JOHNNIE BOLIN, Brother Of Late DEEP PURPLE / JAMES GANG Guitar Legend TOMMY BOLIN, Dead At 77

Johnnie Bolin, the brother of late Deep Purple/James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin (who died on December 4, 1976), has passed away.

Deep Purple website Darker Than Blue reports:

The death of Johnnie Bolin last week has been reported, aged 70. It is as Tommy Bolin’s brother (his other, Rick, passed away some time ago) that most of us will know and remember him (and the striking family likeness is clear in the photo here – note the drum sticks in his back pocket), although he had his own musical career – most recently as drummer in Black Oak Arkansas (joining in 1988) – and of course he worked all too briefly briefly with Tommy in the Bolin Band.

Johnnie was also instrumental in getting the annual Bolinfest memorial event up and running (for some thirty years – I know several folk who managed to get over for one of these, sadly despite the many invites, I never did) and generally keeping his brother’s musical legacy alive. We had a correspondence with him over many Bolin projects across the years, he was always helpful and enthusiastic and that is how I will best remember him. And my thoughts too at this time for Johnnie’s great friend Trace Keane, who often kept us in touch when Johnnie was on the road; one of the good guys.

Read more, and find a link to an interview with Johnnie which helps fill in some of the background for both Johnnie and Tommy, at Darker Than Blue.