Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story

Ive been a fan of Tommy Bolin Id say since around 1980 when I was about 15-16, when a friends older brother had a copy of TEASER that we played. Soon after I purchased PRIVATE EYES. Great songs, great guitar playing and great vocals. While listening to these albums back then, found out he had died an OD few years earlier,,,and most of all he was from SIOUX CITY, IOWA!! I was from Cedar Rapids. To hear a ROCK STAR from IOWA was unheard of! I was that much more interested. In my Sophmore year, a new student in school sat next to me. He had moved to CR from Sioux City. Of course I had to ask him about Tommy. He said he and friends would go to the parents house, and the proudly showed Tommy's room and personnal items. Years and Years later...around 2000, I finally made my way to Sioux City. Found the Calvary cemetary and paid my respects to Tommy. The tombstone had grass covering it...probably mowed a week before. I had to brush it off. Kinda of sad. The place was very peaceful. A few weeks ago, I dig out some Tommy CD's to play in the car. Havent played in about a year. You know, Im thinking...there should be a book about TOMMY!!?? I did a search..and I found this...released about 6 months ago. Now, I read a lot of ROCK BIOGRAPHIES...kind of a hobby. I have to say this is one of the best Ive ever read. Coulndt put it down. I loved it. The ending is pretty suspicious. Makes you wonder...what did really happen that last nite in Miami??5 stars.

Amazing details of the short life of a guitar prodigy. A sad but inspiring tale of a man who could have been the king of rock guitar.

I bought this book a few years ago and have since read it twice. It is a well written documentary of Tommy's life, written in an interview format where family members, friends, and fellow musicians tell the story of a very talented, but troubled musician. For those of you who know his work,you know what a talent he was. This book filled in many blanks for me, especially about his time in The James Gang and Deep Purple. I loved the tales of the Zephyr days and how a bunch of kids became one of the most popular local bands. Tommy certainly paid his dues and cranked out some of the best music ever done while playing a wide range of musical styles. His two solo albums alone were extraordinary in their diversity and execution. It's too bad he succumbed to the drugs and his inner demons.

For Tommy Bolin fans, and guitar aficionados unfamiliar with this musical virtuoso, 'Touched by Magic' is a must-read. Greg Prato has invested hundreds of hours interviewing scores of industry related personnel, family and friends to bring the Tommy Bolin Story to life. Artfully collated into a cohesive and engaging story, it takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the incredible highs and heartbreaking lows of the life of one of the great unsung musical geniuses of the rock era. Little known facts, interesting details and many of his interviewees personal insights truly 'take the reader there' and tell it like it was with an honestly that shows through the entire project. Tommy's own brother John Bolin, gives Prato top marks and five stars for thoroughness and a genuine portrayal of his subject matter in the writing of this book. I don't think there can be a more compelling endorsement.Chris Goodfellow - life-long Tommy Bolin fan

Loved the insight, but ultimately a sad ending, as anyone who knows of Tommy is aware. What a sweet guy, with the whole world ahead of him. One thing not in the book, is how devastated Jeff Beck was at Tommys unfortunate ending. He obviously had some sorry people, the hangers on, he thought were friends, that were responsible for him dying. But of course, he had choices and made some poor ones. I never knew that his addiction was so severe. His music was groundbreaking with the fusion splash of the 70's, much like Beck's and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. At least we still have his music. I just hate that we lost such gifted musicians like Tommy and Jaco Pastorius.

What a great format to write in this chronological interview style. Brings some needed attention to a musician that's one of the greats. And what better way to celebrate someone who promoted other musicians they liked than have people talk about them. The only fault is far more people knew of Tommy and are not interviewed with their impressions of him as a player and person like Jimmy Page of led zeppelin who was a big fan and various others...so it isn't complete but it's pretty cool as a format that runs chronological with musicians who partied with Tommy...and of course...it's a tragedy that people put so much of their soul into music they don't have a great business sense and live too far on the edge of taking care of their health...so it is kind of a downer to read too knowing Tommy left way too soon before reaching his potential as an artist.Too bad Jimmy Page couldn't swoop him up like Bad Company was added to his label back in the day!

This book is really something special. So few people know who Tommy Bolin was, which is unfortunate because he was one the greatest guitar players ever. He changed the course of my musical life and I have been a professional musician now for 17 years and I owe my musical diversity largely to him. This book is a must read for anyone who loved Tommy's music. It's full of first hand accounts about his career, his personality, and sadly his tragic death. It was hard to put down, but I forced myself so I wouldn't finish it too quickly. It was sad to read about his horrible addiction and his death, but that is a big part of his story for better or worse, so I was into reading about that as well as the more positive things. I salute Greg for doing such an amazing job in putting it all together and also for the great pictures, most of which I hadn't seen before. I will re read this book many times in the coming years. Anyone who loved Tommy Bolin must read this book.

Good scope

I really enjoyed reading up about how his music colleagues and family described his development and personal life. It really made me appreciate what a great person he was regardless of his terrible addition. You really relate on a personal level. Feel his pain and also enjoy knowing how brilliant and funny he could be. So nice to hear feedback from his loving family and friends.

When Tommy joined Deep Purple, I was a high school student.I still remember going to a local record shop to buy the "Come Taste the Band" album.The LP is still kept at my patents' house.Soon I learned his sudden death. Since then, there was always one question in me.The question is "why these Chinese characters were used for the 'Private Eyes' album jacket?"Those characters were very shocking for me, a Japanese who could understand Chinese characters.Those three Chinese characters represent phonetic symbols as "TOMI BO RIN", mimicking sounds to "Tommy Bolin".In addition, the Chinese characters have semantic meanings of "RICH GRAVE FOREST".This kind of BAD-LUCK name must not be used in our culture, because a bad thing would happen by using such a name.So, I was wondering if Tommy knew the unluckiness of the name? If he had knew, was he happy about those characters?In this book, Tommy's thought on his premature death was introduced through his friends' comments.Now, I concluded that he had known the meaning of such a bad-luck name. I guess he was willing to use the name. He knew his forthcoming destiny.......And I read that he was a far more talented musician than I knew.So, I've started collecting/listening to his other albums as Energy, Zepher, James Ganng, with Cobham/Mouzon/Moxy, and other bootlegs. His music holds up.

"Touched By Magic" is the "biography" of Tommy Bolin who is probably the greatest guitarist you have never heard of because Tommy has now been dead for forty one years at the time of this writing. Tommy was a very versatile, passionate and fluid virtuoso guitar player who could tackle any genre, be it Hard Rock, Jazz, Blues, R n' B, Funk, Reggae, Soul, Latin, Flamenco and Swing with frightening conviction.By the time of his passing at the age of twenty five, other than bands he had been in, Tommy Bolin had been in the backing bands of the likes of Albert King, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, etc and recorded a number of mind blowing albums with Zephyr, Energy, Moxy, Billy Cobham, Alphonse Mouzon and his own solo work. Tommy was touted as the next Jimi Hendrix. He was respected by the latter as well as Jimmy Page and he is cited as an influence by Jeff Beck!Touched By Magic, unlike other biographies is a collection of interviews from Tommy Bolin himself as well as people who knew him in one capacity or another. Greg Prato has undertaken the gargantuan task of splicing the interviews from innumerable protagonists into a coherent story that allows itself to be read seamlessly. Each chapter is devoted to one of the major projects Tommy Bolin has worked on in chronological order.The music and events around the various projects are dissected in considerable depth; and through this analysis the reader also gets to know who Tommy Bolin, the man and musician was.Touched By Magic is a great way to get acquainted with Tommy Bolin and his music. Another way to appreciate Tommy Bolin is to actually listen to his music! Below is a nomenclature of selected recommended listening in the vast Tommy Bolin catalog: * TOMMY BOLIN - Teaser (Hard Rock) * DEEP PURPLE - Come Taste The Band (also features David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes) * ALPHONSE MOUZON - Mind Transplant (Jazz Rock Fusion) * BILLY COBHAM - Spectrum (Jazz Rock Fusion) * THE JAMES GANG - Miami (Hard Rock) * ZEPHYR - I (Psychedelic Blues) * TOMMY BOLIN - Energy (Improvisational Hard Rock)

Great book about one of the greatest guitarists that most people never heard of