Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Deep Purple
Label: EMI Records
Released: 1975
Length: 37:16
Rating: 4.5/5
»Come Taste the Band« was the tenth studio outing from English heavy rock titans Deep Purple, and the first and only album by the so-called Mark IV lineup, which had American Tommy Bolin (1951-1976) on guitar. The versatile Bolin, best known until then for playing with Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer Billy Cobham on his solo jazz rock fusion masterpiece »Spectrum« (1973), was a respected session player and a former member of Zephyr and The James Gang. Thanks to his love of jazz and especially funk, he quickly found common ground with Deep Purple vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes, who, with guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore out the door, had a much freer hand to pour more funk into the traditional heavy rock Purple sound.
Bolin, the uncut guitar gem who died in the prime of his youth, reportedly landed the Purple guitar spot on his first try, rolling up to the audition with feathers in his multicolored hair and a half-naked Hawaiian woman on his arm. With his brilliant, complex and utterly distinctive guitar technique, he instantly won over the four Purple members in the room, who by then were fed up to here with Blackmore’s dictatorial, sometimes downright bizarre whims. Sadly, the four had no idea yet that Bolin was also a heroin addict, because if they’d known in time, they might have prevented a great tragedy. Along with similar musical tastes, the dependence on mind-altering substances meant that he and Hughes quickly developed a special brotherly bond and a deep mutual understanding.
The legendary vocalist/bassist, for his part, was going through an especially dark stretch in his personal life, on cocaine almost nonstop. That unhealthy common ground between Bolin and Hughes had a decisive influence on the very atmosphere and most of the lyrics on »Come Taste the Band«. Bolin’s heroin troubles would end tragically within a year, but when he headed into the studio in 1975 to record »Come Taste the Band« with the rest of the band, he was in excellent guitar form, and next to his two solo records »Teaser« (1975) and »Private Eyes« (1976), this album is the central life testament of a guitar virtuoso who left us far too early and who, in different circumstances, could have made a whole lot more exciting music.
Most fans had quietly buried the band after Blackmore’s exit, not knowing that singer David Coverdale had managed to convince the two remaining original members, keyboard wizard Jon Lord and drumming great Ian Paice, to carry on and take on new, unpredictable challenges. Despite the many problems that dogged the sessions in Los Angeles and Munich, »Come Taste the Band« ended up as an exceptionally high-quality studio effort, and after decades of neglect, mostly thanks to Bolin’s guitar legacy, it’s only now gaining more respect among fans and critics. You can feel fresh elan and drive in every single track, so it’s hard to believe today that this was the last Deep Purple album of the seventies, and their last studio effort until the triumphant return with »Perfect Strangers« (1984).
Compared with its mostly funk-flavored predecessor »Stormbringer«, »Come Taste the Band« is a bit grittier again, with more hard rock elements, though there’s no shortage of funk and soul moments, pushed mainly by Hughes and Bolin. Lord and Paice were the defenders and keepers of the traditional, punchy Purple sound, while Coverdale was torn somewhere in between, his masculine, blues-laced vocals keeping a proper balance between the two extremes. This time David and Glenn split the vocal duties track by track by mutual agreement, so a proper vocal duet only turns up right at the end of the album. »Comin’ Home«, the opening heavy rocker with boogie piano variations, rides on the wings of Coverdale’s mighty singing, enriched by Bolin’s howling vocal harmonies. Add Bolin’s striking, lengthy guitar solo, propped up by thunderous drum fills, and you get a spirited opener in the finest Purple tradition.
»Lady Luck« (originally by Jeff Cook) is another hard rocking burner with funky touches, where Coverdale rants, in an utterly lived-in way, about the treachery of feminine charms, while Bolin’s complex guitar variations and Lord’s witty organ licks keep him company. On the funk rock standard »Gettin’ Tighter«, where ‘funky man’ Hughes takes over the vocal baton, a hedonistic vibe takes hold thanks to a bouncy groove built on a mischievous guitar riff and skipping drums. The middle section is dominated by Bolin’s witty, complex funky guitar improvisation, while Hughes energetically holds down a catchy, melodic chorus.
»Dealer«, whose lyrics clearly reference Hughes’ and Bolin’s run-ins with drug dealers, is another funk rock standard, where Coverdale’s bluesy vocal keeps a grave tone throughout, as if he wanted to warn about the wrong turns of that kind of lifestyle. A short dreamy section comes courtesy of Bolin’s sudden vocal entrance, which adds a personal note to the dramatic atmosphere, while his delicious guitar solo is once again a real feast for the ears. On »I Need Love«, which strikes a fine balance between traditional hard rock shades and funky rhythmic inserts, Bolin’s fiery guitar riff comes closest to Blackmore’s way of crafting innovative guitar phrases. Coverdale’s vocal fits the lyrics with ‘love’ in the title like a glove, and in classic blues manner he shakes his untamed hormones all over the place. Bolin’s solo improvisation is backed by funky rhythms and soulful vocalizations.
The hard rocker »Drifter« is another »Come Taste the Band« evergreen that never lets up on its hyperactive atmosphere, watched over with authority by Coverdale’s unbridled, romantically tinged vocal confession about a wanderer. Hughes joins him with backing harmonies on the chorus, while Bolin, after a short guitar solo backed by relentless drum fills, steers the whole thing into faster rhythmic territory. The calmer middle section brings Lord’s organ solo and yet another inventive Bolin improvisation, until it all ends abruptly over rolling drums.
The punchy evergreen »Love Child« is another splendid achievement, where Bolin faithfully follows Blackmore’s spirit of cooking up fiery, iconoclastic guitar phrases, while Coverdale, over relentless drum meanders, once again hits proper vocal orgasms as he tells of recent romantic entanglements. A dash of prog rock experimentalism comes from a short but complex instrumental section with a witty Lord synth solo. The stirring suite »This Time Around/Owed To ‘G’« is the most technically accomplished and complex »Come Taste the Band« classic, with the main vocal baton passing once more to a Hughes in splendid spirits. The jazzy intro is a melancholic, piano-driven ballad, where Hughes’ inconsolable vocal slowly builds an extraordinary ambient drama and again shows off his astonishing versatility and boundless emotional range. In the second, instrumental part, the drama only escalates with the sudden onslaught of fiery guitar phrases and mighty organ variations, until it peaks with yet another voluptuous Bolin guitar solo.
The high point of the whole album, and of the short-lived Mark IV lineup, is the closing masterpiece »You Keep On Moving«, where outstanding nostalgia keeps spilling over into indescribable melancholy through an intense atmosphere. Here Hughes and Coverdale complement each other again after a long time with passionate vocal harmonies. The slow build-up of the mood rests on a swaying rhythm in the calm intro, where Hughes’ deeply melancholic vocal builds the drama, backed by a mighty guitar phrase and shimmering waves of Hammond organ. Eventually it shifts into a grittier section with epic guitar passages and fiery drum transitions, where Hughes keeps wowing with his vocal range. Lord’s otherworldly organ solo is the best on the whole album and paves the way for Coverdale’s riled-up vocal, which this time plays a smaller role than Hughes but is no less effective at building that mighty atmosphere. The melodramatic, synchronized interplay of guitar and organ passages delivers a truly epic finish.
The CD version released for the 35th anniversary of the original album includes some interesting bonus goodies, with the single version of »You Keep On Moving« and the solid heavy rocker »Same in LA« standing out, while »Bolin/Paice Jam« is an interesting instrumental jam between the tragic guitarist and a drummer who knows every trick in the book.
Often overlooked, the classic »Come Taste the Band« is a worthy farewell to Deep Purple’s seventies and an immensely valuable testament to Bolin’s unique guitar talent, one that makes you forget Blackmore was ever gone. Sadly, many fans are only now, with Bolin long gone, realizing just how criminally overlooked a chapter in the Deep Purple story this really was. The Mark IV lineup was dogged by problems even on tour, mostly involving Hughes and especially Bolin, who, thanks to his heroin addiction, despite the occasional still-brilliant performance, found it harder and harder to keep up with the rest of the band onstage and kept putting them in awkward spots.
After their last gig with Bolin in the lineup, in the middle of London in 1976, ended in disaster, Coverdale, with tears in his eyes, wanted to tell the rest of the band and management that he was quitting for good. He had no idea that Lord and Paice, who couldn’t bear to watch the legendary band fall apart into a parody of itself on the backs of two addicts, had quietly decided weeks earlier that Deep Purple’s shelf life had run out. After the big disappointment, Coverdale threw himself into a solo career with all sails set, which soon grew into his own band called Whitesnake, where Lord and Paice eventually joined him too. Hughes, who battled cocaine addiction for a long time, started a successful solo career that continues to this day, while Bolin wasn’t so lucky, as an overdose of heroin at the end of 1976, while he was getting ready for the release of his second solo album »Private Eyes«, proved fatal. Deep Purple reunited after eight years in their most beloved Mark II lineup and put out the excellent album »Perfect Strangers« in 1984, but that’s another story.
Line-up
David Coverdale – vocals
Tommy Bolin – guitar, bass guitar on “Comin’ Home”, backing vocals on “Comin’ Home” and shared vocals on “Dealer”
Glenn Hughes – vocals, bass guitar
Jon Lord – keyboards, piano, synthesizer
Ian Paice – drums, percussion
Production
Deep Purple and Martin Birch
Track list
1. Comin’ Home (3:54)
2. Lady Luck (2:48)
3. Gettin’ Tighter (3:36)
4. Dealer (3:53)
5. I Need Love (4:24)
6. Drifter (4:05)
7. Love Child (3:07)
8. This Time Around/Owed to ‘G’ (6:13)
9. You Keep on Moving (5:22)
