Album review: CACTUS – Evil Is Going On (The Atco Albums 1970-72, 8 CDs)

Cherry Red [Release date 28.10.22]

Quite some Cactus boxset. Cherry Red have repackaged all of the Blues Rock legends’ releases into a sturdy 8 CD box. It contains the 4 studio albums recorded 1972-74, and 4 albums’ worth of live material, never before bundled together.

The band was formed by two ex Vanilla Fudge musicians, Carmen Appice on drums and Tim Bogert on bass. The line up was rounded out by revered guitarist Jim McCarty, ex of Buddy Miles Express and The Detroit Wheels.

Amboy Dukes/ Damn Yankees guitar man, Ted Nugent said of McCarty “Remember his name… he is as important as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry… a god on guitar”. McCarty’s hollow bodied jazz guitar features large on these recordings, both studio and live. It’s those big, full fat chords that drive the music.

Nugent’s erstwhile bandmate, Rusty Day became the Cactus vocalist just prior to the recording of the band’s self titled debut album.

Day’s grainy, miles-on-the-clock vocals regularly wrapped themselves around some of the great blues rock songs from the pre-rock’n'roll era. Covers of Mose Allison’s ‘Parchman Farm’ and ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’ – rock blues pioneer Willie Dixon’s infuential slice of street philosophy – are the album’s foundational tracks.

The same is true of follow up album, One Way Or Another. Covers of Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ and Chuck Willis’s ‘I Feel So Bad’ are the glue that holds the band’s own blues rock gems tight. Those gems – ‘No Need To Worry’, ‘Let Me Swim’ and ‘Big Mama Boogie’ – stood tall in that company and all became popular components of the Cactus live set.

Third album, Restrictions, reinforces the band’s credentials as a bona fide, born on the Bayou Blues Rock band, with the stomping, wailing ‘Token Chokin’, ‘Evil’ and ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ steamrollering over everything in their path.

The band’s fourth and last studio album of the seventies, Ot’N'Sweaty, is exactly that. Even the fact it’s flavoured with a distinct twist of Memphis doesn’t disguise its muddy, meat and potatoes’ blues.

In fairness, the band had undergone considerable line up surgery since Restrictions. McCarty and Day, the duo who helped build a locomotive boogie sound onto Appice and Bogert’s bolted to the floor rhythm section, had both departed. They were impossible to replace.

Of the new tracks, only ‘Bedroom Mazurka’ and ‘Bad Stuff’ were genuine contenders.

The 4 CDs of live material comprise the band’s Fully Unleashed, The Live Gigs Volumes 1 and 2. Previously released, but not in this fully self contained form.
2 CDs to each volume.

Volume 1 consists primarily of the band’s final show at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis (1971). Cactus were an incendiary live act, fast and loud, always peppering their stage set with with the usual suspects… ‘Evil’ ‘Big Mama Boogie’, ‘Bag Drag, and inevitably, ‘Parchman Farm’ and others, in front of an audience already sold.

Volume 2 is another ‘Final Show’ recording (by Eddie Kramer, producer to the stars…Hendrix, Stones, Kiss etc etc). This time at the now defunct but once world famous Gilligans in New York State. We were still in 1971. The original band was still intact.

This from Bill De Young, journalist of the time, and prolific liner note writer (Chicago, Black Oak Arkansas, 38 Special): “This was Cactus at its take-no-prisoners peak. There was never anything ‘showbiz’ about them; the goal, both onstage and off, was to rock like there was no tomorrow.”

Say no more. *****

Review by Brian McGowan

Album review (The Birth Of Cactus 1970, 2022)
Album review (Tightrope, 2021)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 24 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 26 November 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)