Jazz-Rock-Fusion

This is a grandly packaged retrospective of Tommy Bolin's work, and a must for collectors. It includes songs from Zephyr, The James Gang, Billy Cobham, Alphonse Mouzon, Moxy, Deep Purple, and Tommy's two Solo Ablums (Teaser and Private Eyes). There is also a previously unreleased accoustic version of "People, People" (called "Brother, Brother") that sets the stage for later releases of archived tapes. A wonderful biographical picture booklet accompanies this 2CD box set, which is heavily laden with trivia to bring back even the most ardent fan again and again to check over the facts and timelines.

Trivia note: The booklet says Tommy is Native American, but this is a mistake. His father was of Swedish decent, and his mother was of Syrian (Lebanese) decent.

Full Review:

The Man

Sioux City, Iowa's own Tommy Bolin, absorbed the teachings of his mentors, such as Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards then swam in the same musical waters as his gifted peers, pre-eminent among them Frank Marino, Robben Ford, and a young, but enormously talented lad by the name of Eddie Van Halen.

A fore-runner of guitar shredders of the Joe Satriani school of speed splendor, and the equally fine work of Randy Rhoades, Steve Vai and the technical wizardry of ax master, Nuno Bettencourt, Bolin was poised to move beyond the level of mere cult-figure status into the spotlight he deserved.

Besides founding, or co-founded several Boulder bands, Tommy Bolin is remembered for session work and lead guitar duties with fusion jazz-crossover musicians such as Billy Cobham and Alphonse Mouzon, and the dubious job of filling the hard rock void where Joe Walsh, of The James Gang and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple left off.

The Music

This double CD box set, The Ultimate Tommy Bolin succeeds on many levels. It provides a generally comprehensive selection, representative of Bolin's many guitar styles, as well as the musical progression of a Guitar God in the making. The overall sound quality is quite high, something that can't be said for the various postumous releases of outtakes, radio broadcasts, and bootleg-quality arena recordings.

Although Bolin's first real foray into the world of public performance was his brief stint the guitarist for the band backing southern legend, Lonnie Mack, his first band of any duration was Zephyr. Featuring the ear-blistering vocals of Candy Givens and the bass and backing vocals of David Givens, this compilation gives us 4 selections from the years 1968-1971.

My favorites are the 2 from their debut album, with the blues-into-jazz workout of Sail On and more rocking Cross The River. From tasty keyboards, to jazz-inflected Hendrix-into-Coryell guitar work, this is great ensemble effort. The next 2 selections, while providing glimpses of the Bolin magic, are more dated overall and don't bear up as well, though I can clearly give the nod to See My People Come Together over Showbizzy, a track most memorable for its decent, Bobby Berge drumming.

Featured next are cuts from the 2 James Gang albums, Bang and Miami. While the bands languished from generally lackluster material, Bolin provided both the easy-going style and guitar mastery of the former lead guitarist and band leader, Walsh. Standouts here are the straight ahead rocker Standing In The Rain, and the Seals And Croft-sounding Alexis. Spanish Lover, is near acoustic pleasure while the final selection Do It, sounds like the sort of song teenaged boys would hope came on the radio while they worked on mysteries without any clues and sought Paradise by the dashboard lights!

Co-founding jazz-rock band Energy with flautist Jeremy Streig, it was this partnership that would bring Bolin to the attention of fusion drummer Cobham, fresh from the truly awesome Mahavishnu Orchestra. A selection from Billy's first, (and best), solo outing, Quadrant 4 gives an idea of the more free-form style and improv Tommy enjoyed.

In the same vein, session work with Mouzon, here yields 2 tracks, the more ethereal Golden Rainbows, and my pick among the fusion choices, the high powered virtuosity of the aptly named Nitroglycerin. Through his interaction with jazz luminaries such as keyboardist, Jan Hammer, and alto saxman, Dave Sanborn, Bolin would incorporate more of these musical elements in his first solo album, the highly recommended Teaser, (1975).

This was a busy time for Tommy, who would probably be best remembered by the public for his 1975-1976 stint replacing Ritchie Blackmore with the immensely popular hard rock/heavy metal arena favorites, Deep Purple. The single album released during his lifetime, Come Taste The Band, showed that while Bolin ably filled the lead guitar chair and David Coverdale's vocals were as powerful as always, the band suffered from uneven material.

My pick here would be Gettin' Tighter, which continues DP overall rock and roll motif with a tasty and funky Bolin bridge. The other selection, Owed To "G" seems too ambitious, a pastiche of styles that sound more like a Queen reject.

Rumors of the band's breakup encouraged Bolin to branch out and former his own band, with the previously mentioned Teaser, represented here by the inclusion of 3 excellent tracks. People, People is semi-autobiographical, lilting and mellow, embellished with Sanborn's trademark sax work; as distinctive in its own way as the musical fingerprint of Junior Walker. Dreamer offers comforting words of support to a person, (to self?), who feels lost and alone. More upbeat, with perfectly slinky guitar licks, Teaser is a standout cut.

Bolin's second, and last solo release, Private Eyes, is more painful stuff. It lacks the experimentation and stellar sidemen of Teaser, and while there are several good songs, it is a less cohesive effort, as the ravages of cocaine, Marching Powder, alcohol, Sweet Burgundy, and heroin, Shake The Devil were beginning to show the work. All but the first of these songs are included here. I would have campaigned for the funkier, and more riff happy Post Toastee, to be included here.

Two tracks from Moxy, where ironically Bolin received no album mention, are included here, and are more blues-rock that much of solo work. The first, Train, if fairly anonymous, though somewhat turgid work, while Time To Move On provides ear candy and classic Bolin chops galore.

A couple selections have been included from live Deep Purple material compiled on the 1977 release, Last Concert In Japan. The crowd noise is not intrusive, and the recording quality is better than most live material from this time. You Keep On Moving, is an odd space romp, (the band sounds really stoned!), but Bolin's own Wild Dogs features a Bolin lead/Coverdale back vocals delivery and is one of the highlights of this collection.

featuring:
Tommy Bolin Guitar, Vocals, Glenn Hughes Bass, Vocals Lee Sklar Bass, Dale Peters Bass, Reggie McBride Bass, Vocals, Terry Juric Bass, WALLEZ Bass,Vocals, Henry E. Davis Bass, VIOLONS DU ROY-QUEBEC Bass, David Givens Bass, Bill Wade Drums, Jeff Pocaro Drums, Ian Paice Drums, Billy Cobham Drums, Robbie Chamberlain Drums, Vocals, Bobby Berge Drums, Alphonse Mouzon Drums, Jim Fox Drums, John Faris Flute, Earl Johnson Guitar, Buddy Caine Guitar, Candy Givens Harmonica, Vocals, Mark Stein Keyboards, Vocals, Stanley Sheldon Keyboards, Jan Hammer Keyboards, John Faris Keyboards, David Foster Keyboards, Jerry Peters Keyboards, Jon Lord Keyboards, Bob Hall Percussion, Rafael Cruz Percussion, Norma Jean Bell Percussion, Saxophone, Sammy Figueroa Percussion, David Sanborn Saxophone, Buzz Shearman Vocals, Roy Kenner Vocals, Dale Peters Vocals, David Givens Vocals, David Coverdale Vocals.

Track Listing:
CD1
1. Sail On
2. Cross the River
3. See My People Come Together
4. Showbizzy
5. Alexis
6. Standing in the Rain
7. Spanish Lover
8. Do It
9. Quadrant 4
10. Train
11. Time to Move On
12. Golden Rainbows

CD2
1. Nitroglycerin
2. Gettin' Tighter
3. This Time Around
4. Owed to G
5. You Keep on Moving
6. Wild Dogs
7. Dreamer
8. People, People
9. Teaser
10. Sweet Burgundy
11. Shake the Devil
12. Brother, Brother

Enjoy!
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