''Cactus Juice'' is a two- CD

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

band the

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...

. It was released by Arcadia Records in 2006. It is a repackaging of three complete New Riders albums from the 1970s — ''

Home, Home on the Road ''Home, Home on the Road'' is an album by the American country rock group the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Released by Columbia Records in 1974, it was their first live album, and their fifth album overall. The eleven songs on the album are ...

''; ''

Brujo ''Brujo'' is an album by the American country rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage. It is their fifth studio album, and their sixth album overall. It was recorded in 1974 and released that same year by Columbia Records. ''Brujo'' was ...

''; and ''

Oh, What a Mighty Time ''Oh, What a Mighty Time'' is an album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Their sixth studio album and their seventh album overall, it was released by Columbia Records in 1975. ''Oh, What a Mighty Time'' was produced b ...

''.

Live in concert

The first disc was recorded live in concert. It includes the 1974 album ''

'', which was produced by

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

. Garcia had co-founded NRPS in 1969, along with John "Marmaduke" Dawson and David Nelson, and was the band's original

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

player. ''Home, Home on the Road'' features the "classic" early '70s lineup of the band — Dawson, Nelson, Dave Torbert, Buddy Cage, and

Spencer Dryden Spencer Charles Dryden (April 7, 1938 – January 11, 2005) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage. He also played with Dinosaurs, and the Ashes (later known as the Peanut Butt ...

. Disc one also includes four additional songs. These bonus tracks were recorded live at the

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore Stre ...

in 1971 and also had been previously released. The first three songs — "Down in the Boondocks", "

The Weight "The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album ''Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...

", and "Superman" — had originally appeared on the 2003 expanded re-release of the band's eponymous first album. The fourth song, "Henry", was taken from the 1972 album '' Fillmore: The Last Days'', by various artists. Garcia plays pedal steel on these tracks.

In the studio

The second disc was recorded in the studio. It consists of the 1974 album ''Brujo'' and the 1975 album ''Oh, What a Mighty Time''. Before ''

'' was recorded,

Skip Battin Clyde "Skip" Battin (February 18, 1934 – July 6, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, bassist, performer, and recording artist. He was a member of the Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Εarly life C ...

, formerly of

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, had replaced Dave Torbert as the New Riders' bass player, after Torbert left to join Kingfish. On ''

'', Jerry Garcia plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

on three songs — "Mighty Time", "I Heard You Been Layin' My Old Lady" and "

Take a Letter Maria "Take a Letter Maria" is the debut single written and recorded by American soul singer R. B. Greaves. It was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio on August 19, 1969, using the house studio musicians. These include Donna Jean Thatcher on voca ...

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...

plays

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

on "Mighty Time".''Oh, What a Mighty Time''
at the Grateful Dead Family Discography

Cover

The cover photo for ''Cactus Juice'' was taken by

Herb Greene Herb “Herbie” Greene (born April 3, 1942) is an American photographer best known for his portraits of the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, The Pointer Sisters, Carlos Santana, and Sly Stone, pu ...

as part of the photo shoot for ''Oh, What a Mighty Time''. Pictured from left to right are John Dawson, Spencer Dryden, David Nelson, Skip Battin, and Buddy Cage.

Track listing

Disc one

''Home, Home on the Road:'' #"Hi, Hello, How Are You" ( John Dawson) – 2:30 #"She's No Angel" (J.W. Arnold, Wanda Ballman) – 3:09 #"Groupie" ( Dave Torbert) – 2:43 #"Sunday Susie" (Dawson) – 2:37 #"Kick in the Head" ( Robert Hunter) – 3:13 #"

Truck Drivin' Man "Truck Drivin' Man" is a popular country music, country song written and recorded by Terry Fell in 1954. One of his band members, Buck Owens, sang harmony with him on the recording. In 1965, Owens recorded the song himself, omitting the fourth ve ...

" (Terry Fell) – 3:10 #"

Hello Mary Lou "Hello Mary Lou" is a song written by American singer Gene Pitney first recorded by Johnny Duncan in 1960 and in the following year by Ricky Nelson. The song was recorded by Ricky Nelson at the famous United Western Recorders Studios on 22nd Mar ...

" (

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

) – 3:47 #"Sutter's Mill" (Dawson) – 2:10 #" Dead Flowers" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

) – 4:01 #"Henry" (Dawson) – 4:43 #" School Days" ( Chuck Berry) – 3:33 Bonus tracks: #

"Down in the Boondocks" (Joe South) – 4:03 #"

" (

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

) – 7:36 #"Superman" (Dawson) – 4:04 #"Henry" (Dawson) – 4:05

Disc two

''Brujo:'' #"Old Man Noll" (Dawson) – 2:44 #"Ashes of Love" (

Jack Anglin Jack Anglin (May 13, 1916 – March 8, 1963) was an American country music singer best known as a member of the Anglin Brothers, and later Johnnie & Jack with Johnnie Wright. Younger Years Anglin was born on a farm in Franklin, Tennessee to J ...

Johnnie Wright Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. (May 13, 1914 – September 27, 2011) was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country musi ...

) – 2:14 #"You Angel You" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) – 2:43 #"Instant Armadillo Blues" (Dawson) – 2:52 #"Workingman's Woman" (

Troy Seals Troy Harold Seals (born November 16, 1938, in Bighill, Madison County, Kentucky, United States) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is a member of the prominent Seals family of musicians that includes Jim Seals (of Seals and C ...

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...

, Don Goodman) – 2:44 #"On the Amazon" (

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

) – 3:34 #"Big Wheels" (Battin, Fowley) – 3:00 #"Singing Cowboy" (Battin, Fowley) – 3:57 #"Crooked Judge" (Hunter, David Nelson) – 2:59 #"Parson Brown" (Dawson) – 3:06 #"Neon Rose" (Battin, Fowley) – 4:24 ''Oh, What a Mighty Time:'' #

"Mighty Time" ( Don Nix) – 5:13 #"I Heard You Been Layin' My Old Lady" ( Russell Wier) – 3:24 #"Strangers on a Train" (Battin, Fowley) – 2:45 #"Up Against the Wall, Redneck" (

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born in the town of Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High Schoo ...

) – 4:13 #" Take a Letter, Maria" (

R. B. Greaves Ronald Bertram Aloysius Greaves III (28 November 1943 – 27 September 2012) was an American singer who had chart success in 1969 with the pop single " Take a Letter Maria". A number two hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, this single sold ...

) – 4:07 #"Little Old Lady" (Richard Wilbur) – 2:52 #"

On Top of Old Smoky "On Top of Old Smoky" (often spelled "Smokey") is a traditional folk music, folk song of the United States. As recorded by The Weavers, the song reached the pop music charts in 1951. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 414. History as ...

" (traditional, arranged and adapted by

Frank Wakefield Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wakefield (born June 26, 1934) is an innovative American mandolin player in the bluegrass music style. Wakefield is known for his collaborations with a number of important and well-known bands, including Red Allen, Jimmy ...

) – 2:39 #"Over and Over" (Dawson) – 3:08 #" La Bamba" (

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

) – 3:44 #"Going Round the Horn" (Dawson, Wakefield) – 3:33 #"

Farewell, Angelina ''Farewell, Angelina'' is the sixth studio album by American folk singer Joan Baez, released in late 1965. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. History The album represented a further shift from the strictly traditional folk mus ...

" (Dylan) – 2:42

Personnel

* John Dawson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* David Nelson – guitar, vocals * Dave Torbert –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, vocals (disc one) *

– bass, vocals (disc two) * Buddy Cage –

(disc one tracks 1 – 11 and disc two) *

– pedal steel guitar (disc one tracks 12 – 15) *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Notes

{{Authority control New Riders of the Purple Sage compilation albums 2006 compilation albums