On recent listen I think Come Taste the Band might be better than Burn and Stormbringer. I think my favorite Bolin performance is Getting Tighter from On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat (aka Live in California.) I own Private Eyes and it was pretty good, nothing I would pull out much.
I think one of the scariest aspects of being a Heroin addict musician in a international touring band is the fact that you are probably going to hit some cities where you are not going to be able to find some H. Heroin addicts are constantly having to buy more Heroin, sometimes they'll buy bad stuff that is either weak or outright poison, or way way too strong. Say your band is playing Des Moines or Spokane and you don't have a connection. How are you going to perform when you are going into withdrawls and feel like you are dying? Then the very scary situation of flying into other countries and trying to get thru customs with Heroin hid in your luggage or with the equipment. You might get away with it 20 times in a row but sooner or later someone is going to bust you and the whole entire tour will come to an abrupt halt. Also being strung out not only takes a huge mental toll on the addict it also takes a huge toll on the addicts physical health. Addicts typically get sick all the time because their immune system is so compromised. We all know being on the road for weeks and weeks if you don't have a good immune system you are going to get every cold, flu, and bacterial infection you can imagine. If I remember right Paul Kossoff died during a cross country flight sick and in the throws of a Heroin addiction.
Good points all well made. Bolin wasn’t a ‘Heroin addict’ as such. He had no trace (tracker) marks on his body and had been trying to clean up his act. H was something that he would take occasionally and along with anything else he could get his hands on. Seems whenever he did use H, his body couldn’t take it and he had scared a few people before by passing out etc. So he knew it was dangerous to him but it didn’t stop him. He took uppers then downers, then something else just to be ‘on the level’ back in James Gang days. Paice says when they arrived at Musicland for the CTTB recording that managers sent them sleeping tablets to help combat jet lag from the flight from USA and Tommy found the envelope and swallowed all of them straight off. Apparently he was asleep for 3 days. Jon Lord says there were 2 guys who owned a guitar case filled with drugs, who flew with the band on tour. Their case... their property. Sold for favours from the band members. I suspect customs weren’t as strict with private planes or bands, back in those days.
I first heard him on Spectrum and was hooked. Pretty prolific for someone who was with us a short time. The local hard rock station still plays Post Tostee. I've got the following albums on cd: Billy Cobham - Spectrum Alphonse Mouzon - Mind Transplant James Gang - Miami, Bnag Deep Purple - Come Taste The Band Deluxe Teaser, Private Eyes
Yeah, I imagine it went over like a . . . lead balloon. Bonham was rather boorish when under the influence of drink (which, unfortunately, was quite often in his later years.)
Interesting take. It seemed like Tommy did more than dabble in Heroin his last year so. I do not remember hearing that Tommy was trying to clean up his act, but it would make sense if there were no trace marks on his body at the time of his death.
You won't always find track marks on a person addicted to Heroin, especially in the early phase of addiction when the user is still snorting it. Eventually nearly all Heroin addicts go to the needle for a more powerful and efficient way to get high.
I saw Deep Purple on the CTTB tour in 75-76. He seemed wasted and was not playing very well, when an air guitarist started playing right in front of him. He seemed to be playing everything Tommy was, and it pissed Bolin off. In the middle of his big solo, just him on guitar, he stopped and announced he wouldn't be back until that guy was thrown out. The guy had done nothing, the crowd knew that and began booing boisterously. In less than 5 minutes Bolin was back onstage, his big solo and tantrum were over, and the concert resumed. I was very disappointed in him, since he was the reason I was at the concert, only knowing him from the Cobham/Mouzon albums. Sorry he died, but I didn't see much future for him as a featured artist.
Do like Tommy. His catalog shows he could deliver very varied music, wrote some really excellent songs though his solos can be a little repetitive to my ears. That said, we're talking the recordings of a very young man who never had a chance to develop into the artist his talent suggested he'd become. That's the tragedy. Live recordings with Purple are definitely a bit iffy but in places you can see the potential for the band to really move on. In terms of the Spectrum album, I do enjoy that but I remember reading a rather amusing anecdote recently from D. Coverdale who was mentioning being at a party with Tommy and telling him how Spectrum really caught his ears when they were looking for a replacement for Blackmore. So with Spectrum playing in the background, Coverdale's doing a running commentary and every time he says 'I love this bit you play' Tommy replies 'That's not me....'.
Yes, that's another thing. Tommy despised needles and injections. However, he must have used a needle, but the fatal dose was in his wrong arm, so not self administered, leading to speculation that he was murdered I won't get into details here, but he owed money to his manager and the manager had a large life assurance policy on Tommy. So, if he and his band were running up large bills on that tour...well, you decide. Tommy's family never saw a cent of the policy proceeds.
Tour insurance is not normal life insurance, maybe that's why TB's folks never saw a penny from the policy.
I think there’s a significant negative spin has been put on TB’s performances with Purple. Apart from the Japanese shows, the various live recordings and bootlegs (and there are quite a few) don’t support the narrative that he turned in poor performances on a regular basis, IMO. Even the last gig at Liverpool, which is so often slated, sounds pretty good from TB’s perspective. There are other band members whose performances (one in particular) were not so good at that gig, and I think that is illustrative of the whole story. I think the real weaknesses in Purple’s live act through late 1975 and 1976 were largely elsewhere, not with TB, with the massive and unfortunately high profile exception of Indonesia/Japan.
I’ve seen an interview with another member (Lord maybe?) who said they considered changing the name of the band when TB joined and moving forward afresh, but were dissuaded by management. Whoever it was who said this felt it in retrospect that might have been a better move.
It is Jon Lord on the Phoenix Rising documentary, his best line is “is it a great album, yes!but is it a great Deep Purple album...”
Correct. Yes, I’ve never had a problem with that, personally, but a lot of fans do (did). Life of Another with premiums paid by policy owner with proceeds to owner in the event of death to cover a financial liability or debt. Everyday cover. Funny thing is though that to underwrite it the Insurance company wanted a urine sample and it wasn’t Tommy’s. So, shouldn’t have paid out at all.
Wasn't one of the guys he was partying with (shooting with) the night of his death a friend, or a guy that he knew from the past? If so, it seems a bit of stretch that such a person would be in on a conspiracy to take him out.
Multiple drug intoxication (overdose of morphine, cocaine, lidocaine and alcohol)but also commented that there were no tracer marks as previously mentioned.(and one in Tommy’s ‘wrong’ arm )
You are correct about a friend visiting him but he brought drugs with him. The conspiracy theorists don’t consider it’s about his friend.... but his bodyguard employed by management to keep him in line. The one making the decisions not to call paramedics. There’s a different theory as well. Tommy took a phone call from Karen, his long time girlfriend the night he died. She informed Tommy that she and Glenn Hughes were to be married.
It’s too bad that Tommy wasn’t pushed to rehab by someone who loved him. He was awesomely talented but had a lot of potential that was wasted as well.
The decision not to call paramedics wasn't necessarily controversial in the sense that rock star handlers often wanted to protect the person(s) in their charge from legal scrutiny and if the paramedics were called, the police likely would have gotten involved. I could not have been the first time Tommy was totally wasted unless it was clear he was fatally OD'ing. I am not trying to excuse the non-call, I just think there is the possibility that there were other considerations and a belief they could help Tommy "wake up" by other means. I haven't revisited this sad topic in a long time, so my details could be hazy on how it all went down.
