Z E P H Y R ...E N E R G Y ... T O M M Y B O L I N B A N D
B U D D Y M I L E S
SPECIAL GUEST
on INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS
In the
spring of 1970 Bobby Berge got a call from legendary guitarist Tommy Bolin in
Boulder, and he said he wanted him to come out and audition with his band
Zephyr. Bobby had been listening to their first album, and absolutely loved
Tommy’s playing and the sound of the group. After flying out and hitting it off
with the group with an initial audition, he immediately moved out to Boulder.
He played with Zephyr for the next year or so and it was an extremely exciting
experience. Boulder was a thriving musical Mecca at the time, and they would
play in and around Boulder at small outdoor mini-Woodstock types of concerts.
They
played in Denver at Mammoth Gardens along with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. For
a good year they flew to many major cities and played at huge concerts on the
same bill as musical greats like Steve Winwood, Mountain, Fleetwood Mac, the
Kinks, and Iggy Pop to name a few. In the fall of 1970, he played drums on the
second Zephyr album Going Back to Colorado at Electric Lady Studios in NYC with
the great Eddie Kramer as engineer. This was Bobby’s first major experience
playing with Tommy Bolin and it was fantastic to say the least.
Bobby
was asked if he did play on “The Grind” on the Teaser album. He did play on
that track, but somehow the record company got the info wrong on the cover.
Bobby
says … Tommy was always outgoing, upbeat, friendly, and extremely funny! He was
so much fun for a drummer to play with. I loved to play off him and copy his
lightning fast riffs as we jammed. I learned a lot about weird time signatures
from him. I miss those hippie days and miss Tommy and playing with one of the
greatest.
On Bobby’s
work with the great Buddy Miles … Buddy’s a very talented, soulful man. During
1975-76 I did more work with him than with Tommy Bolin. I was switching back
and forth with projects, mainly recording. I did the More Miles Per Gallon
album with Buddy in 1975, and Bicentennial — A Gathering Of The Tribes in 1976.
When we played live Buddy would play drums for a few tunes, then I’d hop on the
skins and Buddy would go out front and sing. We had a five-piece horn section,
a funky bass player, and keyboards. It was wild playing with both artists
during that period (1975-76). I’ll put up some Buddy stuff some time, kind of a
disco feel but very funky!
CHRONICLES, TRUTHS,
CONFESSIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE MUSIC LEGENDS THAT SET US FREE
…Order yours today on
Hardcover or E-book
at bookbaby.com or amazon.com
Featuring over 45
intimate conversations with some of the greatest rock
legends on the planet
CHRIS SQUIRE... DR.
JOHN... GREG LAKE... HENRY MCCULLOUGH... JACK BRUCE … JOE LALA…JOHNNY WINTER... KEITH EMERSON... PAUL
KANTNER...RAY THOMAS... RONNIE
MONTROSE... TONY JOE WHITE... DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS… MIKE LOVE... TOMMY ROE...
BARRY HAY... CHRIS THOMPSON... JESSE COLIN YOUNG... JOHN KAY... JULIAN
LENNON... MARK LINDSAY... MICKY DOLENZ… PETER RIVERA ...TOMMY JAMES… TODD
RUNDGREN... DAVE MASON... EDGAR WINTER... FRANK MARINO... GREGG ROLIE... IAN
ANDERSON... JIM “DANDY” MANGRUM... JON ANDERSON... LOU GRAMM... MICK BOX...
RANDY BACHMAN… ROBIN TROWER...ROGER
FISHER... STEVE HACKETT... ANNIE HASLAM… ‘MELANIE’ SAFKA... PETULA CLARK...
SUZI QUATRO... COLIN BLUNSTONE… DAVE DAVIES... JIM McCARTY... PETE BEST
Eddie Turner has done just about everything. A
guitarist since age 12, he honed his skills alongside San Francisco's legendary
Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth in the '70s and Denver's hard-hitting Zephyr in
the '80s, before becoming a founding member of the Otis Taylor Band in the '90s
and then earning a prestigious Blues Music Award nomination for his own solo
career in the mid-2000s.
The Denver-based guitarist, singer and bandleader
has toured the world, garnering countless fans and an outpouring of critical
acclaim in the process.
But "Naked ... In Your Face" marks a
first for Turner, who has never before released an in-concert recording. The
title tells you all you need to know: No shrinking violet of a live album, this
varied, vibrant set finds the musician at his most stylistically audacious,
crossing boundaries with the same brazen confidence he's shown throughout his
career. Recorded last August at The Blues Can in Calgary, Alberta, during a
tour of Canada and the western United States, the album features Turner in a
power-trio format. Joining him are bassist Anna Lisa Hughes, a fellow Denver
resident who sings lead on several cuts here, including covers of classics such
as "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "Buried Alive in the
Blues" as well as her original composition "Mistreated," and
drummer Kelly Kruse, an in-demand sideman in Canada who also plays guitar with
Calgary's Adele & the Krusers.
"I still get emails saying, 'That was one of
the best bands I've ever seen. When are you going to tour again?'" says
Turner. "And I loved the way Anna Lisa's voice and mine meshed together.
The three of us came together and threw all our influences into a pot, ending
up with something that's completely different. I wanted to record songs that,
without this particular band, I'll probably never do again."
Fitting for a man who grew up outside of Chicago
watching iconic blues figures such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf ply their
trade -- but also seeing acts like Jimi Hendrix and Cream take the music to
new, more rock-influenced directions -- Turner has developed a sound that's
informed by tradition yet adventurous enough to not be limited by it. As the
man himself puts it, "If you want to be a purist, be one not because you
started there and stopped there. Be one because you went everywhere else and
decided to come back. Because no music is truly pure. Everything has a little
dirt in it."
JOCK BARTLEY
is known for his melodic, tasteful and fiery lead guitar style, influencing
many rock and country rock guitarists.Leaving college to
pursue music, he joined the Boulder-based band ZEPHYR, replacing Tommy Bolin as
lead guitarist (who joined the James Gang and later, Deep Purple before his
untimely death in 1977). Months after the “Sunset Ride” album came out, Zephyr
broke up. In 1972, Jock was asked to join the touring band of GRAM PARSONS
& THE FALLEN ANGELS, featuring EMMY LOU HARRIS. Gram had joined the BYRDS
on the ground breaking “Sweetheart of the Radio” album, formed THE FLYING
BURRITO BROS. with CHRIS HILLMAN and was a pioneer of the new musical genre,
“country rock.” The Fallen Angels tour made many memorable stops from Texas to
Boston, including a show in Houston where Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt sat in
onstage (Emmy Lou and Linda met that night and sang together for the first
time). At Max’s Kansas City in New York City, Jock met Boulder resident, Rick
Roberts, who’d replaced Gram in the Burrito Bros. and had two solo albums out.
In 1974, Rick and Jock
began jamming in Boulder with MARK ANDES, bassist from the progressive L.A.
bands, SPIRIT and JO JO GUNNE. When LARRY BURNETT arrived from Washington D.C.,
FIREFALL was formed. A few months in, drummer MICHAEL CLARKE (formerly of the
Byrds and Flying Burrito Bros.) joined the band. Rick, Mark and Jock were on
tour with Chris Hillman on the east coast when Chris became ill – Larry and
Michael were flown in and FIREFALL finished the engagement at the Bitter End in
NYC, where Atlantic Records came to hear, soon signing them to a long-term
recording contract. DAVID MUSE joined the band in rehearsals with producer, JIM
MASON. Firefall recorded their first album at Criteria Studios in the winter of
1975, during which his guitar hero, ERIC CLAPTON, was in the control room while
Jock played the one-take lead guitar track on ‘Mexico.’ “It was a good thing I
didn’t know he was watching, I wouldn’t have been able to hold my pick or play
one note.”
Jock has played on stage
with artists including Stephen Stills, Neil Young, The Doobie Bros., Dan
Folgelberg, Journey, Heart, Poco, John Mayall and many many others. He is a
spokesperson for Suicide Prevention, having worked with the American
Association of Suicidology and the Kristin Brooks Hope Center to put on benefit
concerts to raise awareness, help fund the first national crisis line, (800)
SUICIDE) and save lives. He’s also involved with ’causes’ including child
abuse, domestic violence, burn victims’ camps, environmental issues and others.
Jock is a record producer, travels frequently to Nashville to write songs and
give seminars on creativity and songwriting for the Nashville Songwriters Ass. and
the Songwriter’s Guild. He endorses Paul Reed Smith Guitars and Takamine
Guitars. He has produced an acclaimed instructional songwriting video called
‘The Complete Guide To Songwriting – How To Write A Song.”
Jock
has been a painter and fine artist since childhood but only since 2001, has he
gotten serious about his ‘new’ art career. His colorful paintings and pastels, in a wide variety of subjects, have
begun receiving wide critical and public acclaim. His work has been exhibited
in art galleries in Denver and Vail, Colorado and Reno, Nevada with more to
come. Perching a few shows featuring ‘Rock & Roll artists,’ his paintings
have hung next to John Lennon lithos and paintings by Ron Wood (Rolling
Stones), Grace Slick and others. In 2006, four of his Beatles paintings appeared
in a nationally released coffee table book, ‘Beatles Art – Fantastic New
Artwork of The Fab Four.’ Jock’s paintings and prints were included in the
Denver Children’s Hospital benefit “Rockers For Kids” featuring art by Paul
McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Mellencamp, Jerry Garcia, David Bowie, Ron Wood,
Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, R. Crumb and others.
Jock
Bartley and Firefall will be on the road again beginning June 9th in
WELCOME to a very special edition of The Ray Shasho
Show. Today we Honor & Remember ‘The Life & Music’ of legendary
guitarist, singer and songwriter TOMMY BOLIN. And to help us relive those
incredible and historic events… We will feature three very special guests … Joe
Vitale, Kenny Passarelli and Trace Keane.But first here is a little background about Tommy
Bolin and our special guests … Tommy Bolinwas born in Sioux City, Iowa and began playing in bands around
the city as a youth before moving to Boulder, Colorado in his late teens. He
played with American Standard before joining Ethereal Zephyr,
named after a train that ran between Denver and Chicago. When record companies
became interested, the name was shortened to Zephyr. The band featured Tommy
on guitar, David Givens (bass), and Givens' wife Candy (vocals). They produced
two albums with Tommy and began performing larger venues, opening for more
established acts such as Led Zeppelin.
In 1972
Tommy, aged 20, formed Energy, a fusion jazz-rock-blues band which featured Stan Sheldon (bass),
Bobby Berge (drums), Tom Stevenson (keyboards) and Jeff Cook (vocals) who
shared writing credits with Tommy over throughout his career. While the band
never released an album during his lifetime, several recordings have been
released posthumously. Around this period, he was invited to play on Billy
Cobham's (ex Mahavishnu Orchestra) highly acclaimed Spectrum album (1973), with Tommy on
guitar, Cobham (drums), Leland Sklar (bass) and Jan Hammer (keyboards). The
album allowed Tommy to reach a far wider audience, and to this day, is
considered one of his career highs. Jeff Beck reportedly was so impressed, he
went down a similar path – ‘Stratus’ is a regular on his current concert
set list. Of note, ‘Stratus’ was also sampled by Massive Attack
on their 1991 track, ‘Safe from Harm’.Reportedly,
at Joe Walsh's recommendation, Tommy joined the James Gang in 1973. He
recorded two albums, Bang! in 1973 and Miami in 1974.Tommy signed
with Nemperor Records to record ‘Teaser’, his 1975 debut solo album.
Musicians included; David Foster, David Sanborn, Jan Hammer,
Stanley Sheldon, Phil Collins and Glenn Hughes. While
recording Teaser, he was contacted to replace Ritchie Blackmore
in Deep Purple.
A year
earlier Blackmore had mentioned in an interview that Tommy was ‘the only
American guitarist worth listening to’. But, it was apparently on the
recommendation of David Coverdale – Purple's then current vocalist, that he was
invited to audition for the band in July 1975. The job was immediately his.
Contracts were quickly drawn up between managements allowing Tommy to continue
his solo career during Purple's downtime. The band relocated to Munich to begin
work on a new album. ‘Come Taste the Band’ was released in late 1975 (around the same time of the release of
‘Teaser’) with Tommy writing or co-writing seven of the album's nine tracks.– the
group disbanded in March 1976. Tommy
returned to the States to record his second solo album, Private Eyes,
released September 1976. He then went on the road to promote the album with a
rotating cast of players which included Narada Michael Walden, Mark Stein,
Norma Jean Bell, Reggie McBride and Jimmy Haslip. The tour, which saw him
opening for Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck, proved to be his last. His last
performance was at the Jai Alai stadium in Miami December 3, 1976 where he
opened for Beck. Ironically his last song was ‘Post Toastee’ – a song
warning of the dangers of addiction. A day later, Tommy was pronounced dead from a drug overdose. He is
buried in Calvary Cemetery, Sioux City, Iowa … Tommy Bolin was only 25 years
old.
Joining
us today to help share the life and music of Tommy Bolin is …
JOE
VITALE
Joe Vitale is a veteran musician and drummer whose
career has spanned over forty years of touring, recording, song writing, and
producing with legendary and Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame artists. Along
with vocals, he also plays percussion, keyboards and flute. His drumming
encompasses all styles of music. A dedicated professional, his quality of
performance is evident in his resume.
He has recorded and toured with Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh,
Dan Fogelberg, Peter Frampton, The Eagles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and CSNY to
name a few. In addition, he has recorded with Rick Derringer, Ringo
Starr, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Ronnie Wood, Van Morrison, Carl
Wilson, Don Felder, Boz Scaggs, John Entwhistle and many others.
Joe Vitale’s songs & performances have appeared in
many movies & TV: Spy Games, Joe Dirt, the 40-Year-Old Virgin, The
Warriors, Devil’s Rejects, Beverly Hillbillies, History of the Eagles, Fringe, that
70’s Show, just to name a few.
Vitale has also co-produced albums for Joe Walsh,
Stephen Stills, CSN & CSNY. His many songwriting credits include the
classic Joe Walsh song, “Rocky Mountain Way,” and also, “Pretty Maids All in a
Row,” from The Eagles classic album, “Hotel California,” both co-written with
Joe Walsh.
He has three solo albums, “Roller Coaster Weekend,” “Plantation
Harbor,” and “Speaking in Drums,” and a book, “Back Stage Pass,” about his
career in music. He’s also produced his son, Joe Jr.’s, first album, “Dancing
with Shadows.”
In 2010 and 2011 Joe played drums for the historic “Buffalo
Springfield Reunion”
Joe continues to tour, record, write and produce. He's
also added to his resume, counselor and music director at Rock & Roll
Fantasy Camp.Visit www.joevitaleondrums.comfor
more information
ALSOON THE SHOW IS KENNY
PASSARELLI
Kenny was born in Denver, Colorado … A
meeting with Stephen Stills changed his life forever. Kenny was impressed
by Stills, and who wouldn’t be? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was
producing some of the most amazing music. Kenny recalls this
introduction, “I was introduced to a guy that owned a local music store that
knew Stephen Stills. He took me up to Goldhill, which was a place in
Colorado that Stephen spent a lot of time.” Stills took a liking to Kenny
and played him some tracks that Stills had been working on. Stills then
played Kenny a rough version of Carry On, and Kenny was simply
blown away.
Shortly thereafter, Kenny was slated to join Stills at
Woodstock, but a bout with hepatitis ended his dreams with sudden
swiftness. In the summer of 1971, Kenny got his first big break.
>He received an invitation from Joe Walsh to join Barnstorm.
Kenny recalls that Joe was the person responsible for his getting involved with
the fretless. Joe received one of the very first fretless P-Basses and gave it
to Kenny. Though intimidated at first, Kenny eventually made it his
trademark, and started to get a great deal of session work because of it.
Kenny worked with some of the best … Russ Kunkel, Joe Vitale, Dan Fogelberg and
so many others from that memorable period. Things hit a high point when
Kenny co-wrote the classic track Rocky Mountain Way with Joe
Walsh.
Kenny’s biggest break came when Joe Walsh recommended
him to Elton John, who was in need of a new bassist. Elton flew Kenny to
Paris, where he auditioned. Kenny remembers, “I really didn’t know a
whole lot of Elton’s music. When I auditioned, it was just the two of
us. I was intimidated the whole time, but he was impressed by some of the
people that I recorded with. In 1976,
Elton recorded his double album entitled Blue Moves. Kenny
saw that the music on this album was much more difficult, so he put down his
fretless P-Bass, and cut all the tracks on an Alembic Bass, obviously one of
the earliest models. When Elton toured in support of Blue Moves,
Kenny kept playing his Alembic.
During a week of sold out shows at Madison Square
Garden, Elton informed his band that that was his last tour for a while.
Kenny recalls that Elton was very gracious and generous with the band.
When Elton stopped touring, Elton’s entire band became the backup band for the
up and coming duo Hall and Oates.
He recorded Along the Red Ledge, and the
live LP entitled Livetime. In time, Kenny left Halland Oates
and started touring with Dan Fogelberg. In 1983, Kenny finally got his
chance to play with Crosby, Stills and Nash, but it was a bittersweet
experience. Kenny was dissatisfied with the band’s new sound.
In addition, Kenny was starting to get burnt out from all of the touring.
By the mid 1980’s Kenny decided to stop touring. This period lasted well
into the mid 1990’s.
During this 10-year period, Kenny reinvented himself,
getting back into playing the piano, and composing his brand of music which he
calls “Contemporary Classical Music.” His recent CDs include Twelve
Twelve and Miracle of Tepeyak. He now makes New
Mexico his home and is playing quite a bit these days. He produces and
tours with Otis Taylor, a blues guitarist that Kenny really believes in, and he
recently played a show with his old pal Stephen Stills.
ALSO
JOINING US IS TRACE KEANE Trace
has been working with Johnnie Bolin on The Tommy Bolin Archives for the last 13
years. He’s a Staff writer for Hush Music Magazine (Spain), the Spanish Deep
Purple Fanzine since 2009.He does media work for a variety of musicians, Kenny
Passarelli, Mark Andes, Joe Vitale, Johnnie Bolin, Russell Bizzett.
Trace has worked with dozens of radio stations and
programs about life and music of Tommy Bolin. He started working on The Tommy
Bolin Festival when it was in very bad shape and has since gotten the attendance
to escalate. The Festival runs this year from Aug. 1 (Tommy's
birthday) to Saturday Aug.4 in Sioux City, iowa.
For more details
consult the Tommy Bolin Archives website tommybolin.com
