*RTH* Deep Purple - Gettin' Tighter

**sokratikos** 05.08.24 13:24

[01-08-2024]

Tommy Bolin (Sioux City (Iowa), 1 augustus 1951 - Miami (Florida), 4 december 1976) was een Amerikaanse gitarist.

Van 1969 tot 1973 speelde hij in Zephyr, van 1973 tot 1974 bij The James Gang, waarmee hij de albums Bang en Miami maakte. In de zomer van 1975 werd hij gitarist bij Deep Purple, tot het uiteenvallen van deze band in het voorjaar van 1976. Hij is te horen op het album Come Taste The Band. In 1974 speelde hij mee op "Spectrum" het succesvolle solodebuut van drummer Billy Cobham (ex Mahavishnu Orchestra). Hierop is ook toetsenist Jan Hammer te horen (eveneens Mahavishnu Orchestra).

In 1975 bracht hij een soloalbum uit (Teaser), gevolgd door een tweede soloalbum in 1976 (Private Eyes'). Eind 1976 zou de Tommy Bolin Band het voorprogramma verzorgen bij een tournee van Jeff Beck. Op het feest na het eerste optreden van deze tournee nam Tommy Bolin echter een overdosis heroïne. De volgende ochtend, op 4 december 1976, was hij dood. Dit concert is uitgebracht op cd: The Tommy Bolin Band: live at the Miami Jai Alai - The final concert.

We ranken een nummer van Deep Purple's tiende studioalbum Come Taste The Band (1975), dat mede is geschreven door Tommy Bolin en waarop hij zijn funky riff speelt.

Wiki schreef:After Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, the band had a meeting and discussed whether to disband or try to find a replacement, and chose the latter option. David Coverdale had been listening to the Billy Cobham LP Spectrum, on which Bolin was lead guitarist for four songs. He decided he wanted Bolin in Deep Purple, and invited him over for a jam. He jammed with the band for four hours and the job was his. The band then relocated to Munich, Germany, to begin work on Come Taste the Band. Bolin wrote or co-wrote seven of the record's nine tracks, including the instrumental "Owed to G", which was a tribute to George Gershwin. Come Taste the Band was released in October 1975, and Australian, Japanese and US tours ensued. Bolin's solo album Teaser was released in November, but his obligations to Deep Purple meant he could not support his own album with a tour.

While the Come Taste the Band album sold moderately well and revitalized Deep Purple for a time, the concert tours had many low points. Audiences expected Bolin to play solos that sounded like Blackmore's, but the guitarists' styles were very different. Bolin's issues with hard drugs, plus fellow band member Glenn Hughes' cocaine addiction, also led to several below-par concert performances.[4] One such concert in Tokyo came after Bolin had passed out and fell asleep on his left arm for eight hours. At showtime, he was only able to play simple barre chords, with keyboardist Jon Lord having to play many of the guitar parts on the organ. Unfortunately, this concert was recorded for a live album: Last Concert in Japan. Despite pleas by band members to not release the album, it came out in Japan and found its way into the UK and the US. A better concert recording by this Deep Purple lineup was made in Long Beach, California in early 1976, and released in 1995 as King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: Deep Purple in Concert. Deep Purple Mk IV disbanded in July 1976.

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"Gettin' Tighter" is a guitar-driven and upbeat song sung by Hughes that featured more funk influences than any Deep Purple song ever before. The song originated from a riff invented by Bolin: "I duned it in one practice session. I just rolled... 'Damn, they would enjoy this' [...] I started to feel them and they started to feel me, it was like... giving and taking, that is, musically." The finished composition was credited to Bolin and Hughes