Tommy Bolin - In and Out of Deep Purple

Book excerpt: It started off so well. As Jon Lord enthused in the October 1975 issue of Melody Maker: 'Tommy can't be so bad for us with so many good ideas. All I can say is when you hear the album (Come Taste The Band) you'll change your mind. Whether you like the music or not, you'll have to realise that Deep Purple now have an excitement in their playing that they haven't had in a long time...'. Despite calls of 'we want Blackmore' when Deep Purple Mark four played live, there was so much more to American guitarist Tommy Bolin than being Ritchie Blackmore's replacement. As a result, the purpose of this long-overdue biography is to readdress the existing narrative of Tommy Bolin's legacy. As well as discussing objectively Tommy's time with Deep Purple, Laura Shenton offers an insight into his musical achievements in his own right outside of the band, which include two cult rock albums in Teaser and Private Eyes. He also had a stint in The James Gang and make numerous guest appearances, where his versatile and virtuosic skills as a guitarist were utilised, before his untimely death in 1976 at the shockingly young age of 25.