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Here’s what THE ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE had to say about Tommy Bolin’s 3-year contract with Deep Purple beginning in August of 1975 (see paragraph #2) as well as many other great trivia items about Tommy during the Deep Purple era.
THE ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
February 26, 1976
BY DAVID RENSIN
Los Angeles - On the cover of his first solo album, Teaser, Tommy
Bolin's face is creased into a laugh that couples angelic delight and
demonic perversity. Considering his career over the past few months, he has reason enough for both emotions.
When Deep Purple signed Bolin to a three-year contract as lead guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore's replacement last August, it would have been an
understatement to say that he was unfamiliar with the band. "To be
honest," he said with a casual smile, "I'd never heard anything but 'Smoke
On the Water.'" Then again, he knew nothing about the James Gang when Joe
Walsh recommended him for a spot in 1973.
But Bolin dismissed his odd habit:
"Both groups were kind of stunned but not insulted."
Bolin ignored Purple's work even after joining the band to avoid "feeling
like I'm filling anyone's shoes. Purple gave me tapes but they're still
wrapped up." But Purple has benefited from Bolin's ability to adapt to
unfamiliar situations; seven of the ten tunes on their latest album, Come
Taste the Band, were written or co-written by him. The familiar vocal
gutsiness remains, but Bolin's silky guitar style - as opposed to
Blackmore 's heavy-handed power riffing - has led them down softer, more
melodic paths, as in 'Owed to G'.
Onstage during their just completed Far Eastern Tour, The band appeared
to enjoy the absence of the onstage animosities prevalent near the end of
Blackmore's reign. In Jakarta, Indonesia, the tour was marred by the
mysterious death of Patsy Collins, a roadie who was also Bolin's bodyguard.
Bolin questioned labeling the death "accidental": "He fell down a locked
elevator shaft in the hotel after being hit on the head. That's
accidental?
But Indonesia was weird anyway. There were voodoo tents set up in the
crowd against the band. I pinched a nerve in my arm and could hardly
play."
Home from the tour, the 24 year old Bolin drank beer and roamed his newly
leased Beverly Hills home. He was waiting until the rest of Purple
returned from Europe to begin rehearsals. In the meantime there was no
lack of excitement.
Along with Jeff Beck, Keith Moon, Salvador Dali and 12 roadies, Bolin was
named a correspondent in Ritchie Blackmore's divorce suit against his
wife, Babs. As he tugged at a single large silver hoop earring and
straightened his tinted hair, Bolin conceded nothing: " I was in a drunken
stupor for four days and I passed out at her place. She was always having
these parties. I never fucked her or nothing."
Bolin's name has since been dropped form the suit.
Meanwhile, he's glad to be working, because unemployment is an
all-too-familiar nemesis. After being booted out of high school in Sioux
City, Iowa, in 1967 for refusing to cut his hair, Bolin drifted to Denver
where he established a reputation for two albums with Zephyr. His next
band, Energy, was often out of work because their dope-smoking audiences
didn't "dance, sweat or drink." Silent spiggots and lack of firm record
company interest spelt their doom, but Bolin was nonchalant. "Something,"
he shrugged, "always comes around."
A few months after Energy lost theirs, Bolin joined the James Gang and
was working with Bill Cobham on the drummer's first solo, Spectrum. That
album's jazz orientation helped Bolin continue to defy categorization.
Bolin left the James Gang ("It was no longer a learning process") in
August 1974 and mostly lived off royalties until joining Purple. During
that year he recorded Teaser, which Atlantic released in November on the
Nemperor lable. Featuring some diverse talents as saxophonist David
Sanborn, percussionist Airto (unlisted), drummers Michael Walden and
Prairie Prince (of the Tubes) and keyboardist Jan Hammer, the album
explores white reggae and Latin rhythms along with standard grinding rock.
Most tunes were written by Bolin with either Jeff Cook or John Teasar -
his regular collaborators outside Deep Purple. A single is due in February
and Teaser is expected to go gold by summer.
A second Purple Tour - 32 American dates plus shows in England - began
January 14th. It will be followed by another American hop beginning April
8 th , to promote Teaser. Then it's back into the studio for a second
solo venture and ultimately another Purple Album.. "I have the best of
both worlds. I can make money with Purple and be as artsy as I want on my
own," Bolin bragged unabashedly. Then he put on another record and sank
down into his thick green carpet to mull over a rock paper headline that
screamed "Bolin Breaks Big."
For a VERY THOROUGH and interesting article on
Tommy's "DAYS" with Deep Purple, including the band, the album, the tour,
the last days, etc., written by Dave Thompson, click
HERE.
