Cactus is an American
hard rock band formed in 1969,
and currently comprising Jimmy Kunes as lead singer, guitarist
Paul Warren, drummer
Carmine Appice, bassist Jimmy Caputo and Randy Pratt on harmonica.
History
Original line-up (1969–1972)
Cactus was initially conceived in late 1969 by former
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On".
The band's original line–up—vocalist ...
members bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice,
after plans to team up with guitarist
Jeff Beck were canceled when Beck had an automobile accident and was out of the music scene for over a year.
In early 1970, Bogert and Appice brought in blues guitarist
Jim McCarty from
Mitch Ryder's
Detroit Wheels
The Detroit Wheels were an American football team, a charter member of the defunct World Football League.
Founding
Soon after Gary Davidson announced the WFL's formation in October 1973, he was approached by a man named Bud Hucul about putting ...
and The
Buddy Miles Express
The Buddy Miles Express was a musical group fronted by American drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles. It was formed after the 1968 breakup of Miles's earlier group Electric Flag. They released four albums.
Background 1968
The Buddy Miles Express was ...
, and singer
Rusty Day (born Russell Edward Davidson) from
The Amboy Dukes.
This line-up released three albums on
Atco Records, ''
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gre ...
'' (1970), ''
One Way... or Another'' (1971), and ''
Restrictions'' (1971), before intraband trouble