I wasn’t gonna do Cactus again but yesterday was Tim Bogert’s 72nd birthday so I figgered I may as well post Oleo where Timmy does a bass solo. The first bass solo I ever saw was Cactus when I saw them live. Of course, the bass solo was much longer when he did it live. Happy birthday a day late Timmy!
I wish these guys hadn’t broken up. One of the best rock bands of the 70’s.
Back when rock bands were made up of MEN. Not weak, sensitive, emo, girly-men. Even Bowie at his most androgynous could kick the living crap out of most of the young bands today. Contemporary rock desperately needs a huge dose of machismo. Cactus had it in spades.
Cactus was awesome indeed. I saw them a few times in the late 70’s when I was in my early 20’s.
Only saw them once when they were the warm up act for Rod Stewart. They kicked ass. That was before I heard the back story that they were originally gonna have Rod Stewart as the singer and Jeff Beck on guitar. They were gonna be the American Led Zeppelin albeit half British. Beck broke his leg so Stewart hooked up with the Faces and Bogert and Appice hooked up with McCarty and Day. I read that they fought all the time but you couldn’t tell that on stage. Bogert wanted more emphasis on his bass as a lead instrument. The live concert from Memphis that they recorded was the last time the original group performed together. A real shame since they were one of the best bands of the early 70’s and never achieved the recognition they deserved. All four of the members were great at what they did. I wish I could go back in time and see them again. Too bad they weren’t videoing concerts back then like they do now.