Tommy Bolin – Whirlwind
Purple Pyramid
www.cleopatrarecords.com

Rating: A

Tommy Bolin is most famous for his time in Deep Purple and The James Gang, however, the winds of fate took him from us way to early back in 1976, just as the young guitarist was coming into his own.  Fans have always wondered what Bolin’s third solo album would have sounded like.  In fact, they have always dreamed of hearing him, once again, new stuff, never before released.  Well, sometimes dreams do come true as Purple Pyramid; a division of Cleopatra Records have unearthed some real gems and given Tommy Bolin fans something to cheer about!

Produced and compiled by Greg Hampton and Tommy’s brother, Johnnie Bolin, this double disc set is literally – pardon this simple pun—music to one’s ears.  Bolin fans will cream their jeans when they crank up the 26-minute version of “Marching Powder” tiled “Marching Bag” here.  This was a killer song from his classic Teaser album made longer, more powerful and better.  This collection also includes songs from what would have been his third solo album making this a must-own for anyone was loves the era of the guitar hero.

The music jumps from Bob Dylan style acoustic songs to flat out balls to the wall jams to blues to hard rock to funk.  Tommy could, and did, do it all and this collection allows us to go where no fan has completely been allowed to go before.

This is a wonderful tribute to one of rock and rolls fallen heroes.  While Tommy’s life was cut short, his musical legacy will live on forever.

By Jeb Wright