Tommy Bolin was a guitarist of great skill that was gone far too soon. In his course, he left behind a few recorded legacies like his time with Deep Purple, James Gang, and his own solo releases. Of course, we’re more than happy to have his Teaser (1975) album, and its followup, Private Eyes (1976). But like all fans of every band and artists, we always wish for more.
On January 8, Friday Music will be re-releasing a newly remastered 3CD Box of collected demos, and selected live tracks, all from the Tommy Bolin Archives. The Box, The Ultimate: Redux was originally released in 2008. Currently, 2008 released copies are sold out, commanding a nice chunk of change from third party sellers.
The Ultimate: Redux contains thirty-one tracks (see track-list below) that cover a lot of musical ground. With everything included, it is a grand slot into the library of any Tommy Bolin albums you may have. There may be other pieces of Bolin goodness out there, but with this Box, we get a nice complement of the creative process that Tommy Bolin used.
The included booklet contains the 2007 essay by Steve Vai, and has plenty of great photos of the late guitarist. If you don;t have this set, and wanted it, nows your chance to pick it up at a good price, bypassing the current exorbitant rates being charged for the 2008 issued box.
CD1:
01 Teaser (Acoustic Demo 1973)
02 Sister Andrea (Demo 1971)
03 Cross The River (Zephyr Live/Boulder, CO 1973)
04 Hard Chargin’ Woman (Zephyr Live/Boulder, CO 1973)
05 Red Skies (Energy 1972)
06 Heartlight (Energy 1972)
07 Hok-O-Hey (Energy 1972)
08 Got No Time For Trouble (Energy 1972)
09 Miss Christmas (Energy 1972)
10 Journey (Demo 1973)
11 Alexis (Acoustic Demo 1973)
CD2:
01 Standing In The Rain (Acoustic Demo circa Bang)
02 Cucumber Jam (Early version of “Cucumber Slumber”)
03 Spanish Lover (Acoustic Demo circa Miami)
04 Stratus (Ebbets Field 1974)
05 Getting Tighter (Tommy Bolin Tribute/Denver, CO 1997)
06 Homeward Strut (Ebbets Field 1974)
07 Teaser (Tommy Bolin Band/First Time Live-Disc 2 version)
08 Wild Dogs (Early L.A. Demo 1974)
09 Dreamer (Early L.A. Demo 1974)
CD3:
01 People, People (Tommy Bolin Band/Ebbets Field 1976)
02 Lotus (Tommy Bolin Band/Ebbets Field 1976)
03 Savannah Woman (Demo)
04 Crazed Fandango (Teaser Outtake 1975)
05 Sweet Burgundy (Acoustic Demo/Naked II)
06 Shake The Devil (Albany, NY 1976)
07 Someday Will Bring Our Love Home (Acoustic Demo/Naked I)
08 You Told Me That You Loved Me (Albany, NY 1976)
09 Post Toastee (Electric Guitar Demo/Naked I)
10 Post Toastee (Albany, NY 1976)
11 Slow Driver (Acoustic Version/Naked I)