Tommy Bolin

Guitarist/songwriter Tommy Bolin played in several hard-rock bands before dying of a drug overdose in 1976. Bolin dropped out of high school in Sioux City in 1968 and drifted to Denver. There he joined Zephyr, a quintet fronted by a woman singer named Candy Givens. Its eponymously titled debut album cracked the Top 50 in 1969. Next Bolin played in a group called Energy. In 1971 Joe Walsh left the James Gang. Two years later, when his replacement, Dominic Troiano, quit the band, Walsh recommended Bolin. In addition to playing guitar, Bolin wrote much of the material on Bang (1973) and Miami (1974). Though best known for hard rock, he was a versatile musician, playing jazz-rock fusion on Billy Cobham’s 1973 LP Spectrum. Bolin went from the James Gang to filling Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes in Deep Purple in 1975. For the next two years he recorded both with that group (Come Taste the Band contained seven of his songs) and on his own: His first solo album, Teaser, came out in 1975. Bolin also appears on Deep Purple’s Last Concert in Japan (a 1977 U.K. release) and When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll (1978). After Purple disbanded in summer 1976, the guitarist returned to his solo career. Private Eyes came out shortly before Bolin’s death. His body was found in a Miami hotel room.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)