Gregg Rolie (b. 1947)
Gregg Alan Rolie (born 17 June 1947, Seattle, Washington), American keyboardist, singer and songwriter — founding member and original lead vocalist of Santana (1966–1972), later a founding member of Journey. Well known for his skill on the Hammond B-3 organ, with solos on Santana's early hits.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-gregg-rolie.md]
The Hammond role
- His B-3 fills and soling on "Evil Ways" and "Soul Sacrifice" (Santana, 1969) and across Abraxas (1970) form the call-and-response core of Santana's organ-guitar dialogue with Carlos Santana.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-santana-1969-album.md]^[raw/articles/wikipedia-abraxas-album.md]
- On Abraxas he played the contrasting keyboards to Alberto Gianquinto's jazz piano on "Incident at Neshabur".^[raw/articles/wikipedia-abraxas-album.md]
- Hammond Organ Co.'s own history names him among the rock keyboardists whose records put the organ in full bloom during the rock revolution.^[raw/articles/hammondorganco-hammond-story.md]
Career milestones
- Santana: founding member, lead vocalist and organist; persistent musical differences with Carlos Santana led him to leave in 1972.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-gregg-rolie.md]
- Co-founded Journey in 1973; later The Storm and Abraxas Pool; tours with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-gregg-rolie.md]
Related
- albums/abraxas — his B-3 landmark with Santana
- jon-lord / Keith Emerson — rock-era Hammond peers