Tommy Bolin
Tommy Bolin
Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolinwas an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr, The James Gang, and Deep Purple; in addition to maintaining a notable solo career...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth1 August 1951
CitySioux City, IA
CountryUnited States of America
made best-money
The best money I made was panhandling.
mother school hair
When I first colored my hair, my mother loved it. I got kicked out of school when I was 15, just for my hair.
purple my-own
When I'm with Purple, I'm totally with Purple; when I'm doing my thing, I'm totally doing my own thing.
voice doctors week
I blew my voice out and the doctor said, don't even talk for a week.
fun having-fun ifs
If you're not having fun it's not worth doing.
I'd rather work than not.
thinking guitar play
I think the way I play the guitar is very percussive. I play a lot of rhythm chops as though I were playing congas or something.
player style littles
I have my own style, but it's different for each kind of music. There are certain little characteristic things every player has.
chords notes my-own
I just started off on my own by learning the regular chords then the barre chords. Then I'd lean the notes that would go with them.
thinking glasses lenses
I can't see. I used to wear glasses off stage. Now I'm thinking of getting a pair of contract lenses.
band
I don't like English bands. They're too structured.
writing opportunity play
When I got to LA and was with the James Gang, I got the opportunity to write a lot, to play in front of large audiences, make some money.
simple blow cookies
I learned a lot about lead; you don't have to blow your cookies in the first bar. It is much harder to be simple that to be complicated during solos.
together band records
I want the new band to work together for a while, and when we're ready we'll invite every major record company to see us.