Tomorrow is a sad anniversary for fans of rock guitar

Tomorrow, December 4th marks the anniversary of the passing of two rock guitar giants. It was on this day in 1993 that we lost Frank Zappa and, again on this day back in 1976 that Tommy Bolin died. Both men were very respected among their peers and considered influential among their fellow axe men.

Zappa died at age 53 after a battle with cancer. In a career that spaned four decades he recorded over fifty albums starting with the classic "Freak Out" by his band The Mothers Of Invention. Zappa was a talented songwriter, composer, arranger and was interested in politics, speaking eloquently and often about free speech issues.

Tommy Bolin was just 25 when he died of a drug overdose in Miami after sharing the stage with his hero Jeff Beck. An extremely gifted player who was able to play rock and roll yet still be a pioneer fusion player, Bolin did stints in both The James Gang and Deep Purple. The story goes that he had never even heard "Smoke on the Water" when he was invited to join the band Deep Purple.

My feelings for the music of Tommy Bolin are well documented here. My handle both here and on eBay (teaser5) is a reference to his landmark solo album Teaser. I know that Joe Walsh fans and Richie Blackmore fans sometimes consider him to be the second best player in The James Gang and Purple respectively but IMO he was a monster player and quite a striking figure in the early seventies. Interestingly, the one time I saw him, with Deep Purple the show was a disapointment. I had seen DP's Machine Head Tour and this frankly paled in comparison. He just wasn't a great fit; young American player with older English guys...Still when they launched into Tommys solo tunes like "Wild Dogs" and "Teaser" it was amazing.

A couple of years ago I saw a show in a small club celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of Billy Cobhams famous Spectrum album. Joining Cobham on the stage was Lee Sklar who was the bass player on that groundbreaking album. The room was filled with music freaks and players; all crowded around the stage both before and after the gig gazing at the equipment and Cobhams famous drum kit. When Sklar came out later he talked for a while about those sessions and about Bolin who was just twenty two at the time. Here is a guy who has played with everybody and yet thirty years later he still marveled at the skill and talent of Tommy Bolin.

You guys are missed. Rest peacefully.
Peace-
Norm

 

Essential Bolin titles are:
His 2 solo albums- Teaser & Private Eyes
James Gang- Bang
Billy Cobham - Spectrum
Tommy Bolin- The Ulitimate (2 CD box set)
Deep Purple- Come taste The Band
Deep Purple- Live @ Long Beach Arena aka King Biscuit Flower Hour

 

I miss "Days May Come"... the Come Taste The Band Sessions.

 

Claus, do you have Beachwood Ave? The sequel to Days may Come.

 

Tommy Bolin was a great guitarist... love all his solo work. But I don't like very much his contributions to Purple's Come Taste The Band. I think this line-up had the same problem like Deep Purple feat. Steve Morse or Whitesnake feat. Steve Vai.

Both are excellent players, but they can't play Hard Rock as Deep Purple does.

 

You're right... Purple Records released the title "Days May Come" in Europe. Different countries - different titles

 

Claus, "1420 Beachwood Drive · The California Rehearsals Pt 2" is a different disc than Days May Come.

http://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/jouni/discos/comp72.html

Bolin was a really talented player. "Spectrum" is a killer album.

I miss Zappa. I wonder how he would have commented the recent U.S. politics...

 

I also miss his guitar.


Matti

 

Thanks for this info... I didn't know that. Now I MUST look for a copy.

 

Good to see posts from all over the world on this thread. These guys were players that touched people from all over
Thanks-
Norm

 

Norm,

I saw Tommy Bolin headline at the Ford Auditorum in Detroit about 6 weeks before he died. He was totally junked-out and it was quite a disappointment. I was really looking forward to the show because he was such a talented player. Very sad, indeed. What a waste.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Frank was simply a genius. Every home should have his book, The Real Frank Zappa Book.....I was in tears from laughing, and that was just the first few pages!

 

I can't believe it has been 10 years since Frank died (but I know it has)!

Incredible how quickly time gets away.

 

You're not dissing James Gang's "Miami" LP are you? I personally prefer it to "Bang". RIP TB & FZ.

 

I just think if I had to pick 1 out of the 2. I'd pick Bang over Miami.

 

Right now, Frank Zappa is one of two musical figures that inspire and effect me more than any others in all music history (Mingus is the other).

I call him a genius, and I mean in both the literal sense, in that he had a phenomenal technical talent for music (completely self-taught but mastered music theory at a young age) and the more common sense, in that he was incredibly creative and original.


I'm not as familiar with Bolin, but I love the Spectrum album and his playing on it.

 

Frank...

 

And Tommy...

 

What a great guitar. Is that the Hendrix one?

Matti

 

Yes, the one Hendrix burned at Monterey.

 

Thought so too. GREAT!!!!

Matti

 

Markus:
Amazing pictures. Thanks so much for posting
Best-
Norm

 

You are welcome, Norm. They were such cool guys...

 

Yea Bolin was amazing when he wasn't doped up.
His Teaser album/Spectrum & Bang are amazing CD's. I also
love purple's Come Taste the band whre he co-wrote all the stuff.
My fav songs of his were Savanah Woman & Alexis & on Billy Cobhams "Quadrant 4" an instrumental.
The songs send me a shiver.

Of course Frank Z. was a genius.

Miss Em both

 

Another great guitar player died with 25 years on March 19, 1982... Randy Rhoads! Ozzy's brilliant sideman... he recorded two of the best Heavy Metal records: Blizzard of Ozz + Diary of a Madman