Drummer Carmine Appice (who is also a founding member of Vanilla Fudge and who has performed and/or recorded with Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Ozzy, and Pink Floyd, amongst others), Cactus is as heavy, bluesy, and uncompromising in its musical assault as they were 50-plus years ago.The band released its new album, Temple of Blues – Influences & Friends, June 7 on Cleopatra Records.  The album merges the current members of Cactus with a big-name, star laden, ensemble of guest artists, all of whom have called the group among their biggest influences.  Featured along with the current Cactus band is a who’s who of blues and rock icons: Guitarists Joe Bonamassa, Ted Nugent, Pat Travers,  Warren Hayes, Vernon Reid, Steve Stevens, Johnny A (The Yardbirds), Ty Tabor (King’s X) and bassists  Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big), Dug Pinnick (King’s X)  Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder), Phil Soussan (Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne), Kenny Aaronson (ex- Joan Jet and The Yardbirds), as well as members of  Government Mule, Vixen, Rainbow, Zebra, and Whitesnake.  Vocalist Dee Snider of Twisted Sister appears on the band’s remake of the Howlin’ Wolf classic “Evil,” and Appice’s bandmate in Vanilla Fudge Mark Stein turns in a powerful vocal on Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” A second version of “Guiltless Glider,” appears as a bonus track with former Judas Priest vocalist, Ripper Owens.In addition to Appice on drums and vocals on all tracks, original Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty also appears on Temple of Blues.  The new album contains reimagined versions of some of Cactus’s most legendary songs with the current band and guests putting a new spin on these bad-ass tunes that are among the heaviest of heavy blues-rock ever recorded. “The music of Cactus has always been steeped in the blues tradition,” says Appice, who wanted the group to re-visit its best songs within a modern rock approach to traditional blues. “We kept hearing from so many of our music celebrity friends how much Cactus influenced them and how they would love to be a guest on a Cactus album. Any band named Cactus has got to be raw and heavy.  And that’s just what these boys have been and are since the band’s formation in 1970. Referred to when they first formed as the “American Led Zeppelin,” the band’s reputation as supreme masters of relentless hard rock still precedes them and is well deserved. Cactus was formed in 1970 from the ashes of Vanilla Fudge when Appice and former Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert’s plans to form a band with Jeff Beck were canceled when Beck had a nasty automobile accident that sidelined him for a lengthy period-of-time. The original lineup featured Appice, Bogert, former Mitch Ryder guitarist Jim McCarty and singer Rusty Day from Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes. This lineup released three classic albums - Cactus (1970), One Way... or Another (1971), and Restrictions (1971) – all of which charted in the Billboard Top 200 and that still hold up well today.  Carmine’s playing has also been a huge influence on drummers including Joey Kramer (Aerosmith), Neal Peart (Rush), Phil Collins (Genesis), Brian Taylor (Queen), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and countless others.  He was inducted into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014. His best-selling drum instruction book The Realistic Rock Drum Method was first published in 1972 and has since been revised and republished as The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method. Carmine also published his best-selling memoir, Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums & Rock 'n' Roll, in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices