Tommy Bolin

This guy had it all. He was one hot shot guitar player, had one beautiful, sweet and kind girlfriend and people were just starting to notice him. His obituary says it all ...click here
I first heard Tommy Bolin on the Billy Cobham LP "Spectrum".

I had never heard a guy play THAT fast and be THAT good. He played on two albums for The James Gang (took Joe Walsh's place)



and Richie Blackmore's place in Deep Purple

He took the place of two of the most famous guitar players ever (not bad).

I dated his girlfriend about nine months after he died. She was one of those girls that you knew you could never keep, but I enjoyed our time together and I think she did, too.
His first solo LP is a masterpiece...

and his second was a bit disappointing but featured his cult hit "Post Toastee"

"don't let your mind post toastee"... but he did.
My five favorite Tommy Bolin songs (I have excluded everything from "Spectrum", because that just wouldn't be fair)
1. "Savannah Woman" from Teaser. What a guitar player.
2. "Alexis" from The James Gang "Bang". Great song, great solo.
3. "Must Be Love" from The James Gang "Bang". Almost a hit song
4. "Wild Dogs" from Teaser. Intense wall of sound.
5. "Teaser" from Teaser. Motley Crue did a horrible remake of this song.
Right after he died, my friend Mike and I drove from the Quad Cities to Sioux City, saw his grave (it was still fresh), smoked a fattie and left. This past week, I was in Sioux City and with the help of one of my affiliates, found his grave...
Tommy is buried next to his mother and his brother. A very unassuming plot in Calvary Cemetary. I didn't remember where it was from so many years ago, so I asked a guy who worked there and he took me right to it. I thanked him and he said that about five or six people a year come and ask where it is.