I’m trying to recollect exactly how I picked this album up way back in the ’70’s. It’s not one where the cover or musicians would have pulled me in (my arcane album picking method described elsewhere on the site). I must have heard it, or parts of it, at a friend’s place, but I have to admit that I don’t exactly recall. Regardless, this is a fine album, from an accomplished musician that died far too young on Dec. 4, 1976 at age 25.
At the time of this recording, Tommy Bolin had just left The James Gang, and was about to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple.
This is an album that spans many styles. There are the guitar-centric rock songs that were my style of the time (“The Grind”, “Teaser”, “Wild Dogs” and “Lotus”). “Homeward Strut” & “Marching Powder” have a fusion feel, which I’m sure is a follow on from his work with Billy Cobham on Cobham’s 1973 album Spectrum. There is a ballad in “Dreamer”, a jazzy guitar number in “Savannah Woman”, a reggae tinged “People People” and social commentary in “Lotus”.
Considering how narrow minded I was in 1975 when this album was released, it surprises me how much I liked the album as a whole. Maybe it’s how I’ve evolved over time, appreciating diversity in various musical styles & song flow, but I don’t tend to listen to single songs from this album. When I need a Bolin hit, it’s stick on the album and let it flow. The Spotify link has much more than the original album, which ends on Song 9, Lotus.