Tommy Bolin started out with a band called Zephyr in the late 60's. They recorded a couple of spaced out albums before Bolin split. Energy, was another bar-band that Bolin played in, where he started to incorporate his jazz-rock tendencies. People were blown away. Tommy went on to relpace Joe Walsh in the "James Gang" and did 2 albums, Bang and Miami. He felt restricted and left the band. Bolin was determined to break out on his own. Praise was heaped upon Bolin when he did a couple of jazz-rock sessions with Jeff Beck and Ritchie Blackmore. Bolin was offered a solo deal and a gig to play guitar for Deep Purple. He decided to do both. Deep Purple hit the road in 1975, and Bolin's problems with ***** and alcohol really came to the surface. After opening up for Jeff Beck in 1976, Bolin went back to his hotel room and was found dead the next morning. Another brilliant musician who let ***** and alcohol destroy him. Sad. But, I wanted to give a brief synopsis of Bolin's career before I talk about the album "Whips and Roses" which are rare recordings of Bolin put together by Producer Greg Hampton and Tommy's brother John. Standout tracks for me are: Fandango, Marching Powder, Flying Fingers,CooKoo and Just Don't Fall Down. Blistering and scorching Jazz-Rock, blues and funk. Sometimes all styles in one song. Simply put, incendiary. The only beef I have with this record is producer Greg Hampton, for reasons unknown, never gives credit to the bass player, keyboard player and drummer. These musicians are phenominal, and back up Bolin perfectly. If your a guitar player or just like guitar music, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. It really doesn't get much better than this. One of my top 5 for 2006. 9.5/10
