Cactus
1972-02-09 ::: Commack, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, USA
Long Island Arena ::: 88 Veterans Highway ::: M-AUD

~*~ Mk2 version, carefully remastered fixing various issues, with differential EQ & lite NR ~*~

"Are you ready to get it on?"

01-[01:28]. ==band introductions/audience/tuning/greetings==
02-[05:22]. Parchman Farm
03-[00:38]. ==applause/audience/tuning/song intro==
04-[03:40]. Evil ->
05-[05:04]. drum solo ->
06-[01:32]. Evil
07-[00:42]. ==applause/audience/tuning/song intro==
08-[05:20]. Brother Bill
09-[00:30]. ==applause/audience/tuning/song intro==
10-[11:40]. Blues In B (with guitar solo intro)
11-[00:19]. ==applause/audience/clapping with song intro ->
12-[03:58]. Oleo ->
13-[05:04]. drums & bass -> bass solo ->
14-[01:21]. Oleo ->
15-[09:28]. Long Tall Sally
16-[11:34]. Let Me Swim
17-[00:28]. =="good night"/applause/audience

Encore
18-[01:33]. ==band re-introduced/applause/band talk
19-[05:24]. Fuck Around With Us

Total Time ::: 1:15:08

::: Distant but now quite listenable EQ version that will better feed many ears. Check samples for "you gotta be joking!" or "bring it on!" prognostications.
::: Warts (yes): Repaired dullspots & dropouts but there are more. ~2mins into Evil 2sec spliced cut (almost seamless). Mk1 various trax extra muffled in places like #02+10 last ~2 mins & #06 1st min but these are mostly fixed in Mk2 - but quality DOES vary some in parts of both Mk1+Mk2. Whistler lowered/muted wherever possible & no longer intrusive. #05 bit of AUD talk. #06 2+secs cut at 2mins now seamless splice. Tapeflip was after #10 no music lost. #16 has 2 cuts (~5&11secs) now seamless splices. #12+13 all music intact but overall lesser quality than rest of tape & varies - at 30secs master had VERY low volume&when raised created rushing hiss.
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the better Mk2 remaster version with EQ & lite NR. The Mk1 NO EQ* or NR remaster may be found elsewhere.
::: Concert bill: Bull Angus/Cactus/Badfiinger, all taped by this source. Bull Angus coming&maybe Badfinger later.
::: Comment before encore seems to indicate it's their first large ("important") gig with the new band.
::: #10 "Blues in B" intro'd as "something we worked up & seems to be a previously uncirculated original song.
::: #19 intro'd as "got an original"&French says it's called "Fuck Around With Us". Seems to be a previously uncirculated original song.
::: NOTE: We REALLY need a full-length mid-late '72 show for a better idea of this line-up&setlist once LP songs were written. Can YOU help?

==ASSORTED BONUS FACTOIDS FOR THOSE INCLINED TO READ 'EM==
::: Long Island Arena often called "Commack Arena", renamed "Suffolk Forum" in late '76, held ~7000 for concerts.
::: Venue was south of Veterans Highway just west of Sunken Meadow State Parkway (by the old Commack Drive-in&roller rink).
::: Venue often used as a hockie rink & there was a fully iced rink covered by wooden boards for this event.
::: "Bandmember disagreements" led to original Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty leaving, probably after the 1972-01-01 Asbury, NJ gig.
::: "Barely Contained"CD liner notes say Tim&Carmine found Werner Fritzschings in an upstate NY nightclub (probably in Rochester).
::: Original Cactus vocalist Rusty Day was "fired" by Bogert&Appice shortly after McCarty's departure (early January '72).
::: 4th LP"'Ot 'N' Sweaty"issued 1972-08-28 so audience was unfamiliar the 2 new songs & the new bandmember line-up!
::: In my mind, one of the more successful groups to continue w/bassist&drummer w/new line-up. Too bad they didn't last long.
::: After 4th LP, this Cactus line-up split&Bogert&Appice joined Jeff Beck for a delightful era. (Heresy tho' it may be, I prefer Cactus).
::: The New Cactus Band formed by Duane Hitchings w/Mike Pinera made the dubious '73"Son of Cactus"LP (w/NO original members).
::: From 2006-2020 Appice has revived Cactus in various forms. Hats off! Still doing Cactus for 50+ years... Thanks for all the music!
::: Appice has played with Vanilla Fudge/Cactus/Beck,Bogert&Appice/Rod Stewart/King Kobra/KGB/Blue Murder & MANY more.
::: Bogert has played w/Rick Martin&The Showmen/Electric Pigeons/Cactus/Beck,Bogert&Appice/Jeff Beck Group II/Bobby&Midnites/Boxer a.o.
::: Werner Fritzschings played w/Red White&Blues Band/Cactus/Riff Raff/Woody Herman a.o.&likely only dabbled in music biz post 1980s.
::: Duane Hitchings has played with Buddy Miles Express/Thee Image/Cactus/The New Cactus Band/Charmer/Steel & others.
::: Peter French has played with Leaf Hound/Cactus/Atomic Rooster/Big Bertha/Brunning Sunflower Blues Band/Hellhound/Randy Pie&solo.
::: We have 1970-09-19 Rochester Red White&Blues Band tape (NOT the pre-Tubes band w/same name!) but NO Fritzschings (after he left?).
::: A Fritzschings' Red White&Blues Band tape supposedly circulates, Rochester 1970-04-24 opening for Mountain(also taped?).WE NEED BOTH!
::: We have 3 vintage "Bedroom Mazurka"s. It seems they (mostly French) mix up/adlib some lyrics&lines&rearranged the song over time.
::: "'Ot 'N' Sweaty"LP B-side 5trax (really 4 songs plus a ditty) was recorded in the studio.
::: "'Ot 'N' Sweaty"LP A-side 3trax (Swim 4:40//Bad Mother Boogie 4:55//Our Lil Rock-N-Roll Thing 6:25) is 1972-04-03 Mar Y Sol Festival (live).
::: V/A '72 "Mar Y Sol" 2LPset has "Bedroom Mazurka"(5:00)-sadly, the only other official release by this line-up aside from "'Ot 'N' Sweaty"LP).
::: Cactus '04"Fully Unleashed Live Gigs"2CD has all 4 Mar Y Sol trax above (20mins) but nothing new by this line-up & it's badly brickwalled!
::: "'Ot 'N' Sweaty"1st CD reissue wasn't 'til '98&was HORRIBLY brickwalled (later CDs are even WORSE!).To quote Cactus,"Oh, what a drag"!
::: "Let Me Swim"is on #1 Cactus LP under that name."'Ot'N'Sweaty"re-titles it"Swim"."Fully Unleashed"has 2 versions & uses BOTH names.
::: I REALLY dig this line-up. Besides Boston 1972-07-01&this tape&official stuff, anyone got more '72 live Cactus? Please, my ears are running out of time.
::: I saw this line-up of Cactus at Charlotte Memorial Stadium 1972-07-09(?). Bill was Leon Russell+Freddie King+Nitzinger+Cactus+?.
::: Carmine's got an elusive dream... scroll down & check the numbers so far (OUCH!) at http://vanillafudgehalloffame.com
::: 38trax unofficial '72 Mar Y Sol Fest"Collazo/Mandry Tapes"MP3s circulate.Anyone got lossless? https://marysol-festival.com/albums-bootlegs

Recording Information ::: unknown cassette recorder & microphone -> master mono cassette -> (early 2000s?) Kenwood KX-W896 deck with azimuth adjusted -> unknown method digital transfer -> master 44.10Hz/16bit wav -> flac.

Remastering 2020-10-xx ::: master 44.10Hz/16bit flac -> computer -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, clap, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, -1.6% single averaged pitch (speed) fix with single pass for entire recording after frequency analysis & with pitchpipe verification, equalisation applied in various forms including overall differential EQ, 35/36KHz notches, VERY lite noise reduction used to reduce a bit of hiss after EQ & lower some ambient noise] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. Freed 2020-10-xx. (NOTE: Small file sizes as master came as 2 channel MONO, almost same KHz in each, so after being sure they were synched, combined to lessen extensive patching work).

Line-up ::: Peter French - lead vocals // Werner Fritzschings - electric guitar // Duane Hitchings - keyboards // John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III - electric bass, backing vocals // Carmine Appice - drums, percussion, backing vocals.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 680 ::: Thanks to the original taper & trader, The Florida Kid, for his generosity! Thanks to DIMER gv000 for weighing on with some date/tour info. Sincere thanks to whomever uploads this for me. ::: Corrections welcome ::: This is an important find! It re-writes Cactus history by filling in a large hole in their history - a few months that really changed the band & setlists. We get two songs that I believe haven't been around before & perhaps didn't last into their sets after the album was recorded. We have extremely well-rehearsed, dynamic versions of older Cactus songs which haven't been represented in the little material by this band that has surfaced to date. Aside from the studio tracks on the album side & the commercially released 4 tracks from April at Mar Y Sol, we only have had the 4 song 1/2 hour from Boston to draw from for live 1972 Cactus & this recording GREATLY expands the picture. The guitarist is really showcased in the blues song & is playing extremely well without showing off. WELL worth a good listen! Fritzschings is generally superb thruout the performance - really excelling without overshadowing everything else going on. He & French sound like they've been playing together for years at times, but this is also in great part to French's high level of professionalism - his vocal work on a number of Rusty Day's Cactus standards is exemplary. Tim Bogert gives Louis Cennamo of Steamhammer a run for his money on intense weird feedback & majestic noise in his bass solo. Love the "boogie" before it became a strutting, crowd-rousing habit/parody by most bands - CBB comes to mind & there are many others, tho' SB managed to pull it off for longer than most. The original line-up went at least til the Asbury, NJ gig on 1971-01-01. One can imagine why they were stressed out & having issues after a heavy year of touring. The 5 weeks before breaking up had them on a crazy touring schedule with AT LEAST 18 gigs from New York to Vancouver(!) in western Canada, then throughout the midwestern USA & up to Montreal & back thru the midwest starting the day after Christmas in Detroit, to multiple gigs in NY state, then to Florida(!), Virginia, and then BACK to Canada (in Ottawa), with a little break before a 3 day run which included Waterbury, CT, then a 2nd night out in Akron, OH to the 3rd night in Columbia, SC & then back for gigs in the NY/NJ area. INSANE by any standard, even today, and flights tended to take even longer back then (info courtesy of DIMER gv0000). I would think the band would go much easier on themselves about their breakup even today if they realised how much pressure they were under. SO presumably McCarty left after the 1971-01-01 gig & Rusty Day followed, though Rusty might have made it through the (presumably) one-off mid-January gig 1972-01-15 on Staten Island at the Ritz, but it's likely he was already out by then. Anyway, January rehearsals with new band, then from comments the band makes, this Commack was their first major gig & kicked off at least a 9-city tour down the entire east coast & out to Ohio through the end of February, plus there was a scheduled gig back down in Florida (again!) on March 4th. There was a 1972-03-25 gig on Staten Island, but I suspect they spent a good part of March writing & rehearsing new songs & recording the "'Ot 'N' Sweaty" album studio tracks which were clearly well-formed & rehearsed by their Mar Y Sol Puerto Rico gig on 1972-04-03 (from which they drew 3 trax to use on the A-side of "Ot N Sweaty"). The album was not issued until end of August which must have been a drag in terms of profile/gigs, etc. & I would guess led to their dissolution in the fall of '72, about 2 months after the album's release. I probably went way over the top for remastering hours to make this one work, but it was VERY cool to hear this at long last! Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists!: http://www.cactusrocks.net (Carmine) -- http://www.facebook.com/CarmineAppiceOfficial -- http://www.carmineappice.net -- www.timbogert.com -- www.facebook.com/LeafHound (Peter French) -- www.facebook.com/DuaneHitchings

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!