Peter Solley (19 October 1948 – 16 November 2023) was an English musician and record producer. He recorded with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs wi ...

and

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

, as well as producing records for

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave music, new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a Surrealism, surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and wri ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit, Michigan. The band's music is often categorized as power pop and new wave. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Mo ...

, Jo Jo Zep,

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

, The Sports,

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock music, rock and New wave music, new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single "Whole Wide World (song), Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two d ...

and many others.

Biography

At the age of 13, he won a scholarship to

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in London and after graduating became a session musician. In the late 1960s he played in The Thunderbirds, the backing group for vocalist

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock music, rock, blues and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time (Rolling Stones song), Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Ric ...

, and was also in the backing band of singer

Terry Reid Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949), nicknamed "Superlungs", is an English rock vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist best known for his emotive style of singing in appearances with high-profile musicians as vocalist, supporting act and s ...

, who toured with

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

in the United States in 1968. During 1969 and 1970 he served as touring organist for

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock music, rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwoo ...

. Solley was a founding member of British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

, whose second LP ''Paladin Charge!'' featured a cover design by Roger Dean. Following the break-up of Paladin in 1973, Solley joined Fox, which had a series of hit singles before breaking up in 1977. In 1973-75 he was a member of

SNAFU SNAFU is an acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression "Situation normal: all fucked up". It is a well-known example of military slang, military acronym slang. It is sometimes censored to "all fouled up" or similar. It me ...

, playing and singing on two of their three albums. After turning down membership in several groups, in 1976 Solley became a member of the

group

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold more than List of best-selling si ...

playing organ and synthesisers, (this allowed Chris Copping to take over on

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

). During his time with the group he recorded one album, '' Something Magic'', and toured extensively to promote the album. Shortly afterwards the group broke up. In 1978 he joined the newly founded Whitesnake recording their debut EP ''

Snakebite A snakebite is an injury caused by the bite of a snake, especially a venomous snake. A common sign of a bite from a venomous snake is the presence of two puncture wounds from the animal's fangs. Sometimes venom injection from the bite may ...

''. On the sleeve, he was credited as a special guest, but he continued touring with the band until July 1978. His position in the band was later taken by Jon Lord. The following year he provided the string arrangement for "Smithers-Jones" on

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

's '' Setting Sons'' album. In the 1980s, Solley began writing TV jingles for clients including

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, and he became a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. His credits include albums for the Australian bands

Sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

(''Don't Throw Stones'') and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons (''Screaming Targets'', ''Hats Off Step Lively'') and the 1982 Jo Jo Zep album ''Cha'', featuring the novelty salsa-rock hit "Taxi Mary" with duet vocals by Jane Clifton. Solley's best-known production is the 1979 single " What I Like About You" by

. He also produced the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated album, '' 1916'' by

. He has produced albums for Ted Nugent, Peter Frampton, Mountain, and others, several receiving Grammy nominations, and arranged strings for The Jam several times. His songs have appeared on the Billboard charts, he's played jazz, and conducted the New York Philharmonic strings. In 1997, he briefly re-joined Procol Harum for a concert in Redhill and, in 2004, played with their lead singer

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

in a concert in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

. Solley was of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n descent, his grandparents were from Romania. His father was Leslie Solley, a British politician and barrister. Solley died on 16 November 2023, at the age of 75.

References

External links

Procol Harum.com biography of Peter Solley
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solley, Peter 1948 births 2023 deaths Alumni of Trinity College of Music Procol Harum members English rock keyboardists English people of Romanian descent The Crazy World of Arthur Brown members Whitesnake members English record producers Musicians from London