 To Purchase "The Ultimate: Redux " Click on Friday Music banner  Rediscover the genius of the legendary guitarist and mega talented Tommy Bolin (Deep Purple/James Gang/Billy Cobham/) with his all-new deluxe 3- disc set The Ultimate: Redux. As the new home for the Tommy Bolin Archives, Inc., Friday Music, and our good friends at TBA Inc. have put together this incredible thirty-one track collection for the serious Bolin collectors and new fans of classic rock guitar with a clever mix of rock, fusion and blues. He was truly the consummate guitarist and his influence has been felt by many of us. With the help of Tommy’s brother, Johnnie Bolin, producers Joe Reagoso and Michael Drumm managed to cull over forty hours of unreleased tapes, sessions, live material, demos, unreleased masters, and have come up with the best Bolin music ever presented in one place. The remastering process was full of surprises as Reagoso attests “I was going over the playback of Hard Chargin’ Woman, and there is this Echoplex break that seemed like World War Ten was just beginning. I mean I never heard anything like it. It went from a this blues belter, to this unbelievable echoplex break….then back to a small blues combo sound…..without Bolin missing a step…it just blew my mind. I played it for some other guitarists and they were equally knocked out. This is one for the history books folks.” In addition to all of the various stages of his career presented in this package, the Bolin family has also shared never before seen photographs from Tommy’s own stash. Full color photographs also grace each c.d., and make this pleasing for the eyes, as well as the ears. As an introduction to the box set, our good friend Steve Vai took some time out from his very busy touring and recording schedule to put his appreciation of Tommy Bolin into the written word, which graces the packaging as well. And we thank him for it! The producers have also provided an informative essay in the booklet, which also brings another side to the life of this artist rarely told. The music speaks for itself; we think the folks that finally get a glimpse of the Energy sessions will be knocked out. It is so hard to believe that this never got released back in 1972. This was some rare Holy Grail material, but now with the proper distribution in place, these ill-fated sessions will get a chance to be heard by music lovers everywhere. The live material is second to none; his Tommy Bolin Band performances of “You Told Me That You Loved Me”, “Post Toastee” plus the rare outtakes of “Crazed Fandango”, “Cucumber Jam” and the simplicity of “Slow Driver” will keep the listener amazed for years to come. His time on earth was tragically short, but he left his fans an abundance of incredible works as this collection proves, with over 3 hours of unreleased tracks, sessions, rehearsals, live performances, and personal recordings. As Johnnie Bolin recalls “The local clubs wouldn’t book Tommy. The owners couldn’t make any money at the bar. Everyone was listening to Tommy play the guitar in awe.” We still are in awe and this album will make a lot of fans happy for years to come! Enjoy! All newly remastered by Joe Reagoso (Deep Purple, David Lee Roth, Paul Rodgers, Johnny Winter, Canned Heat) All recordings are official Tommy Bolin Archives approved masters 2008 TBA Inc & 2008 Friday Music, Inc. LINER NOTES BY STEVE VAI I was 13 years old when a friend played me Billy Cobham’s Spectrum album. I was stunned. It was as though I was hearing something I had been craving. Up to that point, there was no guitar player that demonstrated such control, rock virtuosity and sheer visceral passion. Here was an unequivocal guitar God. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t on the tip of all musicians’ tongues, but when stints with the James Gang, Bang, etc. and finally Deep Purple came to be, the secret was out. Most people believe that a virtuoso’s prime element is their speed. But to truly be considered elite, one must possess the honed qualities of technique, control, vibrato, tone, reaction, musical awareness and perhaps the most important virtue, confidence. Tommy wielded these qualities into a fine audio elixir. And he made it sound simple. It’s good to see more of his secrets being let out of the bag. – Steve Vai 10/22/07 |
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