CD Reviews

Tommy Bolin

Whips and Roses | SPV

By TED DROZDOWSKI | August 8, 2006

4.0 Stars

This fiery guitarist burned out in a 1976 overdose at age 25, but not before reaching a generation of virtuoso players with his inventive heroics. When you hear a track like “Cookoo” on this collection of alternate takes and previously unheard treasures, Bolin’s influence on Jeff Beck’s jazz-rock explorations is obvious, right down to their shared sense of whimsy. Bolin flirts with chicken-picking to pluck out yelping overtones, uses an echo box for fluttering feedback, tugs out whammy-bar moans, and speed-picks his strings to a scream by sliding his fingers up and down the guitar neck. It’s a display of casual daredevilry that only the most Zen-like players can improvise. Bolin gained acclaim through his group Zephyr, but his star rose when he joined Deep Purple and sprayed incendiary guitar all over Billy Cobham’s 1973 fusion classic Spectrum (Columbia). He also did a stint in the James Gang and released 1976’s solo Private Eyes (Columbia). This disc provides an appealing overview of all sides of his mastery. There’s the introspective slide-guitar epic “Wild Dog” and the bossa-nova-tilted “Savannah Woman.” But the biggest kick is the 16-minute “Flying Fingers,” an informal studio jam complete with a buzzing guitar cable that works through stone blues, funky harmonics, swinging grooves, smooth jazz runs, and blurts of burbling echo-box noise before lush sweeping chords set up a passage of Hendrixian majesty.

Topics: CD Reviews , Jeff Beck, Deep Purple, Billy Cobham, More

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