Marching Powder and Wild Dogs

Tommy Bolin (vocals, electric guitar), Jan Hammer (synthesizer), Paul Stallworth (electric bass), Prairie Prince (drums). From the album Teaser (1975).

In 1976 Deep Purple split up and Bolin formed the Tommy Bolin Band with successive musicians and recorded Private Eyes (1976) with a more rock approach than the previous one. In his album presentation tour his group was the opening act for guitarist Jeff Beck and singer and guitarist Peter Frampton, but after his performance in Miami he died as a result of a cocktail of alcohol, barbiturates, cocaine and heroin at 25 years old. Rock is full of stories of promising futures frustrated by a ruthless way of understanding music and life, and the hardness of the hard rock circuit in those years led Bolin to self-destruction.

In the years following his death, his influence was felt by many guitarists. In 1989 the double CD The Ultimate: The Best of Tommy Bolin went on sale with a wide variety of isolated songs as a member of a group or as a studio musician. The first CD includes the first years of his career and the second two tunes with jazz drummer Alphonse Mouzon, other two with Deep Purple and several more as a leader. In 1996 his brother Johnnie issued From the Archives, Vol. 1 and in 1997 From the Archives, Vol. 2, a collection of studio demos and live shots, as well as recordings Bolin made at home. The companion booklets contained unknown biographical and musical information, quotes and new photos.

Since then, Johnnie Bolin has made continuous archival releases through Tommy Bolin Archives Inc. During the 1990s annual tributes were held with shows by musicians who had played with him. In 2001 Steamhammer Records edited the compilation CD Whips and Roses with alternate takes of Teaser (1975) tracks and jam sessions. In 2008 the Friday Music label launched the triple CD of rarities The Ultimate: Redux and the biographical book Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story was published.

Tommy Bolin (vocals, electric guitar), Jan Hammer (synthesizer), Paul Stallworth (electric bass), Prairie Prince (drums). From the album Teaser (1975).