Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), the James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining a career as a solo artist and session musician.

They played a blend of rock and roll, R&B and the pop hits of the moment, and when bassist Denny Foote left the band to be replaced by the drummer's brother George Larvick Jr, they changed their name to A Patch of Blue.

Bolin moved to Boulder, Colorado in his late teens and then played in a band called American Standard (with future songwriting collaborator Jeff Cook) before joining Ethereal Zephyr, a band named after the California Zephyr train which ran between Oakland and Chicago.

In between the James Gang albums, Bolin played on Mahavishnu Orchestra member Billy Cobham's solo album Spectrum, which included Bolin on guitar, Cobham on drums, Leland Sklar on bass and Jan Hammer (also of Mahavishnu Orchestra) on keyboards and synthesizers.

He went on to do session work for numerous rock bands and also with a number of jazz artists including Alphonse Mouzon's album Mind Transplant,[2] considered "easily one of the best fusion recordings of all time" by AllMusic reviewer Robert Taylor.

After Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, the band had a meeting and discussed whether to disband or try to find a replacement, and chose the latter option.

David Coverdale had been listening to the Billy Cobham LP Spectrum, on which Bolin was lead guitarist for four songs.

Bolin wrote or co-wrote seven of the record's nine tracks, including the instrumental "Owed to G", which was a tribute to George Gershwin.

A very sad stigma that followed Tommy joining these groups (James Gang, Deep Purple) was the fact that he was always a replacement.

While the Come Taste the Band album sold moderately well and revitalized Deep Purple for a time, the concert tours had many low points.

Bolin's issues with hard drugs, plus fellow band member Glenn Hughes' cocaine addiction, also led to several below-par concert performances.

In his final show, he opened for Beck on December 3, 1976 in Miami and performed an encore, a rendition of "Post Toastee".

[10] Bolin's father Richard was of Swedish descent, and his mother, Barbara was the daughter of Syrian immigrants.

[14] In the same year, a photo of Bolin was used for the front cover for the book Gettin' Tighter: Deep Purple '68–'76, by author Martin Popoff.

It includes works by HiFi Superstar, Doogie White, Eric Martin, Troy Luccketta, Jeff Pilson, Randy Jackson, Rex Carroll, Rachel Barton, Derek St. Holmes, Kimberley Dahme, and the 77s.

[16] Producer Greg Hampton (who has previously worked on archival Bolin releases including Whips and Roses) co-produced (with Gov't Mule leader Warren Haynes) and a tribute to Bolin, Tommy Bolin and Friends: Great Gypsy Soul, which was released in 2012, and featured contributions from Brad Whitford, Nels Cline, John Scofield, Myles Kennedy, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, and Peter Frampton among others.