Tommy Bolin

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Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951-2007) was an American guitarist and songwriter who performed with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), James Gang (from 1975 to 1976), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to pursuing a successful career as a solo artist and session musician.

The majority of his discography was either unreleased at the time of recording or had gone out of print, and it was not announced again until decades after his death by heroin overdose at age 25.

Personal life

Bolin's father Richard was of Swedish descent, and his mother Barbara was the daughter of Lebanese immigrants from Ferzol, Lebanon. Before immigrating to the United States, Abraham "Abe" Joseph, his maternal grandfather, was a recording singer in Lebanon. In the safe vault, the Bolin estate has about 15 records of his grandfather. He had two younger brothers, Johnnie (drummer for Black Oak Arkansas) and Rick (a guitarist).

Bolin wrote an article in 1975 that titled himself a completely self-taught guitarist who plays by ear, saying, "I only ever had four lessons." I'm not sure there are any scales at all. I know what to do but don't know any scales because I never bothered to learn any."

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Musical career

Tommy Bolin was born in Sioux City, Iowa, United States, and started playing with The Miserlous before being asked to join Denny and The Triumphs in 1964 at the age of 13. Dave Stokes, Brad Miller on lead vocals, Brad Miller on guitar and vocals, Bolin on lead guitar, Steven Bridenbaugh on organ and vocals, Denny Foote on bass, and Brad Larvick on drums were among the band's features. They were a mash-up of rock and roll, R&B, and the pop hits of the moment, and when bassist Denny Foote left the band to be replaced by drummer George Larvick Jr, they renamed them A Patch of Blue. Patch of Blue Live!, an album that was released in 1969, was released in 1969. From two 1967 concerts in Correctionville, Iowa, and Sioux City. In the 1999 Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a Patch of Blue was inducted.

Bolin moved to Boulder, Colorado in his late teens and then performed in an American Standard band (with future songwriting collaborator Jeff Cook) before forming Ethereal Zephyr, a band named after a train that ran between Denver and Chicago. When recording companies became involved, the name was changed to Zephyr. Bolin played lead guitar, David Givens on bass, and Givens' wife Candy Givens on vocals were among the band's members. The band had been playing larger venues, opening for more well-known bands such as Led Zeppelin. Going Back to Colorado, Bolin's second album, featured Bobby Berge, who would appear in musician credits from time to time in album liner notes from Bolin's later projects.

Bolin, a 20-year-old boy from 1972, formed the fusion jazz-rock-blues band Energy. The band never released an album during Bolin's lifetime because they were unable to secure a record contract. However, several albums have been released posthumously. Bolin briefly returned to David and Candy Givens in a band called the 4-Nikators, after which he took almost a year off from music. He wrote close to a hundred songs during this period.

Bolin replaced Domenic Troiano, who had substituted Joe Walsh in the James Gang, in a deadlock between the musical direction he wanted to pursue and a nearly empty bank account. Bang was released in 1973 and Miami in 1974; apart from one song on Bang, Bolin wrote or co-wrote every song on these two albums.

Bolin performed on Mahavishnu Orchestra's debut album Spectrum, which featured Bolin on guitar, Cobham on drums, Leland Sklar on bass, and Jan Hammer (also of Mahavishnu Orchestra) on keyboards and synthesizers. Spectrum, according to Deep Purple's Jon Lord, is "an utterly beautiful album." Tommy Bolin was just yelling away like mad. And it was just stunning stuff, all improved, but it was just off the top of his head."

Bolin wanted to get out of the James Gang after the Miami tour. AllMusic reviewer Robert Taylor said he went on to do session work for several rock bands and also with a number of jazz musicians, including Alphonse Mouzon's album Mind Transplant, which has been dubbed "easily one of the best fusion albums of all time." He also traveled with Carmine Appice and The Good Rats. Bolin appeared on Moxy's debut album as a guest studio guitarist, on which Bolin contributed guitar solos for six songs from 1975.

Bolin signed with Nemperor records in 1975 to record a solo album. Bolin was encouraged and guided by The Beach Boys to do his own vocals on this record as well. On this record, Session participants included David Foster, David Sanborn, Jan Hammer, Stanley Sheldon, Jeff Porch, Phil Collins, and Glenn Hughes (uncredited due to contractual reasons). Deep Purple reached him while recording this album.

The band met and decided whether to disband or search for a replacement after Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and the band chose the latter option. On which Bolin was lead guitarist for four songs, David Coverdale had been listening to the Billy Cobham LP Spectrum. Bolin was destined to be in Deep Purple, according to his uncle, who arranged him over for a snare. He jammed with the band for four hours, and the band was his job. Mk IV, the Deep Purple Mk IV, was born. The band then migrated to Munich, Germany, to begin playing Come Taste the Band. Bolin wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's nine tracks, including the instrumental "Owed to G," which was a salute to George Gershwin. Come Taste the Band was first released in October 1975 and Australia, Japan, and the United States followed the tour. Bolin's solo album Teaser was released in November in November, but he couldn't do much for his own album with a tour.

Although the Come Taste the Band album performed moderately and revived Deep Purple for a time, there were also several low points on the concert tours. Bolin was supposed to perform solos that looked like Blackmore's, but the guitarists' styles were very different. Bolin's problems with hard drugs as well as fellow band member Glenn Hughes' cocaine use resulted in several below-par concert appearances. Bolin had passed out and fell asleep on his left arm for eight hours after one of the three major concerts in Tokyo. He was only able to play simple barre chords at showtime, with keyboardist Jon Lord having to perform several of the guitar parts on the organ. This performance was unfortunately recorded for a live album titled Last Concert in Japan. Despite pleas from band members not to publicize the album, it made its way into Japan and the United Kingdom and the United States. In early 1976, a better concert recording by this Deep Purple group was released in Long Beach, California, and in 1995 as King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: Deep Purple in Concert. In July 1976, Deep Purple Mk IV was disbanded.

Bolin had left the Tommy Bolin Band and began playing on the road when preparing for his second solo album. The Tommy Bolin Band was made up of a diverse cast members including Narada Michael Walden, Mark Stein, Reggie McBride, Jimmy Haslip, Max Carl Gronenthal, and eventually Bolin's younger brother Johnnie Bolin on drums.

By mid-1976, CBS Records signed Bolin for his second and last solo album, Private Eyes, his second and final solo record, was published in June. In September, the album was released and a support tour followed.

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