This one is for oldcoot and anyone else who loves the music of the late lamented Tommy Bolin. It seems like the Bolin Archives and their website have ground to a halt, but John Herdt, one of the guys who did a lot of work for the Archives, has a new-ish website that has plenty of history, articles, and interviews related to Tommy Bolin.
It is tommybolin.com which is a wonderfully easy address for a crispy critter like me to remember!
oldcoot, I just responded to your PM from February. I am very sorry for the delay; I rarely think to check my PMs here.
Big Tommy Fan. The Bolin archives was very cool when it first started/came out. Loved what the did at the beginning. But after awhile I think they were stretching for material and some of the quality was sub par/rehashed in my opinion. I think they did what they could and had some very good stuff for abit, but then it was like...ehhh, that's enough.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
They did a great job in bringing to light some sides of Tommy that we had never seen on the releases before then, such as the blues rock rip-roarer of "Ebbets Field 1974" and the acoustic player from the demos.
Off the top of my head, my favorite Bolin Archives releases:
"Tommy Bolin & Friends Live At Ebbets Field 1974" - so great to hear Tommy cut loose live like this. When he was with Deep Purple, he often was playing stuff he did not know and love, and he was not in good shape. On this disc, he was playing songs he picked, and he SCORCHES.
"Zephyr: Live at Art's Bar and Grill." another amazing live disc. tommy was a psychedelic jazz blues hero on this one, which I think of as sounding like Janis meets the ABB.
"From the Archives Vol. 1 and 2" plus "Snapshot": I really love hearing the acoustic demos, plus the 2 songs with Cobham / Hammer / Steig are amazing.
The Mouzon jams are essential, but I had those already. And the "Glenholly Jams" rock!!
I have slowly been soaking in the "Great Gypsy Soul" set as well. On that disc, they made the bold move to take some Tommy demo jams and outtakes and have people like Derek and Warren and Nels Cline play to them. It is a deep dive. I dig it, but I can understand that it is not for the faint of heart.
"Tommy Bolin & Friends Live At Ebbets Field 1974" - so great to hear Tommy cut loose live like this. When he was with Deep Purple, he often was playing stuff he did not know and love, and he was not in good shape. On this disc, he was playing songs he picked, and he SCORCHES.
Yeah.....SCORCHES.....is a good way to put it. When I first heard Crazed Fandango from that show I was floored. The whole recording smokes.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
The sad thing is that most rock fans know Tommy's playing from Deep Purple, and he was usually not at this level of playing by 1975 - 76.
This is also heavier, bluesier stuff than what he played with Cobham and Mouzon or on "Teaser," which is what I would argue is his best studio work overall.
Tommy is one of my favorites. Like many, he tragically died too young. That being said, his music Rocks!
Jim, I met you at the Ridgefield Playhouse awhile back (Dixie Dregs? - I go to a lot of shows there) as you were wearing a Tommy Bolin T-shirt. Thanks for this link. I am a huge Bolin fan and look forward to exploring. We are both pals with Brian Gerosa too. Hope to see you at a show again soon.
Mike
What's up Mike!! I will be back at Ridgefield in Sept to see Steve Hackett, and at nearby Fairfield Theater Co to see The California Guitar Trio the night before!
Good shows, Jim. I don't have those but am going to Allman Betts Sunday in Norwalk. Their record sounds great. Also upcoming: Ed Palermo playing Zappa at Iridium, Santana in NJ, Mavericks in Tarrytown, Subdudes at FTC, Mavis in Ridgefield and Joan Osborne's Dylan show in Ridgefield too. To paraphrase FZ: (Live) Music is The Best!
