A number of guitar greats pay tribute to the late Tommy Bolin on the new double CD Great Gypsy Soul by adding their talents to songs the one time Deep Purple guitarist recorded shortly before his death at the age of 25 at the end of 1976. The seed was planted for the new album nearly a decade ago when producer Greg Hampton was working on a Bolin compilation and came across several outtakes and alternate versions of songs Bolin recorded during sessions for Teaser, his 1975 solo album. Impressed by the quality of a number of the songs, Hampton got in touch with another big Tommy Bolin fan, Warren Haynes, and pitched him on the concept - an idea the Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule guitarist immediately loved.  The two recruited Warren's band mate Derek Trucks, Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, Toto veteran Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Sonny Landreth, John Schofield, and Nels Cline of Wilco to join them in recording parts to help complete songs on the discs.  Hopes of getting Jeff Beck to participate were dashed due to scheduling problems, to the disappointment of Hampton. He credits Haynes for helping get just the right contribution out of each participant, in part for his '...ability to talk to any other player on an equal level, regardless of genre'.  The result is a project Hampton hopes will introduce a lot of new fans to the genius of the guitarist that replaced Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple.
 Gibson.com