The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

LOL! I'm very familiar with 'Cactus' -- I still have their first two albums, but lost interest in them after that. Back in the late 1970's, there was a shuttered theater on Broadway in Louisville that still had "CACTUS/MOUNTAIN" on the marquee from a concert in about '71.

My friend, the late mountain dulcimer virtuoso David Schnauffer, was in a band called 'The Cactus Brothers', if you are familiar with them:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU-gTxnEL5Y[/youtube]

David died from complications of diabetes a couple of years ago. He was the Keith Richards of the mountain dulcimer. It was like his other voice.

BTW, be sure to look at the initial cactus Victrola post again . . . I uploaded images of the PDF files I had posted below the photos of the cactus Victrola. They are scans of the January 1946 'The Desert Magazine' with the article about Herb Wood who built the machine.

John M

The article was very interesting. I suspect a craftsman would have some difficulty nowadays finding such large quantities of raw materials, probably meeting objections from desert conservationists.

It is a very fragile ecosystem for all its rugged appearance. The BLM is the biggest obstacle to raw desert travel/enjoyment these days.

John M

A Cactus/Mountain concert in 1971, that must have been something to see!!
Cactus did only 2 good albums, internal fighting ripped the band apart.
Funny enough it wasn't the singer/lead guitarist who had the biggest egos, it was the rhythm section that went out of hand. Tim Bogert was a true guitar hero, only problem was that he played the bass, same thing with the madman drummer, Carmine Appice.
But, 'nuff said 'bout these modernists.

The article was a very interesting read. Does anyone produce cactus furniture today?