Tommy Bolin Quotes

I came in with a completely new perspective. I would write songs and they would pick tunes they felt were in the Purple vein.

I replaced Walsh, I replaced Blackmore, now I just gotta be me.

When I got to LA and was with the James Gang, I got the opportunity to write a lot, to play in front of large audiences, make some money.

I can't see. I used to wear glasses off stage. Now I'm thinking of getting a pair of contract lenses.

I learned a lot about lead; you don't have to blow your cookies in the first bar. It is much harder to be simple that to be complicated during solos.

I have my own style, but it's different for each kind of music. There are certain little characteristic things every player has.

I don't like English bands. They're too structured.

You're in direct contact with the music by having the strings under your fingers. It's not mechanical like a piano.

How do you stop somebody from growing?

Blues teaches you to develop coherent solos, because the form you're playing over is so basic. You have to develop leads that go someplace.

I'll play drums a lot at home, and it will help my wrist action.

A lot of times I wish I would have learned to read music, but I'm very impatient.

I'll hear something in my head, then eventually play it. But it's a subconscious thing. Most of the time I really don't know what I'm playing.

A lot of things just got distorted, like stories about each other. After the tour we never talked. I believe a band should be a band.

I think the way I play the guitar is very percussive. I play a lot of rhythm chops as though I were playing congas or something.

I want the new band to work together for a while, and when we're ready we'll invite every major record company to see us.

My family were all musicians. I really wasn't interested in school or anything.

For me, practice isn't doing scales but doing things like writing, jamming with other people, or playing gigs.

Once I was playing and moving around and I fell right on my back. Just straight on my back. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life.

The best money I made was panhandling.

Right now I feel so inspired, it's hard to believe. I've written about 20 songs in the last two days. I'd gone about four months without writing a thing.

If you're not having fun it's not worth doing.

I blew my voice out and the doctor said, don't even talk for a week.

When you come from the Midwest, you have a more open mind than if you come from the West Coast or the East Coast.

When I first colored my hair, my mother loved it. I got kicked out of school when I was 15, just for my hair.