Tim Bogert is one of my favorite bassists and Restrictions is top of my list for Cactus. I had a (can't find it now!) "Pipedream" album of his that was amazing. What a great player.
I’ve got the first three on vinyl and I still play them. I believe Jeff Beck was supposed to be the guitar player but he’d gotten into a car accident and he got derailed for a while. A musicians band as well. 👍🏼
Great, Pete, thanks alot,...trying to cut back on some spending, BUT, after watching this, I went and bought a compilation CD, "Cactology", just to get more aquainted with their work! I HAD heard of them, but never listened before! Pretty good stuff!
What a surprise Pete. So much familiarity to typical Vanilla Fudge vocals. Have you ever heard of the New Cactus Band? They sound in no way like Cactus, but one song struck me just because it's beautiful. On their only album called Son of Cactus you will find "Hold on to my love", more like a ballad which has a mellotronish flute, acoustic guitar and some rocky gritty guitar moments in it. The album has a few worthwhile songs, but not enough to be in a Cactus discography. I bought the album for the one song. I remember in the releasing days this was everywhere on sale like between 5 and 10 dollar. Nowadays it's a rarity to find. And for the main course Cactus: Restrictiaahahans!! What an epic power house.
I’m 54 now but when I was in 9th grade my friend jeremy played Oleo with the bass solo. As a bassist I was immediately hooked. Years later I saw the reformed Vanilla Fudge (different guitarist). It was and is one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Tim and Carmine. BTW Rare Earth opened up. Akron Agora
Nice list Pete! My favourite albums ranked are: 1. One Way... Or Another (1971) 2. ‘Ot ‘N’ Sweaty (1972) 3. Cactus (1970) 4. Restrictions (1971) 5. Black Dawn (2016) 6. Tightrope (2021) 7. Cactus IV (2006) That’s my list.
For me, the live side of Ot 'n' Sweaty is up there with the best live recordings ever made with Band of Gypsys, Made in Japan, Live at Leeds and Rockin' the Fillmore for straight-ahead high-testosterone rock 'n roll.
As far as "favorite" Cactus albums go for me (based on how often I play them), is the remixed version of "V", simply titled "Music". It is a far superior version of the same material from "V". Then "One Way...Or Another", "Black Dawn", Restrictions, their first album, then waaaaaay behind is "Ot & Sweaty". Barely the same group by this point. LOVE this band. Thx for the video!
Those 70's albums are all really good, IMO. The newer stuff is not bad, but I can't see myself reaching for them when I want to hear some Cactus. 6) Cactus V (Carmine is still one of the best drummers around) 5) Black Dawn (these newer albums just don't hit me the same) 4) 'Ot 'N' Sweaty (I really like Peter French & his vocals here are great) 3) Restrictions (a heavy, heavy album!!) 2) Cactus (very good, but...) 1) One Way... or Another (...I think this one edges out the debut by a hair) Thanks for the video, Pete!
Thanks Pete, had not heard of Cactus even back in the 70's. I got their entire catalog several weeks ago Man, I missed out on these guys. Bluesy / rock..... excellent !!
Oh boy.from my sweet piece of time. Rusty met a bad ending...or so I heard..I seen cactus open for Johnny winter and rick derringer their drummer was bobby caldwell.a monster drummer.see captain beyond.but you all know this.pardon my excitement..great shirt PETE....
1 - Cactus 2 - One Way... Or Another 3 - Restrictions 4 - Ot 'N' Sweaty 5 - V 6 - Black Dawn I like Peter French but i think he suits a lot better in Leaf Hound. Those three first albums are killer. Restrictions is a little bit weaker than the first two but it's a really really good effort. The last two are ok albums with a couple of good songs.
@@craigfazekas3923 That would have been nice too! I'm very envious of people who were able to see all of those bands. Being a young guy, I wasn't able to see all these classic bands.
@@Nick-qf7vt No biggie, though... Ya know why ? The music will outlive ALL OF US...no matter your age. Btw, listen to something that I was just listening to, if ya want. Search Jeff Beck "Black Cat Moan", here on CZcams. The one from the Beckology box set....
I first got restrictions from a friend on a memorex cassette. Thought they were just a lost band that never was . Only later to find out who they were and the other albums . Surprised they weren’t bigger than they were
OK I’ve just had a little chat with my Italian friend Elena who doesn’t know the surname ‘Appice’, but she reckons it would be pronounced ‘AP-peechay’, with the stress on the first A and P.
I only have a compilation best of and Cactus 5 on CD plus One Way Or Another on vinyl, all really good blues/hard rock, so very interested to hear this list.
There did exist another incarnation of Cactus from 1976 to around 1980, this time with the late Rusty Day being the founder and online original member of it. Steve Dansby on guitar, Frankie Robbins (later .38 Special’s Gary Moffatt) on drums, and John Sauter (later Mondo Thomas) on bass. A small number of bootlegs circulating of the Day/Dansby/Sauter/Moffatt lineup have circulated. Here’s one of them, performing live at the Comic Book Club in Jacksonville, Florida on June 15th 1979. Enjoy! czcams.com/video/vGD8RCEtqWA/video.html
I'm not familiar with their catalog but I like the few things I've heard. Definitely going to give them listen. What would you suggest as a first album listen?
If you haven't grabbed these albums already, I reccomend (for CD) the Hear No Evil versions. You get the debut and One Way Or Another on one set (two discs, not it's not split up weird) and Restricts + 'Ot And Sweaty on the other. They also come with some GREAT bonus tracks!
Pardon, but Black Dawn’s “Another Way or Another” isn’t a remake of “One Way or Another.” It’s actually a jam recorded during the first album sessions, which eventually spawned the song “One Way or Another.” “C-70 Blues,” also known as “Sun is Shining,” is also an outtake from the first album sessions, and features the late Rusty Day on lead vocals! Both songs are by the original lineup from 1970, with Day/McCarty/Bogert/Appice.
@@JCStorm76 Mine is a tie between Double Vision or the 4 album, as for Cactus I need to listen to more of their music, I've only heard of Parchman Farm and Evil and was really impressed with those tracks.
Don't need to worry, Parchman Farm live at Isle of Wight Festival, my favourites.. Our Little Rock and roll thing, another live favourite. Really tragic way to live and die Rusty Day had.
I only got to know the band by the time of their 4th album and then discovered them backwards. Even the two comeback albums are worth a listening. Agree with Pete, I do not like those extended albums that run for 70 minutes just because the CD format allows it even you only have valid material for about 40 minutes. 1. Cactus 2. Ot' n 'Sweaty (I always like it when bands widen their scope without losing their identity) 3. Restrictions 4. One Way...or Another 5. Black Dawn 6. V
This is a great video of Cactus (three original members) jamming in a dressing room doing 'One Way or Another.' Carmen Appice using a chair as a drum sounds better than most rockers on drums. czcams.com/video/--Aq9TyLg6M/video.html
Ot & Sweaty was the best LP they ever made. Peter French was the singer in Atomic Rooster then went to Cactus. The people at the label didn't like Rusty and Peter is a great choice. ( I could just barely tolerate Rusty voice ) Hitching and French help a lot with the writing .
Lucas, if it was so easy to be as big as Zeppelin just by ripping off other songs, not sure why few other bands have Zeppelin’s level of discography. Cactus are great by the way. I am just not one of those people who likes to praise one band by completely slating another, like it’s a sports competition.
Indeed, “Kashmir”- that Blind Lemon Jefferson standard. Or “No Quarter”, which was of course originally recorded by Big Bill Broonzy. “Immigrant Song”, notoriously stolen from Merle Haggard. LZ were indeed shameless.
You could literally ask any band and they can tell you where they ‘borrowed’ something from. Do you like Deep Purple, for instance? czcams.com/video/l22yOjWthGI/video.html The one thing I can say is that Blackmore is so much more open and honest there than many musicians would be. Credit to him for that, at least. The Led Zeppelin are ‘just a covers band’ dismissal is a real joke, when people start saying that to criticise them that’s the point where I start to shake my head. Then those people often name other bands they claim are more original when I also know those bands did similar things or even got their entire sound from somebody else. That’s always how this dance goes, good sirs.
Possibly the most tragically overlooked band of all time. Thank you so much for doing this!
Cactus??? ALRIGHT!!! Love that band!! You get major creds for talking about them PP!
Hahuh... PP...
wow you are knocking em out of the park! LOVE this band! I cannot believe they don't have a bigger following!
Tim Bogert is one of my favorite bassists and Restrictions is top of my list for Cactus. I had a (can't find it now!) "Pipedream" album of his that was amazing. What a great player.
I’ve got the first three on vinyl and I still play them. I believe Jeff Beck was supposed to be the guitar player but he’d gotten into a car accident and he got derailed for a while. A musicians band as well. 👍🏼
Restrictions is my favorite too
Restrictions is my favorite Cactus album. Such a heavy album
I thought for sure you'd have One Way or Another as your number 1! I'd love to see you a list for Vanilla Fudge.
Cactus takes me back to high school. Great band
I`ve gotten to know many bands because of this channel. Cactus is awesome. Another band worth checking out is Mountain, if you haven`t heard of them.
Great, Pete, thanks alot,...trying to cut back on some spending, BUT, after watching this, I went and bought a compilation CD, "Cactology", just to get more aquainted with their work! I HAD heard of them, but never listened before! Pretty good stuff!
I recently listen to full discography of this band, I like it a lot, thanks for this review
The first album is my favorite album too.the 1st time I heard"Parchman's Farm"?.....MAN,'O MAN!!!!! I was hooked instantly!!!
Carmine uses the American pronunciation, "Uh-piece," while his brother Vinnie uses the Italian pronunciation, "Ap-uh-see". Love Cactus.
I love the fact that once upon a time a band could release an album called ‘’Ot ‘n Sweaty’.
What a surprise Pete. So much familiarity to typical Vanilla Fudge vocals.
Have you ever heard of the New Cactus Band? They sound in no way like Cactus, but one song struck me just because it's beautiful.
On their only album called Son of Cactus you will find "Hold on to my love", more like a ballad which has a mellotronish flute, acoustic guitar and some rocky gritty guitar moments in it.
The album has a few worthwhile songs, but not enough to be in a Cactus discography. I bought the album for the one song.
I remember in the releasing days this was everywhere on sale like between 5 and 10 dollar.
Nowadays it's a rarity to find.
And for the main course Cactus: Restrictiaahahans!! What an epic power house.
I've got that album. Pretty good tunes on it. Ragtime Suzy, It's Just a Feeling, Getting Better. Hold on to my Love is a great song!
@@013bassman thanks for your feedback, I agree. The singer reminded me distantly to Mick Jagger ;-)
Yes, that record is one of my favourite. Awesome record, every song is great.
I’m 54 now but when I was in 9th grade my friend jeremy played Oleo with the bass solo. As a bassist I was immediately hooked. Years later I saw the reformed Vanilla Fudge (different guitarist). It was and is one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Tim and Carmine. BTW Rare Earth opened up. Akron Agora
Excelente, esta vez coincido con ese ranking!
Have every album including all live albums and a best of. I was fortunate enough to see them on One Way, Or Another tour will never forget it.
Nice list Pete! My favourite albums ranked are:
1. One Way... Or Another (1971)
2. ‘Ot ‘N’ Sweaty (1972)
3. Cactus (1970)
4. Restrictions (1971)
5. Black Dawn (2016)
6. Tightrope (2021)
7. Cactus IV (2006)
That’s my list.
Love Cactus! 🎤🎸🎵🥁
AC⚡DC and Cactus yeahhh thank's for that. Agree with rank 100% and waiting on Nazareth
Coming soon!
love me some cactus
For me, the live side of Ot 'n' Sweaty is up there with the best live recordings ever made with Band of Gypsys, Made in Japan, Live at Leeds and Rockin' the Fillmore for straight-ahead high-testosterone rock 'n roll.
Thank you so much Pete! I agree with your rankings!
This is one I haven't heard of before - time to do a little research. :)
As far as "favorite" Cactus albums go for me (based on how often I play them), is the remixed version of "V", simply titled "Music". It is a far superior version of the same material from "V". Then "One Way...Or Another", "Black Dawn", Restrictions, their first album, then waaaaaay behind is "Ot & Sweaty". Barely the same group by this point. LOVE this band. Thx for the video!
Restrictions is my favourite with some really heavy tunes. Also love the back cover.
Those 70's albums are all really good, IMO. The newer stuff is not bad, but I can't see myself reaching for them when I want to hear some Cactus.
6) Cactus V (Carmine is still one of the best drummers around)
5) Black Dawn (these newer albums just don't hit me the same)
4) 'Ot 'N' Sweaty (I really like Peter French & his vocals here are great)
3) Restrictions (a heavy, heavy album!!)
2) Cactus (very good, but...)
1) One Way... or Another (...I think this one edges out the debut by a hair)
Thanks for the video, Pete!
i’m midway through Carmine’s book Stick It and had to come back to this
Thanks Pete, had not heard of Cactus even back in the 70's. I got their entire catalog several weeks ago Man, I missed out on these guys. Bluesy / rock..... excellent !!
Great band....
Agree with your list.
Good time rocking blues stuff.
Never heard a single track by them, thanks for the list, I will have to give them a listen.
What a great band!! First album is my favorite! Would love to see a Cream ranking at some point!
Oh boy.from my sweet piece of time. Rusty met a bad ending...or so I heard..I seen cactus open for Johnny winter and rick derringer their drummer was bobby caldwell.a monster drummer.see captain beyond.but you all know this.pardon my excitement..great shirt PETE....
Love me some Captain Beyond. Dancing Madly Backwards 👍🏼
Yeah, Rusty did. Some maniac gunned down him, his son and his dog. He got heavily into drugs and involved with some dark people after Cactus.
Buen ranking, con este SI coincido
If Cactus were from Texas or the south, they would have been remembered more. The live album released ten years ago or more is great!😀
1 - Cactus
2 - One Way... Or Another
3 - Restrictions
4 - Ot 'N' Sweaty
5 - V
6 - Black Dawn
I like Peter French but i think he suits a lot better in Leaf Hound. Those three first albums are killer. Restrictions is a little bit weaker than the first two but it's a really really good effort. The last two are ok albums with a couple of good songs.
My old boss saw Cactus with Jimi Hendrix & Janice Joplin at Franklin Field in Philly, 1970.
That must have been something!
@@Nick-qf7vt
And yet... AND YET !!!...his one huge regret in life was having never seen The Band performed live...
@@craigfazekas3923 That would have been nice too! I'm very envious of people who were able to see all of those bands. Being a young guy, I wasn't able to see all these classic bands.
@@Nick-qf7vt
No biggie, though... Ya know why ? The music will outlive ALL OF US...no matter your age.
Btw, listen to something that I was just listening to, if ya want. Search Jeff Beck "Black Cat Moan", here on CZcams. The one from the Beckology box set....
@@Nick-qf7vt
Jeff Beck invented the talk box effect. Not Peter Frampton, nor Joe Walsh. El Beckerino...😎
very underrated band very few people talk about.
Jim Mccarty then formed a band called the rockets, they did a fantastic first album "love transfusion" in 1977
Powerful, very spectacular band
So sad what happened to Day and his son there murder is still unsolved let there souls Rest In Peace
Debut album no doubt my favorite. Not a bad track.
Awesome
Fun fact: Eddie Van Halen Took Inspiration From The Song “Let Me Swim” on his instrumental guitar great “Eruption” listen to the similar intro
Would steppenwolf be worthy of a top 10 or even ranking of LPs
Your doing a great job pete keep up the good work brother
Yes indeed!
Wow I was listening to Restrictions yesterday night and I was thinking that if you ever gonna rank the albums from Cactus...thanks very quick!!
I first got restrictions from a friend on a memorex cassette. Thought they were just a lost band that never was . Only later to find out who they were and the other albums . Surprised they weren’t bigger than they were
OK I’ve just had a little chat with my Italian friend Elena who doesn’t know the surname ‘Appice’, but she reckons it would be pronounced ‘AP-peechay’, with the stress on the first A and P.
Just heard a few songs not bad gonna listen some more.
I only have a compilation best of and Cactus 5 on CD plus One Way Or Another on vinyl, all really good blues/hard rock, so very interested to hear this list.
Whenever I show someone Cactus, I have show them Rumbling Man.
That song is nuclear.
Evil is my favourite track by Cactus.
1) One Way… or Another
2) Cactus
3) Restrictions
4) ‘Ot ‘n’ Sweaty
5) Black Dawn
6) Cactus V
My number one is Cactus-self titled
There did exist another incarnation of Cactus from 1976 to around 1980, this time with the late Rusty Day being the founder and online original member of it. Steve Dansby on guitar, Frankie Robbins (later .38 Special’s Gary Moffatt) on drums, and John Sauter (later Mondo Thomas) on bass. A small number of bootlegs circulating of the Day/Dansby/Sauter/Moffatt lineup have circulated. Here’s one of them, performing live at the Comic Book Club in Jacksonville, Florida on June 15th 1979. Enjoy!
czcams.com/video/vGD8RCEtqWA/video.html
Led Zeppelin- The British Cactus (Just kidding....maybe)
I'm not familiar with their catalog but I like the few things I've heard. Definitely going to give them listen.
What would you suggest as a first album listen?
Go chronologically, you won't be disappointed.
If you haven't grabbed these albums already, I reccomend (for CD) the Hear No Evil versions. You get the debut and One Way Or Another on one set (two discs, not it's not split up weird) and Restricts + 'Ot And Sweaty on the other. They also come with some GREAT bonus tracks!
Pardon, but Black Dawn’s “Another Way or Another” isn’t a remake of “One Way or Another.” It’s actually a jam recorded during the first album sessions, which eventually spawned the song “One Way or Another.” “C-70 Blues,” also known as “Sun is Shining,” is also an outtake from the first album sessions, and features the late Rusty Day on lead vocals! Both songs are by the original lineup from 1970, with Day/McCarty/Bogert/Appice.
Hammond is the sound of heaven...
Hell ya listening room!
I have looked at your playlist and when you can can you rank Foreigner's studio albums? I like to know which one you like the best?
@@JCStorm76 Mine is a tie between Double Vision or the 4 album, as for Cactus I need to listen to more of their music, I've only heard of Parchman Farm and Evil and was really impressed with those tracks.
Cactus "One Way...Or Another" was always my favorite although the first three are so close one just as good as the other really....
Would love to see a Head East list
Don't need to worry, Parchman Farm live at Isle of Wight Festival, my favourites.. Our Little Rock and roll thing, another live favourite. Really tragic way to live and die Rusty Day had.
I only got to know the band by the time of their 4th album and then discovered them backwards. Even the two comeback albums are worth a listening. Agree with Pete, I do not like those extended albums that run for 70 minutes just because the CD format allows it even you only have valid material for about 40 minutes.
1. Cactus
2. Ot' n 'Sweaty (I always like it when bands widen their scope without losing their identity)
3. Restrictions
4. One Way...or Another
5. Black Dawn
6. V
By FAR, the first was EASILY the best!
My rank:
1 Cactus
2 One Way... or Another
3 Restrictions
4 Tightrope
5 Ot 'n' Sweaty
6 Black Dawn
7 Cactus V
Pete - just listened to Big Wreck for the 1st time and hoped you would do a best of for this great band.
Have nothing by them...sorry
You owe it to yourself to check them out. Wow!
@@billnole2188 Saw them live once...wasn't impressed. Years ago though.
'Ot 'n' sweaty is the best!!!
"Alaska" is a GREAT song. Perhaps the best thing Rusty Day ever did.
1. Restrictions
2. Ot 'N' Sweaty
3. One Way Or Another
4. Cactus.
Haven't heard the other two so I can't rank them.
are you doing the youngbloods pete
Pete one correction, French was fresh from Atomic Rooster. Leafhound was before Rooster.
Yep, correct!
i checked out the playlist havent seen anything about the smithereens. do you like them. thanks pete
No, sorry.
@@seaoftranquilityprog dont be sorry, we like what we like. still waiting on a reveiw for the jimmy n kristy mcnicole album. hahahhaaa
This is a great video of Cactus (three original members) jamming in a dressing room doing 'One Way or Another.'
Carmen Appice using a chair as a drum sounds better than most rockers on drums.
czcams.com/video/--Aq9TyLg6M/video.html
Ot & Sweaty was the best LP they ever made. Peter French was the singer in Atomic Rooster then went to Cactus. The people at the label didn't like Rusty and Peter is a great choice. ( I could just barely tolerate Rusty voice ) Hitching and French help a lot with the writing .
I've only heard the original 70's albums: 04. 'Ot 'n' Sweaty 03. One Way or Another 02. Restrictions 01. Cactus
if you had of kept humming that guitar riff any longer, you'd have had a copyright claim on your hands!
Pete your music knowledge is extensive, who the hell is Cactus?!!
Check them out and find out.
Not to be confused with "Son of Cactus". From 1973- entirely different line up. Meh....
Jim McCarty MADE Cactus!
They do remind me of Led Zeppelin--without the songwriting ability.
Lucas, if it was so easy to be as big as Zeppelin just by ripping off other songs, not sure why few other bands have Zeppelin’s level of discography.
Cactus are great by the way. I am just not one of those people who likes to praise one band by completely slating another, like it’s a sports competition.
You mean the songs they stole weren't as good as the songs LZ stole :-)
Indeed, “Kashmir”- that Blind Lemon Jefferson standard. Or “No Quarter”, which was of course originally recorded by Big Bill Broonzy. “Immigrant Song”, notoriously stolen from Merle Haggard. LZ were indeed shameless.
Fair play, Sir. I think, however, people were being a little, um, facetious to begin with.
You could literally ask any band and they can tell you where they ‘borrowed’ something from. Do you like Deep Purple, for instance? czcams.com/video/l22yOjWthGI/video.html The one thing I can say is that Blackmore is so much more open and honest there than many musicians would be. Credit to him for that, at least. The Led Zeppelin are ‘just a covers band’ dismissal is a real joke, when people start saying that to criticise them that’s the point where I start to shake my head. Then those people often name other bands they claim are more original when I also know those bands did similar things or even got their entire sound from somebody else. That’s always how this dance goes, good sirs.
I prefer " One Way Or Another " and " Restrictions " as the best. This début isn't that good !!