One of “the Greatest guitarists” Ever.I tripped so many times listening to Tommy’s tones my head spinned so much it set were I was walking forwards but my head was always looking backwards.RIP Tommy and Thanks for all the wonderful memories
I Miss Tommy, I grew up in Denver, and we were so proud of our Home boy! When Private eyes came out we played it non stop. Got to see him play at Mile High stadium for the Peter Frampton tour, wow, then seen him play his last gig in Denver (Private eyes tour) a few weeks before he died. ✌
I was born in 1974. Till 80's and late 90's I really loved deep purple, whitesnake , black sabbath, maiden..and many more. One day 25 years ago I began listening to Tommy due to DP Album " Come taste the band" . Tommy who? They said at that time. But after that I realised , I understood .... I have found my music now. I almost quit, stopped listening my favourites Bands....they had become so klein, sorry , so small, Tommy opened my musicbrain, I had what my soul needed. I am now almost 50, I thank the lord each day. I pray, sometimes I cry, all my friends....when they hear him ...say.....hey? Moment, who's this guy? I really wish we all together help ppl in the world to know Tommy unique music and style, all we have to do is SHARE. Sorry, I am am italian man who since ages lives in Germany, my englisch got bad, my italian as well, I hate the fact that nowadays I can express myself good only through German .... by the way .... I guess my message went through. Danke Tommy
Understood loud and clear sir!I found Tommy after I became a DP fan,always disliked the negatives about come taste the band,cause that album just EXPLODES!!!and has 1 of the BEST Glenn Hughes songs-this time around....Glenn knocks it out in that song!!Tommy's solo stuff,People, people...homeward strut (I love that tasty jam!)his solo work is Awesome-tacular!!wish he would've lived of course,cause he would've been phenomenal thru the 80-90s, who knows what he would've cooked up these past 40yrs now!! 😁✌️🥃🤟
Fantastic player. Tommy would have been massive star in the 1980's if he have lived. It was criminal that he died at such a young age. Could play any style brilliantly. I've loved his music since I was a kid. He was a genius on the guitar.
Narada Michael Walden (I can never get the order of Michaels name right, lol) is the man.. saw him at My Fathers Place (small, converted bowling alley Roslyn NY, and caught one if his sticks with his name on it! Lost it years later in a fire, write him to tell him and he sent me a set this time.
There's some guitarists that simply understand music on a level beyond thinking. It was in Tommy's DNA. His music will never be forgotten! Thank you so much for this great video!!
Tommy wrote real authentic songs from the heart!! Have all his solo albums (Tesar, Private Eyes), Billy Cobham Spectrum, Zephyr, James Gang (Bang and Miami Moxy, Come Taste The Band, Alphonzo Monsoun (sorry if my spelling is off). Saw him in 76 (about 6 months before he passed away) open up for The Outlaws at The Tower Theater in Philly. Sorely missed even to this day and I still listen to his albums he played on!!
Thank You. With the passing of Jeff Beck I have been thinking of Tommy alot of late. What a monster talent. For those living in recovery as I am, the fight is real and you can never let your guard down.
God bless you brother and I commend you on fighting the fight for yourself. I’ve lost so many family and friends over the years. It’s so awful to watch someone struggle knowing there’s nothing you can do to really help them, other than support them when you can. But ultimately, you have to want to help yourself first and that’s so harder than many realize. All my best to you and Gods speed. 🙏👍🏻
She’s right about Energy. It seemed like that was his favorite band. I saw him at Tulagi with Energy and Zephyr. The vibe was pure Tommy. You could tell he loved it 100%!
Tommy, whom I miss so much because he turned his back on the world too early. A musician who would have left a great footprint in the history of world popular music if he were still alive. Even now it is my favorite. R.I.P Tommy
I was a true appreciator of Tommy since I saw him at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit with Zephyr....following him thereafter. I was going to see him in Detroit, during the Private Eyes tour. It was to be the next show on his tour, and he passed. I was crushed...absolutely crushed. What a soul.
Thought he was an English Blackmore replacement. That died. I got into him via Catalin Bread's ex designer Howard. Who made the Echoplex, howard recomended listeng to a few players and raved about Bolin as much as Page and other 70's monsters. Tommy Bolin easily influenced EVH. You can hear the Holdsworth with the higher gain delay reverb. Tommy is my favorite new player. He is easily as good as any legends. Fittting into Jazz with Billy Cobham Sklaar Hammer. His fusion predates Beck as well. He is as good as Henderson and Shawn Lane decades before them. You can just hear him create besutiful lines and go... " he'd walk into a Miles Jam easy..." He could play hard heavy pop like Sweet. Fusion Metal Blues Pyschafeluc and Ambient. I still can't believe I discovered him in 2023. It's criminal. And I also blame guitar magazines. I've so many Guitar Player, Guitarist, Guitar Techniques magazines ( Guthrie Govan worked there ) and seen him once in a side article. He is brilliant awesome tone as well great sound engineers and drums. He was into sound as much as technique and feel.
Some players who reach a certain level of skill can sometimes seem to lose that aspect of adventurous striving or reaching if you will. Their playing becomes kind of canned as a result of being too polished. Tommy, for all of his obvious technical prowess, never lost that edge of excitement like he was playing everything for the first time, and sometimes he was, but there's a quality to his playing that always sounds like hes just flying by the seat of his pants and taking you along for the ride. No matter what he played from burning solos to what would be boring rhythms in anyone else's hands are always so exciting, fresh and just amazing! His playing always just makes me smile and shake my head like damn! He was just a total badass on guitar.
Wow it's great to see this tribute to Tommy . He has influenced me as a musician tremendously and what a soft wonderful spirit. If you listen to the spectrum of all hes produced you will hear his musical song writing abilly. Truly one of our greatest guitar players..
Speaking of spectrum...the Spectrum album was in the family "collection" of albums, probably belonging to my uncle originally and I remember being totally blown away by that at an early age. I started playing guitar at age ten, that's when I got my first electric guitar anyway, but that stuff was way beyond me until much later when I began to try to decipher some of his stuff. I was left with a whole new appreciation for him and his playing. There are still things that I have no idea how he done and honestly I don't want to know. To try and Learn them now would take away from the magic of just listening to it for me. Besides it's not like I'm going to improve upon it 😆
I'd like to share a story for you and all the readers I remember Tommy passing away my brother told me . I was very touched and saddened and I didn't realize his contribution until much later when I got whips and roses when I was 50 years old I went wild I listen to all of his stuff and thanks to video clips I have been in a total Excitement to find anything of Tommy so one day I was up in the mountains and I was enjoying A nice bruski and a doobie And my car stereo was sounding great and I had whips and roses in which was in the car for over a year I thought to myself Lord I hope to see Tommy in heaven and just then the biggest shooting star I had ever witnessed when a cross the sky. I think at that point I I cried. And thought to myself how mysterious this life is. You just keep on playing music🎶 and playing that guitar that's what keeps you young in this life. Music is the Ultimate expression of humanity.
The opening chords alone made my heart ache. Thanks for posting this Incredible to see and hear Billy Ryan on here playing after so many years. We lost him just 3 years after this show (Oct 1999). Miss you Billy. Recovery is hard, don't give up.
Saw Tommy w/James Gang and w/Deep Purple, Tommy didn't try to fill the shoes of Joe Walsh or Blackmore by copying them, he played the way Tommy played, he was very much the best thing left about James Gang, RIP TOMMY ❤
Became a fan the moment I saw his picture in Guitar Player Magazine at the Super Market. Had to know who he was, the rest is history. Great guitarist and overall individual, thanks for the music! 🤟🎸
Great content but it really needs narration. As a voice-over artist and Tommy Bolin fan of over 50 years, I would have loved to have laid my voice on this!
