A defining moment in fusion. And I can play the bass line too!
DP's swan song Come Taste the Band ranks among the best DP albums ever, right up there with In Rock, Machine Head, Burn and Purpendicular. It has also aged better than either Burn or Stormbringer, Bolin was great in a studio environment, more creative than Blackmore who shone on stage. Live, Bolin's drug habit had his performance flutter like a wounded bird which did not go well with DP's workmanlike attitude of having to please the fans every night no matter how you feel. He shot himself with bad heroin on their Far East tour in 1975 and suffered from paralysis playing basic bar chords in open tunings for some shows. By the time they were in Japan for the Budokan concert, his arm was better, but still not yet there. But he could play some lead again and the Budokan concert has in feel what it lacks in Bolin's technique. Excerpts:
Love Child is from Come taste the Band, it's as Bolin freely admitted copped off an old Joe Walsh riff he played when he was with the James Gang (I also hear a bit of Zep's Heartbreaker in there, if you want to hear his great work with The Jame Gang, go no further than their "Bang!" album - James Gang Bang ..., how original ...
), interesting for its odd 7/4 meter which is untypical for DP. Nice synth solo by Herr Lord and you can hear how much Glenn Hughes' unabashed funk leanings had already crept into his (great) work with Ian Paice.
You keep on moving, generally regarded as the Bolin line up classic (though it is one of the few songs he did not share in writing), was actually from pre-Bolin DP sessions. Blackmore just never wanted to develop the song into a recording state. I love Hughes' and Coverdale's twin lead singing on that.
From the same concert, there is also a DP version of Bolin's Wild Dogs, with him singing lead nicely. The corresponding vid footage does exist, but funnily enough not on youtube ...
