Freedom to Music
Posts tagged Mike Pinera
New Cactus Band – Son Of Cactus (1973) (@256)
18 Oct 2009
(Review from amazon, wikipedia)
After Cactus disbanded, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice got together with Jeff Beck to form Beck, Bogert & Appice. Duane Hitchings decided to keep the Cactus name alive teaming up ex-Iron Butterfly Mike Pinera, as the “New Cactus Band”.
Highlights of their sole album include “It’s Getting Better” (a real upper of a song), “I Can’t Wait”, “Senseless Rebel” (boogie, boogie, and more good boogie), “Man is a Boy”, “Ragtime Suzy” (a real rock classic with great bluesy piano and rock guitar fills all over it) and that nasty, dark, sinister totally fine Blu-blu-blu-”Blue Gypsy Woman”.
Sound resembles not Cactus but more of the type of music Mike Pinera always made — simple bluesy hard rock from early 70s.
Line-up:
- Mike Pinera / guitar, vocals
- Roland Robinson / bass, vocals
- Duane Hitchings / keyboards, vocals
- Jerry Norris / drums
- Manuel Bertematti / drums
Track List:
01. It’s Getting Better – 3:50
02. I Can’t Wait – 3:25
03. Hook Line and Sinker – 3:53
04. It’s Just a Feelin’ – 4:10
05. Lady (Spend My Life with You) – 4:27
06. Ragtime Suzy – 2:46
07. Blue Gypsy Woman – 3:16
08. Senseless Rebel – 3:27
09. Man Is a Boy – 3:27
10. Hold on to My Love – 4:13
11. Daddy Ain’t Gone – 3:13
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Iron Butterfly – Metamorphosis (1970) (@256)
19 Apr 2007
(Review from amazon.com)
With Metamorphosis, Iron Butterfly chose to redefine their sound, presumably to launch themselves out of the sixties and into the seventies. With Doug Ingle at the wheel, the lineup changed to accommodate the new direction and which included Mike Pinera whose straight ahead rock sensibilities are felt throughout the album. Whether it qualified as a genuine Butterfly album is debatable, but, contrary to implacable critics, Metamorphosis was still a solid effort that pointed the way to a successful future if the rest of the original band had chosen to follow Ingle’s prescience. Songs like Best Years of Our Life, Stone Believer, and Easy Rider are prime cuts of early 70s rock that still sound fresh today. The only disputable flaw in this otherwise excellent album is Butterfly Bleu. It’s an aspiring piece that works on its own terms and the best parts of it are stunningly brilliant, but it seems out of place compared to the rest of the album and ultimately weighs it down.
Line-up:
- Larry ‘Rhino’ Rheinhart / guitars
- Mike Pinera / guitars
- Ron Bushy / drums, vocals
- Lee Dorman / bass, vocals
- Doug Ingle / keyboards, vocals
Track List:
01. Free Flight (0:50)
02. New Day (3:20)
03. Shady Lady (3:57)
04. Best Years Of Our Life (4:00)
05. Slower Than Guns (3:50)
06. Stone Believer (4:25)
07. Soldier In Our Town (3:22)
08. Easy Rider (Let The Wind Pay The Way) (3:07)
09. Butterfly Bleu (13:58)
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