Feel so Bad from Cactus’s second album, One Way or Another. Not a bad cut on the entire album. The backup vocals are from the drummer, Carmine Appice and the bass player, Tim Bogert. Rusty Day was an awesome front man, vocals and harmonica. Jimmy McCarty was great on guitar. When I saw them opening for Rod Stewart and the Faces, Rusty Day came out and said, “You’re gonna be surprised man, we’re gonna kick your ass!” Then they proceeded to do so. He really had a swagger on stage. First bass solo I ever saw was from Bogert. 70’s rock ruled! Beats the shit out of what passes for rock today.
That’s a really fine mix; the engineer did a great job. Nice panning effect during the solo. This is real ear candy. Analog tech at its finest. I could listen to this all day.
In this digital age where we have so many buttons to push, pull, click, switch, slide, turn, etc., I think that all the options become a distraction and not much of an improvement. Often these days the technology gets away from them and the sound becomes overprocessed. A good artist can achieve good results by sticking to tried and true principles and keeping it simple.
The rest of the album is just as good. There is also a CD out that has all of their studio work. It includes all four albums (only the first three albums have the original band) and some unreleased stuff. The album this is from, One Way Or Another is their best, IMHO. I had it on 8-track and I wore it out. Their studio version of Long Tall Sally is very well engineered and it also shows the Vanilla Fudge influence from Bogert and Appice.
What passes for music today can be for the most part be pretty sad.
This was a pleasure. I have “Beck-Bogert-Appice” but am not familiar with any of the latter pair’s subsequent production.
Cactus reformed a few years ago with three of the original members, Bogert, Appice, and Jim McCarty, and a different singer. Rusty Day died in a drug deal gone wrong. They did a tour in Europe and cut at least one studio album. Bogert has since retired and has been replaced by the same bass player who replaced him in Vanilla Fudge.