerly with Rare Earth), Jerry Corbetta (formerly with Sugarloaf), and Dennis Noda (formerly with Cannibal and the Headhunters)].

Cactus VI (1976 - 1979?) (reformed)
  • Rusty Day - vocals
  • Various musicians, including guitarists Steve Dansby and Ron Sanders, bassists John Sauter (formerly with Ted Nugent) and Mondo Thomas, and drummers Gary Moffatt (formerly with Pat Travers) and Frankie Robbins.
Rusty Day forms Uncle Acid & The Permanent Damage Band.

Compilations:
  1. "Cactology: The Cactus Collection" (1996) - Since almost all of the Cactus albums are not currently available on CD, this is all we have...and what a great selection of music it is!  This anthology concentrates on the first three albums, which contain the best of their material.  The music is high energy and still sounds fresh today.  Virtuoso musicianship all-around with INCREDIBLE guitar work from Jim McCarty.  Hard-rock/boogie/blues just doesn't get any better than this.  Highly recommended.

Tim Bogert solo:
  1. "Progressions" (1981)
  2. "Master's Brew"

Carmine Appice solo:
  1. "Guitar Zeus" (1996)
  2. "Channel Mind Radio (Guitar Zeus II)" (1997)

Links:

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Last Revised:  September 12, 2000