Jim Mccarty of Cactus

[yobahcaz]

I'm shocked that no one seems talk about this man on these forums. Not only did he play old 59 sunbursts, but he also played some the most insane blues/rock ever recorded in the 70's. Jim Mccarty and Cactus fans unite! If you happen to have some pics of his lester and him playing it post em! If you haven't heard of Cactus, give them a listen, they'll blow your mind!

[PixelBurst]

Cactus rules! I'm so happy I got to see them at BB Kings in NYC last year. They were GREAT!

[TM1]

I saw him on a `54 or `55 Goldtop in 1968 when he was a member of "The Buddy Miles Express". I was blown away then. He made that band and was the highlite of the whole evening to me! The show was: The Standells, Buddy Miles and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Lots of great guitar work that night. I like Jim better than John Cippolina(who was no slouch).
Not a bad CV to say you've been with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Buddy Miles and Cactus...

[lpnv59]

We've discussed our McCarty admiration more than a few times here. I saw him 4/71 in Cactus. They were sandwiched between Humble Pie w/ Frampton, and Ten Years After at the Boston Garden. My first big rock concert with more plexi Marshall amps than I've ever seen on one stage.

[j45]

I talk about him if you do a search. I've got some killer pics with Cactus I'll post tonight when I get back home. One of the best live performances I've ever seen. His solo on the Howlin Wolf cover "Evil" is one of my top ten all time favorite solos. I have a photo hanging in my studio of him in front of a monster wall of Marshalls playing his burst. Got all his work with Buddy Miles as well as Cactus. There are some very old clips of him on Youtube playing with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

[class5lp]

Do the search bra! We have discussed this Detroit legend many times and since I live in Motown I have met Jimmy many times and go to his gigs reguarly. His latest band is a blues band called Mystery Train and they mostly play in Detroit. Last summer at Edisons Jim and I sat down together and spoke for at least an hour in fact the band kept yelling at him to get to the stage for their set and saud when I am done talking to my fan I will be there. Way cool and the most down to earth guy you could ever want to meet.

[sliding-tom]

Yes, Sir - lots of Cactus fans around here including me. Their new one - "Cactus V" - isn't bad either.

[Dire Wolf]

Originally Posted by yobahcaz

I'm shocked that no one seems talk about this man on these forums. Not only did he play old 59 sunbursts, but he also played some the most insane blues/rock ever recorded in the 70's. Jim Mccarty and Cactus fans unite! If you happen to have some pics of his lester and him playing it post em! If you haven't heard of Cactus, give them a listen, they'll blow your mind!

Yes, I can't tell you how many times I listended to One Way...Or Another back in 1971! And now it's only available as an import on Amazon @ $44.99! Gentlemen, we''re all giving away our ages here. Check out the guitar work on Rock & Roll Children; McCarty smokes! And of course Bogart & Appice on rhythm before they moved on to form BB&A with Jeff Beck.

Also say McCarty with The Rockets(great Detroit band)) back in the late 80's at the Crown Lounge in Bradenton Fl; remember their version of Oh Well? McCarty justed ROCKED that night with a black Custom!

[Progrocker111]

Cactus was really very wild hardrock band. I have their first three albums with the classic line up. McCarty guitar work and sound is very energic and with classic Marshall Plexi sound. I like their second album "One Way Or Another" most. Great 70s hardrock, which is so missing today.

[kink56]

The only Jim McCarty I heard of was with Yardbirds and Renaissance/Illusion

[style0]

I was digging him back when he was with Mitch Ryder. Every note on every (original)Cactus album is fantastic.

[Progrocker111]

Originally Posted by kink56

The only Jim McCarty I heard of was with Yardbirds and Renaissance/Illusion

This is other Jim McCarty, bass player and vocalist. He died in 1975 or 76.

[j45]

This is how you get the tone:

[TomGuitar]

I have jammed with Jimmy quite a few times and he is really one of the greats. First time was a real hoot. Late 70's, The Rockets were playing a bar on Mackinac Island, MI and we were in another bar down the street, Jimmy and Bee (Johnny Badanjek - drums, who for those who don't know is one of the greatest rock drummers ever) would come to our place after they quit for the night and sit in with us for our last set. Went on for about a week. We all stayed in the same hotel in rooms over the bar we played in. Between the two bands we had an entire wing to ourselves so several nights we just moved the party upstairs. Good times had by all.

[lpnv59]

Originally Posted by Progrocker111

This is other Jim McCarty, bass player and vocalist. He died in 1975 or 76.

Neither Jim McCarty has passed. The Yardbirds drummer is still alive and gigging with the latest lineup. You might be thinking of Yardbirds singer Keith Relf, who was electrocuted while playing guitar at home.

[Rev.WillieVK]

Great pic Kerry!! Got any more?

[sliding-tom]

Originally Posted by Dire Wolf

Yes, I can't tell you how many times I listended to One Way...Or Another back in 1971! And now it's only available as an import on Amazon @ $44.99! night

Try here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cactus-One-Way-Or-Another-Digipak-CD_W0QQitemZ320095390477QQihZ011QQcategoryZ307QQrd Z1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

[RAB]

I saw McCarty with Cactus on a billing at Fillmore West (I guess around 1971) with Toe Fat and 10 Years After...Toefat opened, then Cactus...McCarty was amazing (using his '59 Burst and full Marshall stack..."Parchman Farm! was particularly memorable")...he completely blew away Alvin Lee...when Lee came on you could sense his frustration at the audience's tepid reaction (they were yelling for more Cactus!)...Alvin just tried playing faster and faster to no avail...ever notice how Ten Years After always had to increase the tempo of every song (regardless of the song's particular tempo (slow blues, mediium shuffle, etc)) to a full-tilt boogie so Alvin Lee could play is stock (and apparently only) frenetic solo?

[Progrocker111]

Originally Posted by lpnv59

Neither Jim McCarty has passed. The Yardbirds drummer is still alive and gigging with the latest lineup. You might be thinking of Yardbirds singer Keith Relf, who was electrocuted while playing guitar at home.

Oh yes, sorry, my mistake. Yes, Keith Relf passed in times of the group Armageddon.

[wicked1]

Jim McCarty plays man size guitar.

[Marti]

Brother Bill, Parchman Fram , Evil Cactus was the coolest.
I saw Jeff Beck at the Greek in LA last year,And the new Cactus was right in front of me at the beer line. You could not miss Carmine with that purple striek of hair!

[sliding-tom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQXg14e3DPE

Enjoy!

[j45]

Ouch... the years can be cruel sometimes. At least I have great recordings and vivid memories of the band's performance 35 years ago.

[Rev.WillieVK]

Could somebody post links to some of the older McCarty stuff on YouTube?

thankyouverymuch

[Ed A]

ive spent a lifetime listening to a lot of the same stuff you guys listen to... but Ive never heard Cactus.... I just ordered One Way or Another.... is there something else I should be getting for great burst/marshall tone besides that one?

[j45]

Originally Posted by Ed A

ive spent a lifetime listening to a lot of the same stuff you guys listen to... but Ive never heard Cactus.... I just ordered One Way or Another.... is there something else I should be getting for great burst/marshall tone besides that one?

The main thing One Way or Another is missing is their cover of Howlin Wolf's Evil. It's on "Restrictions" and my personal fave Cactus track for the guitar work. The blistering Parchman farm is on the first album titled "Cactus. One Way or Another is the middle of three records released by the original band. The best guitar tone is on the title track I think. I find that period is the beginning of the dark ages for capturing great live bands in the studio. It's definitely a studio record and has a hint of the dry, small, sterile, sound that followed with many rock records of the seventies. It's a good average of the three. They were weak song writers so the quality control suffers from lack of material which seemed to plague Bogert and Appice in their heyday with Beck, Bogert and Appice all the back to Vanilla Fudge. Still some good moments. I think the screaming, plodding, heavy cover of "Long Tall Sally" is a blast. I love Rusty Day's ear shattering voice. McCarty plays his best on Evil and Parchman Farm I think. One thing for sure, they are a balls to the walls band and even within the limits of seventies studio processing they still manage to sound noisier than most records of that time.

[sliding-tom]

The first, self-titled album/CD is still one of my fave records in that genre.

[PixelBurst]

I first heard Cactus on The Radio Chick show in NYC. The host is dating Carmine the drummer of Cactus/Vanilla Fudge. They played 'Evil' in the studio and I thought to myself 'why haven't I ever heard of these guys before?'. I immediately went online and bought tickets for their first US reunion show at BB Kings. They were great live too! After that I went on Ebay and bought 'Cactus - Barely Contained: The Studio Sessions'. It didn't disappoint!

[Progrocker111]

I recommend Cactology, great compilation from all albums. There is nearly whole first album and many songs from second and third album.

[lpnv59]

Originally Posted by Progrocker111

I recommend Cactology, great compilation from all albums. There is nearly whole first album and many songs from second and third album.

+1 Although I had to buy the import of "One way Or Another" because they excluded "Hometown Burst" on Cactology.

I'd love to see them again. However looking at the reunion video, I would really miss the late Rusty Day. He may not have posessed the greatest singing voice. But he was a great frontman who had deep roots in blues and Chuck Berry. A true revolutionary Detroit outlaw anarchist rocker from the MC5 school. The real deal who walked the walk. When I saw Cactus in '71, he got busted as he walked off the stage for inciting the audience to riot. They came back without him for their encore. That attidude came across in his performance. It also got him and his teenage son killed by drug lords in Florida, who shot him as the result of a drug deal gone bad.

[j45]

[class5lp]

Forgot to mention in my previous post when Jim was in The Rockets they were huge here in Detroit and were a national act but never go that solid national following. The Rockets music is tough to find any where these days but the drummer in the Rockets, Johhny The Bee has a web sight and you can download Jims music there when he was with The Rockets and Mitch Ryder. http://www.johnny-bee.com/welcome.htm

[class5lp]

Many years ago when Fender first came out with a relic Strat I ran into Jim at a store in Detroit. It was one of those weird moments in time where we were just kind of staring at a wall with several relics and then at the exact same time just looked at each other and Jim said "man you pay 3K for a new guitar and they beat it up for already, how stupid. I would never buy one of those thats for sure". In the early Mitch Ryder days Jim had a fancy for the Gibson ES330 but then soon after switched to a Lester when Duane, Jimmy, Green, started using them. In the 80's he used the LP Custom exclusively and it had to be black/gold and has stuck with them ever since. Last summer he told me he does not keep many guitars in his fleet, never more than 3 in fact he does not buy them new either. Jim told me what he likes to do is go to a used guitar shop store and find a nice clean used Custom that sounds and plays great and original and the cosmetics are not really an issue. This guy is so cool and down to earth!

[JRW8214@AOL.COM]

Dont forget he played Byrdlands for a time with Mitch Ryder too. He's the reason Ted Nugent started playing them.

[Dire Wolf]

Asked what guitars he played on the Cactus LP's, Jim responded:

I wish I still had the guitar I used on those. It was a ’59 cherry sunburst Les Paul, and that was stolen along with a ’54 Strat that is probably the greatest single-sounding guitar I ever owned. And they took a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic that belonged to Hendrix and was given to me after he died. That happened to me right after I returned to Detroit and put the Rockets together; that was my welcome home. (laughs)

Please, whoever took those guitars, how can you sleep at night! Do the right thing and return them to their rightful owner!!!

[PixelBurst]

I want to know which fuzz pedal he used on the Cactus stuff! His tone on those albums is great. I've been listening to them all morning.

[vic108]

Yah, Cactus was great.

Man! So many overlooked bands back then tho....

Wishbone Ash, Groundhogs, Blue Cheer, etc........

[lpnv59]

Originally Posted by PixelBurst

I want to know which fuzz pedal he used on the Cactus stuff! His tone on those albums is great. I've been listening to them all morning.

Ampeg Scrambler

[j45]

Originally Posted by lpnv59

Ampeg Scrambler

Yes, it was a Scrambler. Me and the fellow that played bass in my high school garage band had our elbows on the stage, right in front of McCarty when we saw them about 36 or so years ago. He was having trouble with the Scrambler. Visibly pissed, he gave it two or three extra hard stomps and then lauched it with a swift kick from his cowboy boot as far as the cords would let it travel towards the wings of the stage. The roadies were running out trying to get a replacement hooked up while he kept playing, McCarty not even looking to see what went on. Nothing but a little rock and roll going on. For a couple of young teenage boys, kicking gear always scored really high with us.

[MK.II]

Originally Posted by class5lp

Many years ago when Fender first came out with a relic Strat I ran into Jim at a store in Detroit. It was one of those weird moments in time where we were just kind of staring at a wall with several relics and then at the exact same time just looked at each other and Jim said "man you pay 3K for a new guitar and they beat it up for already, how stupid. I would never buy one of those thats for sure". In the early Mitch Ryder days Jim had a fancy for the Gibson ES330 but then soon after switched to a Lester when Duane, Jimmy, Green, started using them. In the 80's he used the LP Custom exclusively and it had to be black/gold and has stuck with them ever since. Last summer he told me he does not keep many guitars in his fleet, never more than 3 in fact he does not buy them new either. Jim told me what he likes to do is go to a used guitar shop store and find a nice clean used Custom that sounds and plays great and original and the cosmetics are not really an issue. This guy is so cool and down to earth!

Apparently Jim has changed his mind a little bit because a few months ago he bought (with a trade-in) a new custom shop masterbuilt 50th anniversary '54 Strat. I know it's not a relic, but it is a closet classic that has an aged finish (with cracks in the nitro) and aged hardware with maybe a little tiny ding here or there. I was going to buy the guitar myself but he beat me to it! About a month ago or so I asked him how he liked it and he said that he loves how it looks and plays but it sounds like shit! lol! His main guitar right now (it's the one that I always see him playing anyways) is a regular production black Les Paul Standard. I remember around '92 he was still playing a black Custom. Currently his main amp for the clubs is a Pro Reverb and he'll use a Twin Reverb on the big stages. He likes Keeley (sp?) modded reissue TS9 Tube Screamers. About a year ago he was at the local music store trying out all of the reissue TS9's that the store had so that he could find what he considered to be the best one to send to Keeley for the mod(s). He wasn't interested in the reissue TS808's. Probably because they cost a little more than the TS9's and he was having them modded anyway. Two weeks ago I seen him sit in at a jam and he played on a provided '56 TMS custom shop relic Strat (unfortunately no Les Pauls were available) and a Mesa Lonestar amp. He sounded great! It was the first time I've seen him play a Strat live. It's always a treat to be able to see Jimmy play!