Jim Sheridan
Purple fan
Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 577
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Re: Spectrum
He was pretty candid about money being the motivator for joining Purple; he then was equally candid about being amazed and delighted by the guys' chops after jamming with them.
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5/12/2005, 15:21
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elprup peed
Purple fan
Registered: 03-2004
Posts: 165
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Re: Spectrum
quote:
Rahul wrote:
Bolin certainly joined The James Gang for the cash. I think he also joined Purple for the money too, and to raise his profile.
His solo career was his main focus, and touring with one of the world's biggest rock bands was a good career move to boost his profile, what with the Teaser album in the pipeline.
And none of them band experiences turned out highlights of his career, musically speaking. So you may very well be right he did it more for money and personal profil. Moral seems to be: don't!
But which band, The Gang or The Purple, do you think was the ultimate downer of his career?
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13/12/2005, 5:31
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Jim Sheridan
Purple fan
Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 577
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Re: Spectrum
"But which band, The Gang or The Purple, do you think was the ultimate downer of his career?"
DEFINITELY Purple. The Gang were Americans, midwesterners like Bolin, on the same page as him in a lot of ways. It seems like Bolin was very different in personality than the Purple guys. The Gang's situation also offered much less pressure. And of course, Bolin's drink/drug problems were so much worse with Purple, so his playing suffered.
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14/12/2005, 18:32
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CParsons
Purple fan
Registered: 02-2005
Posts: 731
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Re: Spectrum
quote:
Rahul wrote:
Isn't Tommy's playing on this just exceptional?
I listened to it at work today, and was blown away all over again. The playing on this record is just incredible.
The rest of the band are magic - Jan Hammer, Lee Sklar and the fantastic percussion of Billy Cobham.
But Bolin's playing is otherworldly. The groove, the vibe, the dexterity.
This is genius. And I don't use the word lightly. A masterpiece.
I just broke out Spectrum yesterday and listened to it for the first time in years,and it was like listening to it for the first time.I concure completely with your assessment,and there's not one needless note on the thing.Its a complete and unduplicated original.
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17/12/2005, 19:42
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purplebrazil
Purple fan
Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 118
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Re: Spectrum
I have the DVD-Audio. It is amazing !
One of my top 10 all-time favorite albums.
Cheers,
Reinaldo
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29/1/2006, 22:05
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ivo
Purple fan
Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 258
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Re: Spectrum
Just wanted to point out that one of the musicians of Spectrum, Ray Barreto, born 1929, died yesterday.
R.I.P.
---
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18/2/2006, 18:28
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bernie
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Registered: 10-2003
Posts: 437
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Re: Spectrum
In my opinion Bolin's very strong side was his heavy fusion work with Cobham and Mouzon. But some of his solo material sounds quite average to me like "Wild Dogs" and "The Grind".
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18/2/2006, 20:52
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Ovader
Purple fan
Registered: 12-2004
Posts: 293
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Re: Spectrum
Last night listened to Taurian Matador again from SPECTRUM and amazed more people don't rave about that particular track. Ferocious guitar playing by Tommy Bolin and his interplay with Jan Hammer is inspiring. Of all of Bolin's recordings it is the Fusion work that appeals the most to me even though it was through Purple that I became aware of him back in the mid 1980s.
I credit Bolin and Jeff Beck for my interest in Fusion and now have made friends with some of the musicians on today's Fusion scene such as Alex Machacek who is an incredible creative and technically skilled guitarist. A newcomer to the Fusion scene is the young Italian guitarist Matteo Mancuso who is also part of the Fusion trio SNIPS who plays the guitar in the manner of a bass player without a pick.
Focus again on Bolin as his biting Strat tone on SPECTRUM and the use of the Echoplex really stands out to me plus his use of the wah pedal and dive bombs on Quadrant 4 adds to the equation. Wolf Marshall wrote an appreciation of Bolin's guitar on this track in the May 1990 edition of the magazine "guitar FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN" which is a great read.
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11/9/2019, 22:53
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Old Timer5
Purple fan
Registered: 07-2006
Posts: 720
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Re: Spectrum
I think Tommy probably joined DP because of the money AND because he enjoyed playing with them. He was quoted as saying he was basically starving at the time he auditioned for DP and I'm sure I've also read that his guitars or equipment we in hock. So, yes, I'm pretty sure one of the world's biggest bands offering him a gig was a no-brainer financially, but there's also little doubt he was pleasantly surprised by how good Purple were as musicians.
Going back to Spectrum- yes, it's unbelievably good. I totally agree with previous posts that he was in far better shape at the time this was recorded than he was when he joined Purple. You can hear it in his playing- in 73-74, he was absolutely on fire. By 75-76, he was still playing well enough in the studio but lacking some of the fluidity and invention displayed on Spectrum. I've heard Tommy play better guitar than he did on CTTB, Teaser, and Private Eyes, although admittedly there are brilliant moments on all of these albums. However, I think the lifestyle had taken hold by then unfortunately
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31/10/2019, 12:56
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Perfectly Strange
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Registered: 01-2013
Posts: 776
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Re: Spectrum
I just bought this because of this thread and it's bloody great. Thanks for opening my ears!
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15/11/2019, 17:24
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