Whips and Roses II
The early Seventies were the age of the great guitar heroes:  Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Toni Iommi. It was  also the era of Ritchie Blackmore and his extravagant stage show and  unusual style, which helped to make Deep Purple one of the most important  hard rock acts of their generation. When Blackmore left Deep Purple in  1975, the heir to his throne was Tommy Bolin, a young guitarist who had the  world at his feet and a promising future at the tender age of 23. However,  BolinÂ’s career was to last merely a brief seven years. When he died on  December 4, 1976, he was only 25 years old. Similarly to Jimi Hendrix,  Bolin also enjoys an excellent reputation beyond his death. BolinÂ’s solo  albums, Teaser and Private Eyes, which arrived at the stores shortly before  and after PurpleÂ’s Come Taste The Band are considered to be 70s rock  classics.Following a stunning show with Jeff Beck in Miami/Florida on December 3,  1976, Bolin lost consciousness at his hotel. He was already dead by the  time the paramedics arrived the next morning. A drug overdose, together  with alcohol, was diagnosed as the cause of death. But his short musical  journey has left us with a taste of just how great this musical genius was,  and how he would have changed the course of modern music had he lived.  Thirty years later his fans are still shocked by his early passing.SPV have compiled this second Bolin retrospective, Whips And Roses 2,  featuring previously unreleased tracks, which testify to the AmericanÂ’s  amazing talent as a guitarist, vocalist and composer. All tracks on Whips  And Roses 2 are either alternative versions of familiar material or  previously unreleased songs from incredible studio sessions, previously  believed to have been lost. Project producer Greg Hampton has gone to  painstaking efforts to ensure that the Whips And Roses compilations are  unquestionably the best sounding Tommy Bolin releases to this date. Both  Whips And Roses releases are perfect introduction points for the curious  and casual and absolutely essential for fans of 70Â’s guitar wizardry and  of BolinÂ’s unsurpassed and lost talent.