Customer Reviews

Fully Unleashed: Live Gigs

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Jim McCarty gives a tour de force performance as the driving force of this band.
Any one learning rock/blues lead guitar needs to hear him play!When you listen to him play on these recordings you hear how he influenced many ,many players ,and all of them should stand and recognize this great American player.

How can you go wrong with the world's best rhythm section from Vanilla Fudge, Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert? And Jim McCarty on the gits from Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels? This is some great early 70's rock! Playin' some great covers of Little Richard, Ray Charles and other blues covers in their own rendition! This band had mucho energy!

These guys were awesome. Too bad they didn't stay together for couple of more albums. Maybe not as good composers, but certainly as good, or better performers than Led Zeppelin.
Absolutely finest American Hard Rock.
Recommended 100%.
P.S.
Jim McCarty went on to play for Rockets from Detroit, and they issued couple of great albums, especially "No Ballads", but are impossible to find on a CD. I think Rhino should isssue their albums next. As far as I know only their Live album was issued on a CD (by Capitol) in a very limited quantity, about 12 years ago.
They had a huge hit with Peter Green's "Oh Well".

Wow! Seeing that the tapes of the Memphis concert were finally released brings back some specific memories of that strange December night.
I thought some of you Cactus fans might enjoy a scan of my ticket (see customer images) for the original Cactus' last performance in Memphis' Auditorium Music Hall (touted to be acoustically perfect) on December 19, 1971. It was a memorable night. In the days following the concert, we found out that the band had a "falling out" and that the lead guitar (Jim McCarthy) had quit and that the live album would not likely be released. In retrospect, there may have been a lot of tension on the stage that may have contributed to the intense energy of this Memphis performance.
Fully Unleashed: The Live Gigs
Some of you with sharp eyes will probably question whether I really attended the concert since my ticket is obviously not torn in half. That segues into a rock concert almost-disaster story that I've never seen reported. My friends and I had just arrived home for our Christmas break during our first semester of college and were fired up about unwinding with a @#%$ kickin' rock concert. Cactus was just the band for the occasion. We got really good seats on the lower level about halfway back in the middle and were anxious to get in the Auditorium and get to rockin'. We arrived with the first wave of fans and were allowed into the foyer areas of the auditorium, but the doors into the Music Hall were barred, so we all stood and waited.......and waited..........and waited. Someone spread the word that since it was to be recorded for an album they were being very particular about their sound checks. Tickets were to be taken as attendees entered the Music Hall so no one was stopping the crowd from entering the foyer area and it began to get more and more crowded and packed with people and began to get extremely claustrophobic and very hot. As people continued to pack into the foyer areas outside the entry doors, we began to get squeezed together so compactly that I distinctly remember thinking that I could pick both feet up from the floor and that I would not likely move. But still we waited...and the crowd got tighter...and we waited...and it was getting scary-crowded and hard to breathe. As I began to almost panic from the ever-increasing pressure from the folks around me, there was a tremendous "boom" sound and the crowd began to surge towards a door like water breaking through a dam. We were literally swept into the lower level of the Hall by the surging crowd, but miraculously, no one fell down and got trampled. At least I was not aware of any injuries, and was personally so relieved to be out of that situation that a natural "high" set in from the adrenalin rush of escaping the danger. We found our way to our seats without ever encountering anyone to take tickets. We later learned that the force of the crowd had broken in two of the double doors leading into the arena. There was then an announcement over the PA that the concert would not be allowed to start until everyone went to their actual ticketed seats. Amazingly, it seemed like everyone immediately complied. I don't recall seeing any arguments over seats.
FINALLY Cactus took the stage and gave one of the most intense, butt-kickin' boogie-rock performances that I had ever seen. I remember thinking that I had never seen a bass player take front-and-center and tear off lead-like riffs the way Tim Bogert did on at least one of the numbers. As I recall, he was up front in a semi-crouch with his bass held almost vertically just riffing the heck out of it. I'm not sure, but that may have been the number that a very attractive girl walked slowly towards the stage down the aisle to our left and removed her halter top and clutched it over her bare chest staring dreamily at Cactus. this was NOT a common occurrence in Memphis in 1971! What a concert!

In hindsight, perhaps the long delay wasn't due to sound issues......maybe the band was deciding whether even to perform or not. The rumor was that Jim quit Cactus that night after the concert.
Forgive an old guy his youthful ramblings, but seeing these CDs kinda took me back to a most-interesting era. Hope you don't mind my sharing my memories of Cactus' "last gig". Keep on rockin'.

Cactus consisted actually of 2 bands under that name, originally with Rusty Day, vocals/harmonica, Jim McCarthy, leadguitar, Tim Bogert, bass and Carmine "Animal" Appice on drums, they recorded 3 classic studioalbums "Cactus", "one Way ... Or Another" and "Restrictions", afterwards (without Day/McCarthy but) with Peter French on vocals, Werner Fritzschings on guitar and Duane Hitchings on keyboards released the final "Ot 'n Sweaty", with only a handfull of new songs and a live side, captured here. Although renamed "Swim" and "Bad Mother Boogie" with credits to the new bandmembers this is actually a live rendition of "Let Me Swim" from the first album and "Big Mama Boogie - Parts 1 & 2" from the second. Those final 4 tracks are energetic and the organ adds up to it. The other performances are by the original band and for a great part taken from their final show in Memphis, just before the end of 1971. They played a few songs from the albums and went into long jams. "No Need to Worry" exceeds the 20 minutes. "Let Me Swim" and "Big Mama Boogie - Parts 1 & 2" are also extended versions with interludes. It takes a long time before the latter finally exploses. Two other cuts (both also on the first set) hail from the "Isle of Wight" festival and another two of Gilligan's in Buffalo, NY. The band showed what they were up to, having a good time with the audience and enjoyed playing. Not only were they able to deliver great rocksongs in the studio but they could do the same on stage. This 2 CD set showcases that and hands you a fine document of an often unjustfully forgotten, overlooked or underrated seventiesband who did not stand in the shadow of many other great acts but was just that on its own. In 2006 they emerged again with threequarters of the first hour bandmembers (Rusty Day is not longer among us) and released "V" whilst are performing again but the former glory can not return.

I would travel to New York's small record shops in search of bootlegs of Cream, Zeppelin, Hendrix, to find that one show that defines these bands as legendary.A Musical "Holy Grail"
if you will. Who would have thought Cactus a band I have never even heard of, no hits , no air play, would totally blow me away! The Intensity that this band unleashes is unlike anything I ever heard. Legend has it that Cactus was so good that no one wanted to share the bill with them, in FEAR OF GETTING BLOWN AWAY! Now Don't get me wrong I love Cream they planted the seeds '66-'68 and well Hendrix was not from this world '67-'70, but as far as Zepplin is concern they had great moments but let me tell you THEY CAN'T EVEN HOLD A CANDLE NEXT TO THESE GUYS!!
I bought dozens of Zep bootlegs $20 to $40 bucks a pop and none of them compare to Fully Unleashed. The quality of these recordings are great and the performaces are outstanding. This is Raw, Gut Wrenching, Rock and Roll and Down and Dirty Boogie Woogie at its best! Let me tell you I'm listening to my cd right now "Big Mama Boogie part 2" Steam Rollin' Baby!! Trust Me If YOU LIKE BLUES/ROCK ALA HUMBLE PIE,SAVOY BROWN,MOUNTAIN,ZEPPLIN
get this. You never heard anything like it. Someone once said, "There are only two types of music: Good music and Bad music." If you love Cream, Hendrix, Mountain, etc. than you'd also consider this band "good music". I have to defend myself when it comes to my post from December '05 that you had an urge to comment on... First of all, let me say that I am a big Jack Bruce fan. I'm actually a bass player and recognize Jack Bruce as my favorite musician as well. I've got many blisters trying to learn his bass lines (there's a very good instructional bass video with Jack Bruce jamming with Gary Moore in which he reveals many tips). Some people become such die hards (such as yourself). How can anyone take from what I wrote about Cactus that Tim Bogart is better than Jack Bruce!!! Without Cream there would be nothing... All I'm saying that if you listen to this Cactus album and listen to the intensity, it would make Jack, Ginger and Eric proud. The Cream's reunion at the Garden was the best show I've ever seen. Cactus at B.B.King's was also very good.
P.S. I used my wife's account to comment on this album. For a person who claims to have seen all these great bands, to live the experiance so to speak, I find it amazing that you are so narrow minded and revert to OFFENDING other people. Not only it was unnecessary but also completely misinterpreted... Open your mind, Al :)
Thanks, Tom (Jack Bruce's #1 fan)

I just paid an insane amount of moolah on Ebay for this, but make no mistake about it; THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!! The firepower generated by the original 4 guys is easily on a par with all of their early 70's contemporaries, and wipes the floor with most of them.....Jim McCarty (from the Detroit Wheels, not the Yardbirds as the idiot wrote in one of their descriptions on Amazon) is the great lost guitar star of that era. He has it all; speed, bent notes till next Tuesday, and a fat tone that must have been overwhelming live. Of course it would have to be, given that the Appice/Bogert rhythm duo was such a 300-pound gorilla. Yes they were sometimes clumsy and Bogert couldn't find the groove with a shovel,but they had that indefinable something. One of the CD booklets called them the "American Led Zeppelin" and I would concur with that hyperbolic moniker. But the jackals charging 297.00 for this ought to be ashamed of themselves. I hope that these vermin send at least 50% of their ill-gotten gains to Tim, Carmine or Jim, I'm sure they could use the dough....And now I see they have reformed!!!! Maybe these discs will be available at normal prices soon and put a stop to this ridiculous speculating. BOTTOM LINE: GET THIS AND BECOME A BELIEVER!!!!

If you love the Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream....then you'll love this compilation of some of the hardest hitting rock of all time.

The combo of Tim Bogert & Carmine Appice is insane. They share the same bass/drum combo stage with the likes of: John Paul Jones/Bohnam, Entwistle/Moon, Bruce/Baker, Pappilardi/Laing if you catch my drift.

The intensity of live Cactus is pure raw energy. Add in the guitar work of Jimmy McCarty and vocal/harmonica stylings of Rusty Day and you have the makings of one of the alltime rock and roll bands.

How sick would the potential origianl line-up have been? Had Jeff Beck not crached his motorcyle, the band would have been: Bogert/Appice/Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart.

Treat yourself and find one of the 5000 copies in circulation. You won't be disappointed!

Great live selections from the original lineup (and the live 'Ot & Sweaty' from the second lineup minus McCarty and Day).

When the original lineup was 'on' they made some magical music. This compilation is from three shows from the original lineup and the second lineups live set off of the fourth Cactus album (which is nice, but not the original and it shows).

Very enjoyable set - I was lucky enough to get this new when it was released. You have to be a REAL fan to pay the prices noted here.

Bits of this were released on the second Fully Unleashed (which is an entire show from 6/26/71).

Outstanding live performance. Rhino captures Cactus at it's best. The quality of this recording puts you right in the auditorium with the band. This CD is meant to be played loud on quality audio equipment. A hefty price was paid for this CD and it is worth every penny!