Tommy Bolin - in and out of Deep Purple

This is a Christmas gift for my dad

This brought back some good memories when I read this book. I was one of those few lucky teens growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, Home Base to Tommy Bolin. In those days Tommy was the pride of Siouxland, they even had a Billboard in town when he came home set up. The sad part is I never saw him play. The night in 1976 he came home I never went, which was strange cause I never missed any concerts and to this day I am not sure why, but still kicking myself. Anyway, when "Come Taste the Band" came out I was at a fellow Drummers house, Butch Porter's and he put it on and I think everyone thought it was excellent. Tommy is one of those guys that will never get his due and two questions always come out from his life. First where would he be now. Second you always wonder (at least me) why no one ever tried to help him get off the drugs. But this is the sad story of many to our loss.

Ms Shenton’s book is a wonderful compilation of reviews and interviews (including my own) Tommy Bolin did during and after his tenure with Deep Purple, circa 1975 to 1976. The albums Teaser and Private Eyes are covered as well honorable mention of some of Tommy’s earlier works. She obviously put a lot of time and effort to gather all of this information, much of which is on some of the better web sites devoted to Tommy Bolin and Deep Purple. There are no new interviews or stories to be found here. She does try put into light Tommy’s somewhat turbulent times the last 18 months of his life, but only through quotes and pieces of articles from other books and publications. She did miss out on some major works she could have included that would have made her book a bit more meatier had she reached out to some key Bolin historians who are very accessible. Overall, the book is a great quick desk reference for anyone who is a Tommy Bolin fan. Oh, the quotes used on pages 67 and 68 from the September 1976 issue of The Drummer newspaper are from my interview with Tommy Bolin. Don’t recall hearing from Ms Shenton asking permission if she could use them, but that’s OK. You’re welcome! Art Connor 12/4/20

Excellent bio !

Full disclosure; I am a massive Tommy Bolin fan, although like many I never knew his work during his lifetime. Much like the author (although I am a little older I suspect), my introduction to his music came long after his death.The tragedy being that Bolin never realised his full potential of course, and although there is a large enough archive of his work, it is always tempered by the fact it only covers roughly 5 years of his life.So Laura has done a great job with the little source material there is in existence. Rather than an autobiography, she concentrates on his time from when he leaves home and rather than a linear telling of his musical collaborations she cherry picks from all his recorded and live work.There is rather more on his brief time in Deep Purple than his other band activities and funnily enough this is perhaps the least interesting perhaps because it's been picked over the most. Shenton is clearly determined to defend Tommy's memory against contemporary reviews which leads to some rather protracted responses to his detractors.Ultimately this is an interesting addition to the rather slim Tommy Bolin printed canon, and is probably best read as a companion piece to Greg Prato's oral history book. Anything which keeps Tommy's memory alive and more importantly, his music in the public consciousness should be applauded.

I like this book not the most in depth written about Tommy but lots of good reviews and the decision to exclude his addictions out of the story is creditable although quite obviously his addictions played a huge part in his sad story I believe Purple would not have employed him had they know his full story I guess in this day and age it would have been common knowledge.Been a fan for 40 years and purchased everything he recorded officially in his lifetime. Come taste the band for me was the best thing he every did and any purple fan who dismisses this album must be deaf! the last great album the band recorded. Also the 2 James Gang records excellent proving I think that his work with established bands was his best work I love his solo albums but they are a little bit too varied making them a hard sell for his record label. Who knows what might of been? he wrote some great songs had a nice voice and was an excellent guitarist could well have been a top singer/songwriter had he lived.I would recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a short read to get up to speed on the man and his music I usually find myself blasting his music each December to remember his great legacy.

It looks like a thin book till you realize it’s got very small print. Otherwise it’s a great tragic story of one of my fave guitar players. Recommend highly

Lots of facts included in the book and an overall good read

Good insite into the man lots of info