I'm down for three of these this year, and am going to focus on some lesser-known artists who I think should be better known...isn't that kind of the point?
First up is Tommy Bolin.
Bolin had a brief, meteoric career before dying from a multiple drug overdose in 1976 at the age of 25 after a show with Jeff Beck.
Other than an early pair of albums as the guitarist in the Denver regional band Zephyr, all of his recorded work is from 1973-1976.
In that three year period, he was the guitarist for two hit jazz-rock fusion albums, one of which inspired Jeff Beck to put his traditional rock days behind him and become an instrumental artist. He was tapped by Joe Walsh to replace him in the James Gang and released two albums with them, writing nearly all of the songs. He replaced Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple and released an album with them, writing nearly all of the songs. He stood in as guitarist for another minor band, Moxy, bringing them their only hit. He also released two solo albums, multitracking rhythm and lead guitars and singing, as well as writing all of the songs.
All in all, he recorded ten studio albums from age 18 – 25, ranging from jazz to heavy metal, reggae to soul, glam rock to power ballads, and that doesn’t even include his primary band, Energy, that he led for nearly two of those years, yet never even got a record deal due to a sense of purity of purpose and Replacements-style drunkenness on the night the record moguls came to town.
He pretty much never makes the top guitarists lists for reasons I don't really understand, though it’s true that his playing was often more passion than craft, but damn could he rip sometimes. Jan Hammer says he moved rock guitar ahead ten years, Eddie Van Halen cites him as a major influence, and 35 years later, guitarists like Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Peter Frampton, Nels Cline, Warren Haynes, Brad Whitford and Sonny Landreth came together to put out an album of them filling out some of his unfinished recordings with dual leads, etc.
I’ll add a bit more as we go along, but mostly let the music do the talking. If you want to learn more about him, you will… Over the coming days, I’ll put up some songs that show some of his talent and range. Don’t let any one song fool you into thinking you’ve got him down – another style is just around the corner.
First up is Quadrant 4, the first song off drummer Billy Cobham’s first solo record in 1973 – the one that opened up fusion to young rock fans and inspired Jeff Beck’s career change. Through some session and opening act work, Tommy had impressed some people without always even knowing who they were. Cobham, drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis's fusion band, had decided to go for a more streamlined and R&B based fusion than the virtuosity and headiness of Mahavishnu. Jan Hammer suggested Bolin based on some jamming they had done one night in Boulder, and Cobham remembered him from an aborted studio session for another artist on which he and Bolin were session players. One day, Cobham called the 21 year old Bolin up out of the blue in Boulder and asked him to fly to New York to play on his record. Tommy thought it was a prank and hung up on him. But Cobham called back and sorted things out, then flew him out to New York to record. It was to be a quick affair, so the music was charted out by Cobham and Jan Hammer, only to have Tommy arrive and confidently tell them that although he didn’t know how to read music, as long as they rehearsed the songs a time or two, he’d be all right. The resulting album, Spectrum, not only shifted the balance in fusion from jazz to rock, but introduced a guitarist who could frantically shred one moment and seduce the next.
After a kind of noodling drum and synthesizer intro courtesy of Cobham and Hammer, the song kicks in with its main riff at around the one minute mark and Tommy rips his legendary guitar part from about 1:45 through 3:45. Check it out and just come on back tomorrow even if fusion is not your thing - we'll be onto something new...
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Bonus track if you happen to be into this sort of thing, Stratus. Skip the 3 minute experimental intro. Check out Bolin's solo around 4:20-6:20:
Last edited by lotusamerica on Mon Apr 29, 2013 11:08 am, edited 7 times in total.
Excellent choice, lotus. Haven't thought about him in years and certainly hadn't considered him in the light you shine. Great job. Plus now I've got to pull out Spectrum and Crosswinds, which is not a bad thing.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Deep Purple's album "Come Taste the Band" was, easily my favorite Deep Purple album and one of my favorite albums of all time back when I was in 8th Grade. I'm thinking Tommy Bolin was on that album.
Tommy Bolin’s band, Energy, played from 1971 to 1973. They specialized in weaving a wide array of musical influences into their songs, described in a recent compilation as “jazz metal fusion blues.” Their manager, Barry Fey, set them up as the backing band for a lot of touring blues acts, including John Lee Hooker and Albert King, who took quite a shining to trading licks with Tommy. Despite good songs and chops, they were passed over consistently by record companies who couldn’t figure out how they’d market a band so eclectic. However, they finally scored a record deal one night, with the reps offering them a multi-record deal after hearing the band’s first set. After reaching agreement, the reps took off and the band took a long break between sets and downed a bottle of grain, along with some other things, and returned to the stage smashed, only to find that the reps had come back, pumped to hear more. A disastrous set, a voided contract, and that was that. One hour you’re up, the next you’re down.
Playing on Cobham’s album took Bolin to a new level, however. He’d been around enough that he was already a guitarist’s guitarist, but now everybody wanted to jam with him when they came through Boulder. One of Boulder’s elites was Joe Walsh, doing his Rocky Mountain Way thing, and they’d jammed together at Walsh’s house a number of times, and he decided to call up his old friends in James Gang and told them to give Tommy a call, to replace their guitarist who was then leaving them to join The Guess Who (the James Gang was an unusual band consisting of a consistent and stellar rhythm section and rotating lead singers/guitarists – Walsh himself was the second of the 6 or 7 different front men for the band). They were hesitant to hire a jazz rock guitarist, given their Midwestern riff rock roots, but fifteen minutes into an audition, they invited him to join the band. Bolin’s friends and band members took it as a big joke, since they were at the center of the anti-commercialism fusion movement in Boulder. Tommy was ready for something bigger, though, and took the gig, while Walsh ended up nicking a couple of Energy’s members for his Barnstorm band, and everyone moved on to the next thing.
Bolin repurposed a number of Energy songs into straightforward rock songs that better fit the James Gang’s singer’s voice and the band’s history. Though not selling at the peak level of Walsh era James Gang, the band rebounded considerably from its fall since that time and scored a few minor radio hits. One of those is Must Be Love, dated and hampered by the singer’s unnecessary Elvis impressions at a few points in the song, but a good example of the straightforward, boogie rock of this era of the band, with Bolin putting slide guitar front and center through much of it.
Bolin stepped forward for his first lead vocal on Alexis, a casual shuffle telling the story of a blooming friendship between a drifter and a younger female that cannot last, as the drifter has to leave her behind, recognizing where reality leads. The song established one of Bolin’s song archetypes - a melodic ballad with reflective, somewhat resigned lyrics that leads into an instrumental section in which the resignation explodes into an extended blistering guitar solo.
(Upscale the audio to 720p on this)
The James Gang went on a for a couple of albums, with some should’ve been hits, some tearjerking ballads, and some hard rock songs, always with that tight underlying groove of Tim Fox and Dale Peters, and Bolin’s emotional guitar work. Here’s one of their harder rockers, From Another Time.
Once again, Bolin was more driven than the others and moved on after a year or so, feeling he’d done what he could with that set of players. He kicked around some, floating in and out of various musical scenes, and eventually migrated to LA along with one of his Energy bandmates. In yet another musical sharp left turn, they were soon backing Dr. John on an album, only to have it end up on the shelf when Dr. John decided to go in a different direction. But the bit of demo available is worth a listen.
Gang Green wrote:Deep Purple's album "Come Taste the Band" was, easily my favorite Deep Purple album and one of my favorite albums of all time back when I was in 8th Grade. I'm thinking Tommy Bolin was on that album.
Yup that's his album. I think its his only DP record.
While kicking around in LA, Tommy recorded with Alphonse Mouzon on the drummer’s Mind Transplant album. Although not a breakthrough record like Cobham’s Spectrum, it is another classic fusion album, more fleshed out and written than Spectrum, and the two records form the twin pillars for drummers of this genre. Mouzon, still very much alive and invested in his career, does not allow Mind Transplant on youtube, so no links, but if you run across it, check out “Nitroglycerin” for another of Bolin’s shredding performances, and “Golden Rainbows” for a mellow and melodic groove song.
Bolin was constantly playing guitar and writing songs. Many of the songs that ended up on records had been demo’d in completely different styles along the way. Ballads became rockers, jazz pieces became glam rock - and once a final genre was decided upon, multiple full band demos would be recorded with his vast network of former bandmates and fellow session players, each take with different arrangements or instrumentation. While he hadn’t yet scored a solo record deal, Bolin was assured to be ready to go once he did.
Eventually, he got a one album deal from Nemperor records, and in spring of 1975 went in to record what is considered by fans to be his masterpiece, Teaser. One early day in the studio, the lead guitarist and songwriter of the band Moxy, who were recording down the hall, quit, and Tommy took time off of recording his record to go help them out, ending up playing lead on most of the album, and adding that something extra that pushed them into the spot as a top Canadian rock band, with several songs ending up as minor hits in the US.
Once again out of the blue, Bolin was contacted by Deep Purple, who had relocated to LA and were looking to either find a worthy replacement for Ritchie Blackmore, or quit. They’d been familiar with his work on Cobham’s album and decided to give him a try after trying to work with other guitarists, and coming up short. Although he only really knew of Smoke on the Water given his different musical background, and had to have a friend teach him the riff before the audition, Tommy had been dreaming of being a star, and his girlfriend had been helping him look the part since 1973 or so, and by now he had multicolored hair, painted fingernails, and the various sundries of rock guitar god looks of the mid-70s. Tommy wanted to look the part, so he showed up to the Deep Purple audition decked out in silk and high heeled glam boots with a beautiful young Hawaiian woman (Hugh Hefner’s secretary) at his side, nude under a crocheted minidress. Ten minutes into the audition, he had seized Ritchie Blackmore’s old spot.
Throughout mid-1975 he continued to record his solo record and meet up with the DP members to jam and write songs. The record ended up filled with riffs that had been floating around and some reworked Energy songs, with David Coverdale properly grinding down some lyrical storylines into hard rock clichés about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Nevertheless, the members of Deep Purple were inspired in a way they hadn’t been for some time (two of the last three records with Blackmore in the group are considered among their worst). After a few months of hanging and jamming, intermingled with Tommy leaving to work on his solo record, they recorded Come Taste the Band, with Bolin writing or co-writing seven of the nine songs.
The album was hard rock with a funk edge. Blackmore had left the band partly due to the move in this direction, and with him gone, the rest of the band was free to pursue it to its natural stopping point. Once again, there’s no avoiding Bolin’s flash, and one of the strongest funk riff songs on the record , Getting Tighter, features it in full glory. Based on a lick he’d been kicking around for four years or so, with Glenn Hughes rounding out the song and putting his heart into singing it, the energy pumped back into this band is undeniable.
A somewhat more typical DP song is Dealer – another Bolin gaze into the crystal ball cautionary tale about fame, fortune and drug addiction– this time for Glenn Hughes, who would soon be hospitalized for his cocaine addiction, and for himself, not much more than a year before his overdose death. he even grabbed the brief middle break of the song away from David Coverdale to sing himself – “In the beginning all you wanted was the calm before the storm. If the bluebird plays the eagle, he finds his song will turn to stone.” I have some mixed feelings about aspects of this recent remix, but it uncompresses the guitar parts, and that’s what we’re here to hear, so sorry to old fans of this album if it jars a bit. Like a lot of Tommy Bolin songs, the song largely serves to set up an extended instrumental section allowing him to play. In this case, the song takes two minutes, the guitar nearly three.
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Deep Purple jumped out to promote this record with South Pacific, Japanese, American and European tours, which were alternately great, terrible, mixed, and troubled. Many DP fans were not happy to see Bolin in Ritchie Blackmore’s place, and he had no heart to replicate someone else’s songs and guitar solos. However, fame and fortune he did love, and he reveled in the jet airplanes, media attention, crowds of tens of thousands, drugs and women. While the eventual end was built toward gradually, it was irrevocably nailed down the moment the record company insisted on releasing a live album of a Japan show recorded on one of the first nights Bolin shot up heroin, not only fucking him up mentally, but semi-paralyzing his left arm, which left him virtually unable to perform as a lead guitarist. Given that this recording was many DP fans’ first impression of his live abilities, his reputation among DP fans, and subsequently the reputation of the band in this configuration, was sunk. Fame and fortune came on fast and hard, and fucked him up badly, then evaporated, leaving him to try to rebound by establishing for the first time his own band as a leader and not an ensemble player.
But in the meantime, behind the scenes of all the Deep Purple craziness, he had recorded his motherlode, Teaser. And we get to focus on that tomorrow.
Oh my god! I haven't heard this name in years! My boyfriend in my 20s used to worship him as the greatest guitarist of all time (along with Uli John Roth-who did a short stint with the Scorpions, then married Jimi Hendrix's GF Monica Denman, and I think still lives in a castle in Germany?) I was seriously up to my ears in Teaser and Zephyr. He's the no 1 fan on the Bolin archives page or something. Not that it mattered, but I think also dated a famous actress but I can't remember who----the woman who played Pam on Dallas? Can't recall. This was my entry into King Crimson and John McLaughlin and all the prog stuff. Unlistenable to me today but very important in my music education.
This is it. The motherlode. 1975. Strut rock. Boogie. Fusion. Funk. Power ballads. Latin. Reggae. And then some...
The cast included Tommy, Jan Hammer, David Sanborn, Prairie Prince, Phil Collins, Jeff Porcaro, Narada Michael Walden, Glenn Hughes, David Foster and his bandmates from Energy.
The rolling groove of The Grind starts things out.
I walked all day tryin’ to find me work, I must have knocked on one hundred doors. Would have swallowed my pride for some money, And be satisfied sweepin' the floors.
Mr. Broken glass Mr. Silver-and-gold Mr. Bustin'-my-ass Mr. All-you-can-hold
I spent last night asleep on a park bench, 'til a cop came and moved me along. Told him I wasn't botherin' nobody, Yes he told I was me to go.
Everywhere, I get the same kind of answer, Not now or maybe then. Well me time is runnin' out on me people, yes me people. If you're down and without a friend. Yeah, yeah.
Mr. Broken glass Mr. Silver-and-gold Mr. Bustin'-my-ass Mr. All-you-can-hold
Homeward Strut
Fusion funk with a touch of reggae.
Dreamer
The big power ballad. His haunting, melodic solo 2:10-3:10 is one of the best things on the record.
Halfway gone, and halfway back, You're always dreaming 'bout what you lack. You're takin' your time from your busy day, To sit by the track and watch the train roll away.
Dreamer I know what you're thinkin', I can see it in your face. Maybe before you were happy, But now your thoughts aren't of this place.
You've begun to change now baby, I don't see. Oh but I know you well and it's clear to me. You think chains hold you here now baby, but they don't exist. You don't have to stay mama, I won't insist.
So take the train today, and don't look back again. Live the dreams you have, don't dwell on what has been. Your future's brighter now, there's brighter days ahead. Any sad farewell words, better left unsaid.
Dreamer I know what you're thinkin', I can see it in your face. Maybe before you were happy, But now your thoughts aren't of this place.
I only wish you were with me, someone like you can't be replaced.
Savannah Woman
A Latin masterpiece. The solo from 1:45 to the end of the song is a song unto itself.
Savannah woman dressed in white, Stands out of tropical rains. She pulls her gin and tonics tight, And curses her lonely domain. Brazilian winds blow warm in Rio, A white estate they call 'The Nada'. Mourn for her soul or so she said, Hides her sadist gin made eyes.
No one knows but me how she left me so behind. Savannah woman I could never leave you so unkind.
Snow white and with desire, that vamp from the magazine. Cold and distant as the moon, why can't she burn like fire?
Teaser
Cranking up that glam funk thing again. Ladies like this aren't meant to be understood. Red means run, son.
That woman's got a smile, puts you in a trance. And just one look at her, makes you wanna dance. Those dark and those red ruby lips, only a fool would pass them by. With just a hint of ruthlessness, sparklin' in her eye.
She's a teaser and she's got no heart at all. She's a teaser and she'll tempt you 'till you fall. Yeah she'll tempt ya 'till ya fall.
She sips gin from a teacup, wears those fancy clothes. And somebody always knows her no matter where she goes. She'll talk to you in riddles, that have no sense or rhyme. And if you ask her what she means, says she don't got no time.
She's a teaser and she's got no heart at all. She's a teaser and she'll tempt you 'till you fall. She's a teaser and she's got no heart at all.
People, People
Reggae plus David Sanborn. And it works.
Brother, brother, help me please, I'm as lonely as I can be. All my friends are scaring me, But if you forget me then I will leave.
Sister, sister, what can I do? I'm in love with tootsie too. Please excuse me if I am low, But me feelings just have to show.
People, people, hold my hand. Where in the hell is this promised land? Float right past me, ooh I like your style. Seek it, seek it, seek it, seek it, here for a while.
Mother, mother, so good to me, Praying just so I can breathe. My father, my father, my only one, I hope you're proud of this your son.
Listen to them play now....
Marching Powder
Nothing subtle about the inspiration for this instrumental song. An update of a Cobham-style fusion song, with interlaced funk and that kind of shredding guitar that Eddie Van Halen built his career on.
Wild Dogs
If there’s a song that I feel closer to, I’m not sure what it is. This one has been with me since I was 13 years old. I think I’ve always felt lost. Even as simple as they are, there is nothing quite like the dueling leads at the end of the song to me, cranked as loud as my ears can take.
Baggage handcuffed to my wrist, I drag it everywhere I go. Sometimes I fight here with my fists, If I knew which way was home, That's where I'd go. If I knew which way was home.
Porter come and cut me loose, Bring that whiskey in my water. Sometimes I get the blues, But I know I shouldn't oughtta. That's where I'd go. If I knew which way was home.
Run down ghost town, no chance for love, No sign of life - just wild dogs howlin' in the night. That's what I like. Hey porter come and cut me free, I'm sick of my own company. Sometimes I miss the gold, Most times I miss my home. That's where I'd go. If I knew which way was home. That's what I like
Hear 'em howl....
Lotus
Guess where I got my screen name from? Well, halfways anyway. I love this song. Oriental reggae fusion blues?
A coolie dies on his own time, Roarin' I won't hear your thunder. Called each other Chinese names, But the book just has a number. There's a garden where the devil lurks, Such a strange life, this.
They break their backs for suede and gold, And all the things which they buy. Things that I thought were heavy loads, Like a Lotus in an oriental sky.
Like a lot of people with older brothers and sisters, I was heavily influenced by my brother's taste in music. My sister's not so much. Sorry, but John Denver and the Carpenters just wasn't cutting it. When my brother came home with the James Gang "Bang", I would come home from school and crank it, the opening notes of "Standing in the Rain" building up to a cacophonous crescendo, then launching into glorious 70's arena rock. I loved it then, and still do today. That album still kicks ass. When Mark came home with "Teaser" by Tommy Bolin, I was already hooked. Tommy Bolin epitomized melodic power pop super rock with the heart and soul that is so endearing to me. When Mark bought "Private Eyes" you couldn't pry it off the turntable for weeks. Even though I haven't heard "Bustin' out for Rosie" or "Post Toastee" for years and years, those songs still spring to my mind as if it were yesterday. He had "IT" in spades. But, once again, we got cheated out of a lifetime of music by the excesses of the seventies. Fuck. There were far too many that suffered that fate. We all know the biggies like Jimi and Janis, but the others, like Tommy Bolin, Gram Parsons and Lowell George have left as big a hole in the musical landscape as any. There's no turning back the clock, so we'll just have to listen and love the music that they made in the too short time that they were with us.
So fast forward, and I have been able to turn the tables somewhat and share my music with my brother. Got to share the Drive-By Truckers with him at his first show at Targhee last summer. So here's to you Lotus, for the great post, to Tommy Bolin for making the music in the first place, and to older brothers and sisters everywhere that have passed down their music to all of us youngsters.
Penny Lane wrote:Oh my god! I haven't heard this name in years! My boyfriend in my 20s used to worship him as the greatest guitarist of all time (along with Uli John Roth-who did a short stint with the Scorpions, then married Jimi Hendrix's GF Monica Denman, and I think still lives in a castle in Germany?) I was seriously up to my ears in Teaser and Zephyr. He's the no 1 fan on the Bolin archives page or something. Not that it mattered, but I think also dated a famous actress but I can't remember who----the woman who played Pam on Dallas? Can't recall. This was my entry into King Crimson and John McLaughlin and all the prog stuff. Unlistenable to me today but very important in my music education.
Nice interview! Just found s another one that focuses more on his setup etc., but also reveals that he was initially realized what he wanted to do around age 5 or 6 by seeing Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash all on TV - thought that was pretty cool to share on the DBT board. Also, he shares that his primary influences as a guitarist were Django Reinhardt, Carl Perkins, and of course, Hendrix. Pretty revealing... http://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/bolin/tb197703xx.html
I'm curious by how he fits so many styles together or what gravitated him toward doing so. He has nowhere near the technical skills on guitar of people like McLaughlin or Fripp, but I just like him so much better because I'll generally take passion over technical skill anyday. But half of his playing is closer to Skynyrd than prog rock, so I guess it keeps me intrigued how it all gets weaved together.
I can't listen to any of the prog stuff anymore either, but I can still listen to Tommy Bolin for sure...
UTHeathen wrote:Like a lot of people with older brothers and sisters, I was heavily influenced by my brother's taste in music. My sister's not so much. Sorry, but John Denver and the Carpenters just wasn't cutting it. When my brother came home with the James Gang "Bang", I would come home from school and crank it, the opening notes of "Standing in the Rain" building up to a cacophonous crescendo, then launching into glorious 70's arena rock. I loved it then, and still do today. That album still kicks ass. When Mark came home with "Teaser" by Tommy Bolin, I was already hooked. Tommy Bolin epitomized melodic power pop super rock with the heart and soul that is so endearing to me. When Mark bought "Private Eyes" you couldn't pry it off the turntable for weeks. Even though I haven't heard "Bustin' out for Rosie" or "Post Toastee" for years and years, those songs still spring to my mind as if it were yesterday. He had "IT" in spades. But, once again, we got cheated out of a lifetime of music by the excesses of the seventies. Fuck. There were far too many that suffered that fate. We all know the biggies like Jimi and Janis, but the others, like Tommy Bolin, Gram Parsons and Lowell George have left as big a hole in the musical landscape as any. There's no turning back the clock, so we'll just have to listen and love the music that they made in the too short time that they were with us.
So fast forward, and I have been able to turn the tables somewhat and share my music with my brother. Got to share the Drive-By Truckers with him at his first show at Targhee last summer. So here's to you Lotus, for the great post, to Tommy Bolin for making the music in the first place, and to older brothers and sisters everywhere that have passed down their music to all of us youngsters.
I'm with you on the various lost greats....
When I was 13, my brother was out of high school but still living in my parent's basement. Because he was working nights, he let me start hanging out in his room and listening to his records. Some of the ones I remember in the stack were:
Teaser Boston 1st Kansas - Leftoverture Jean Luc Ponty -Imaginary Voyage Supertramp - Crime of the Century and Crisis, What Crisis? Rush - 2112 and Fly By Night Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies, School's Out and Killer Ted Nugent - Eponymous Free For All Led Zeppelin - Presence Steely Dan - Katy Lied Billy Cobham - Spectrum Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic and Rocks Pink Floyd - Dark Side and Wish You Were Here
Before that, I only really knew childrens' songs, radio hits, Beatles and 1960s Rolling Stones. I woke up that year, and though my brother didn't care for the early punk stuff I got into right after that, and I got lost in his interest in the jazz, fusion and some prog stuff, it made a great bond with him even though we were 6 years apart to share interest in all those records together.
Bolin’s second solo record was to be his last, unfortunately. Reeling from being blamed for the demise of Deep Purple (and accurately shouldering some of that blame although it was a band already on fumes before he got involved and did have a temporary liftoff), having lost his longtime girlfriend from his teenage years to Glenn Hughes in Deep Purple, and having lost that writing partnership which could have produced some really interesting music, being heavy into partying to point of some thinking he had a death wish, and having crashed from playing to many thousands with Deep Purple back to playing clubs on his own, times were a bit rough.
He rebounded by taking another musical turn. Instead of continuing the role as flashy guitar soloist surrounded by studio or traveling musicians and playing highly eclectic music, he put together a band, narrowed down the range of musical styles considerably for his second record, and incorporated his long-ago lessons from Albert King on playing simply rather than wailing. Before they could really make it work, though, he went through some heavy using episodes and ended up losing Narada Michael Walden as his drummer and losing his record contract after performing a drug-induced poor set in NYC in front of a bunch of record execs.
His second solo album, Private Eyes, is not considered by most to be quite in the league of Teaser, but after the two James Gang albums, the Deep Purple record, and Teaser, he had run through quite a back catalog of songs as well as the new ones written for those records, and for his second solo album, he focused in on writing new, more constrained songs, and on featuring the songs themselves and his singing instead of playing for the most part. Private Eyes has many fans (relatively speaking), and for good reason. While the arrangements were pretty straightforward and not very flashy, and hadn’t been worked out over multiple demos ahead of time, the feel of it being a band is prominent on the record. Instead of guitar solos with other musicians vamping around and in between, the arrangements carefully intertwine guitar, bass, drums, and perhaps most importantly, the sax playing of Norma Jean Bell, who’d been in Frank Zappa’s touring band and later went on to join Parliament before much later developing her own solo career. One of the key features of the album is the often circular patterns shared across the instruments. Though this lineup played some gigs together before recording the album, they hadn’t played these songs, which were mostly introduced to them in the studio and the whole recorded recorded in 4-5 days. There are two basic song styles on this album, reverb-soaked drug-influenced heavy metal or riff based rockers, and mellow, mostly acoustic ballads.
First up is Bustin’ Out for Rosie. It introduces the straightforward beats and reverb-soaked vibe of the record, and the focus on song vs. soloing. It ends with a hypnotic circular pattern between multitracked sax and guitar. Bolin wrote the lyrics, and he’s not as good of a lyricist as his main writing partners Jeff Cook and John Tesar, but it contains the great line “I’d rather have trouble than fear.”
Sweet Burgundy is up next. A really mellow soul-reflecting song with Jeff Cook lyrics. Another one of those circular guitar/sax endings that just helps the song float on into its fadeout.
Winter time comes just a little too fast, Summer just flies by on its patient wings. I'm just a fool for yesterdays, I've seen too many things in so many ways. At night I just sit in my room by the fire, Lookin' out my misty window on the street below. Too many people lookin' lost and forlorn, Vagabonds without homes and no where else to go.
Pour me another glass of that sweet burgundy. Maybe that will help to ease the pain Burgundy I guess you're my only friend. Sweet Burgundy.
Outside my window I see the deaf and the blind Who are pondered for a moment and then left behind. Times that I think I was all alone, I just sit back and think I haven't sold my soul.
Post Toastee is a 9-minute, mixed bag of mid-tempo heavy metal groove rock, with about 2 minutes of song and 7 minutes of soloing. During his early solo section, he lays off the shredding and explores a more reverb-soaked sustain approach, which always reminds me that he was still dabbling in heroin quite a bit as it seems to fit that. Solos by other band members follow, then a final guitar solo section that is the more traditional rocking out that he was known for. If you grow impatient with long instrumental solos circa mid-70s, this might not be the one for you. On the contrary, if that’s your sort of thing, this is definitely your sort of song…
Shake The Devil comes next. Some think he wrote it for his then-girlfriend Linda Blair, whom he was dating while she filmed Exorcist 2. But it could also be heard as a warning tale about the struggles with addiction. Even more reverb-soaked drug-vibe again on this song, with a great middle sax solo and back to the circular instrumental section at the end. Straightforward, mid-tempo stomping riff rock.
Gypsy Soul starts off the second side of the record following the acoustic sound and tempo of Sweet Burgundy. Some poetic lyrics from Jeff Cook. Another great sax solo in the middle followed by a hopping acoustic Latin-style guitar solo finish out the song.
We talked for hours of the travels And all the beauty you had seen. The south of France where the spring is beginning, Sunset on the Thames from the village green. We rolled on and on through the pages, Of the books you'd taken from my shelf. Unfamiliar faces and forgotten places, Landscapes green and rich in wealth. You've got a gypsy soul, and you love to wander. Coast to coast to the Canadian border. In the summer sun, yeah, yeah. From my window you saw the ocean, And all the changes that has been. The south of France where the spring is beginning, Sunset on the Thames from the village green.
Someday Will Bring Our Love Home continues the same vibe. A mellow, mid-tempo ballad with lyrics by John Tesar. One of the few Tommy Bolin songs without a guitar solo. But still some nice guitar counterplay with the melody.
Hello, Again slows things down even further. A gentle acoustic ballad that undoubtedly had early Bolin fans worried by this point. Where had their favorite guitarist gone? Acoustic guitar, overlaid with strings and wind instruments. No solo, and if you ask me, a somewhat pale reworking of the much better Mystery from James Gang Bang. [youtube]UATUPzRPrEo [/youtube]
You Told Me That You Loved Me ends the record and Tommy’s recording career. A mid-tempo blues-soul song, unlike anything else he did before to my knowledge. The song proper includes a guitar solo in his his newfound less-is-more style and ends with a couple of minutes of a full band circular vamp, with Bolin soloing in over the top, and that’s that.
The band went through some changes during the rest of 1976 as the ups and downs of touring 50 or so dates on a low budget took their toll, and some members got frustrated by Bolin’s depression and drug dependence. By fall, however, he had largely put drug use behind him except for some drinking, and went on an organic, vegetarian diet and got the band set and you can hear great interplay and his old driven passion back in place again and his growing confidence as a lead singer who has to carry the whole show on top of his guitar reputation. By most accounts, he was back on top emotionally and physically when the band set out to tour with Jeff Beck, happy and ready to go. He went to Miami a couple of days before the first show, before the band came down, and ended up scoring even though his manager Barry Fey had sent along a bodyguard type who was supposed to keep him on the straight and narrow (though who is rumored to have been a drug dealer, unbeknownst to the manager). After a really good opening set, and good humor by all, the night turned to some heavy partying and ended up with Bolin passed out in his hotel room. When he hadn’t woken up some hours later, some wanted to call an ambulance and others didn’t think they should risk the bad publicity, so they just left him in bed, where he died from some mix of alcohol, downers, heroin and coke. Conspiracy theories popped up, as his manager had taken a million dollar life insurance account out on Bolin, and claimed that Bolin was so in debt that the family didn’t get any, or much anyway, and questions arose as to whether Fey (who just killed himself last week after trouble recovering from a surgery, and who was a major rock promoter known at least partly for the ascendency of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre), really didn’t know that the supposed bodyguard he sent was into drugs himself. All in all, it seems to me that the simpler explanation is probably more likely – he had not been using at the level he had during Deep Purple and earlier in the year, had lost his tolerance, and overdosed on amounts that previously he might have tolerated. In any case, he was gone and never got his chance to rise up to the heights he might’ve otherwise, and such is the oft-told story of many of rock’s great musicians. So we just get to enjoy what they left behind, and wonder.
Thanks for this. I've encountered lots of folks over the years that are Tommy Bolin fans and have sung his praises but I've never really taken the time to explore his music on my own. This, coming from someone that actually owns one of the albums he did with the James Gang (Miami). Truth be told, it's been forever since I last listened to it so I have next to no recollection of what it even sounds like. I just remember being more into the Joe Walsh version of the band. I'm looking forward to digging deeper into the thread.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:Thanks for this. I've encountered lots of folks over the years that are Tommy Bolin fans and have sung his praises but I've never really taken the time to explore his music on my own. This, coming from someone that actually owns one of the albums he did with the James Gang (Miami). Truth be told, it's been forever since I last listened to it so I have next to no recollection of what it even sounds like. I just remember being more into the Joe Walsh version of the band. I'm looking forward to digging deeper into the thread.
Well, of course, James Gang with Joe Walsh is the real thing, but their first album with Bolin is good I think if you overlook that it's called James Gang and live with the bright, dated sound. Not surprised Miami didn't catch your ear, though, as it is the sound of a band puttering on fumes - a few good songs at the end of the record, but mostly pretty uninspired. I didn't even include anything off it in my review for that reason. I don't hate it, but I don't listen to it either other except on the rare occasion. Enjoy at least checking out some of these other links, even if it ends up just being a checking it out thing and not your cup of tea...
Wow, I've never actually met anybody else that has heard of this guy, but I guess he was a little before my generation's time. I picked up a used copy of whips and roses (unreleased and remixed versions of teaser) on a whim back when i was probably 16 in our local record store with no real expectations and was blown away, Wild dogs and Dreamer were mainstays in my high school "drive around in the shitbox camaro and get messed up in one form or another" playlist. Needless to say I looked into more of his stuff and found it hard to believe he never made more of a name for himself. I always felt like he was the living definition of shooting star by bad company and his brief career would make one hell of a movie. I haven't thought of this guy in years, and I'm only 25 but this takes me back about as much as anything could I guess, Thanks.
Wow, haven't been on TDD in quite some while. Private Eyes was a huge favorite of mine in hs. For reasons unknown I had a flashback today and told someone, I need to replace my T Bolin vinyl Lp that I sold during my punk phase in 84.
