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Gregg Rolie

June 17, 1947

In the pantheon of rock, Gregg Rolie occupies a rather interesting place. From being at the epicenter of the 60s counterculture with Santana to smack dab in the middle of 70s arena rock with Journey, Gregg has had a life and career most only ever dream of.

A Seattle native, Gregg would begin his musical path in Alto, California with William Pen & His Pals. Everything changed one day in a tomato patch high tailing it from the man, and in that tomato patch was a young guitar player named Carlos Santana. With how good Carlos was, all the potential he had even then, Gregg simply couldn’t pass up a chance to play with him, hence the formation of the Santana Blues Band.

After a change in personnel and a shortening of the name, Santana truly found its groove. Their sound instantly recognizable, a melting pot of rock, blues, jazz, psychedelia, and Latin music that was like no others before them. And though the name was Santana, make no mistake; this band was truly a band. You had Michael Shrieve ferociously attacking the skins, Chepito Areas’ timbales and Michael Carabello’s congas coloring the rhythms, David Brown holding the fort down, Carlos’ hypnotic leads, and bringing it all home was Gregg. On the Hammond or Fender Rhodes, his licks were so tasty and fluid, so complimentary of Carlos’ guitar and able to help create the spiritual atmosphere of Santana. And the voice on “Black Magic Woman”? “Oye Como Va”, “Evil Ways”? Yep, that’s Gregg Rolie. His voice a husky tenor, able to be noteworthy without drawing attention away from the whole. And that’s without touching on his role in helping to write and arrange the material the band played.

So many amazing things were achieved by Santana during Gregg’s time; all those shows at the Fillmore, East, West, or Original, many hit songs and records that still get people going many years later, and of course their performance at Woodstock. But Carlos had an itch to see what else there was, eager to dig deeper into jazz and fusion. Despite his misgivings, Gregg would stay long enough to contribute to Caravanserai, and quite well if I do say so. Nevertheless, the Santana chapter came to a close and Gregg moved on. He’d help his old man run a restaurant, realized it wasn’t for him, so back to music. And lucky for him, he had Santana’s other guitar slinger Neal Schon to hook up with and start a band.

The new band began life as Golden Gate Rhythm Section, initially backing various Bay Area artists before building a name for themselves. Literally, as they changed their name, taking a roadie’s suggestion to call themselves. As a younger fan, it was naturally a shock for me to find those first three Journey albums. Not the stadium rock they’ve made their bread and butter on, you instead get a really strong progressive jazz rock outfit with some very compelling musicianship. I particularly love that first record, which has such a purity to it. “In A Lifetime”, particularly, has perhaps Gregg’s finest vocals, one that really packs a punch to the gut, every bit as soulful and full of heart as Neal’s leads on the track.

That progressive style obviously didn’t stay for long, with the band streamlining their sound and bringing in a frontman, first Robert Fleischman and then finally Steve Perry. Even without being able to stretch out as much, Gregg was still game. Far from resenting his position as lead singer going to somebody else, he was more than happy to have a strong singer in the band to harmonize with and help carry the load. For three records, Gregg remained an integral figure as ever. He was the perfect harmony singer for Perry, crafting this really warm, vibrant sound as golden as the Golden Gate Bridge. And he would even still get to sing a lead or two on each album, allowing the records to get different vocal flavors. As keyboardist, he was able to play for the song while still occasionally sneaking in some musicianship through the back door. And as songwriter, he’d contribute to the likes of “Feeling That Way/Anytime”, “Winds Of March”, “City of Angels”, and “Someday Soon”.

Sadly, that chapter would close as well, though the Gregg Rolie story didn’t come anywhere the end. On the contrare, he’d front two of his own bands in The Storm and the Gregg Rolie Band in addition to reuniting with many members of the classic Santana band as Abraxas Pool before reuniting with Santana itself for Santana IV. He’s been a staple of Ringo’s All Starr Band since 2012, sharing the stage with a Beatle in addition to the likes of Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather, Gregg Bissonette, and Joe Walsh. And he’s done a great deal of work supporting music education, becoming an official supporter then a board of directors member of Little Kids Rock.

When I said Gregg has enjoyed a life and career most only dream of, I meant it. He’s been apart of so much music that’s touched people’s lives, inspired them to become musicians, to be better musicians, or to simply pushing through the hard knocks of life. Any band or setting is that much better for him being there, and he’s never allowed his fame or fortune to go to his head.

Happy birthday Gregg, thank you for all the joy and memories you’ve given me and I hope I finally get to see you in the future.

Description

Gregg Rolie

June 17, 1947

In the pantheon of rock, Gregg Rolie occupies a rather interesting place. From being at the epicenter of the 60s counterculture with Santana to smack dab in the middle of 70s arena rock with Journey, Gregg has had a life and career most only ever dream of.

A Seattle native, Gregg would begin his musical path in Alto, California with William Pen & His Pals. Everything changed one day in a tomato patch high tailing it from the man, and in that tomato patch was a young guitar player named Carlos Santana. With how good Carlos was, all the potential he had even then, Gregg simply couldn’t pass up a chance to play with him, hence the formation of the Santana Blues Band.

After a change in personnel and a shortening of the name, Santana truly found its groove. Their sound instantly recognizable, a melting pot of rock, blues, jazz, psychedelia, and Latin music that was like no others before them. And though the name was Santana, make no mistake; this band was truly a band. You had Michael Shrieve ferociously attacking the skins, Chepito Areas’ timbales and Michael Carabello’s congas coloring the rhythms, David Brown holding the fort down, Carlos’ hypnotic leads, and bringing it all home was Gregg. On the Hammond or Fender Rhodes, his licks were so tasty and fluid, so complimentary of Carlos’ guitar and able to help create the spiritual atmosphere of Santana. And the voice on “Black Magic Woman”? “Oye Como Va”, “Evil Ways”? Yep, that’s Gregg Rolie. His voice a husky tenor, able to be noteworthy without drawing attention away from the whole. And that’s without touching on his role in helping to write and arrange the material the band played.

So many amazing things were achieved by Santana during Gregg’s time; all those shows at the Fillmore, East, West, or Original, many hit songs and records that still get people going many years later, and of course their performance at Woodstock. But Carlos had an itch to see what else there was, eager to dig deeper into jazz and fusion. Despite his misgivings, Gregg would stay long enough to contribute to Caravanserai, and quite well if I do say so. Nevertheless, the Santana chapter came to a close and Gregg moved on. He’d help his old man run a restaurant, realized it wasn’t for him, so back to music. And lucky for him, he had Santana’s other guitar slinger Neal Schon to hook up with and start a band.

The new band began life as Golden Gate Rhythm Section, initially backing various Bay Area artists before building a name for themselves. Literally, as they changed their name, taking a roadie’s suggestion to call themselves. As a younger fan, it was naturally a shock for me to find those first three Journey albums. Not the stadium rock they’ve made their bread and butter on, you instead get a really strong progressive jazz rock outfit with some very compelling musicianship. I particularly love that first record, which has such a purity to it. “In A Lifetime”, particularly, has perhaps Gregg’s finest vocals, one that really packs a punch to the gut, every bit as soulful and full of heart as Neal’s leads on the track.

That progressive style obviously didn’t stay for long, with the band streamlining their sound and bringing in a frontman, first Robert Fleischman and then finally Steve Perry. Even without being able to stretch out as much, Gregg was still game. Far from resenting his position as lead singer going to somebody else, he was more than happy to have a strong singer in the band to harmonize with and help carry the load. For three records, Gregg remained an integral figure as ever. He was the perfect harmony singer for Perry, crafting this really warm, vibrant sound as golden as the Golden Gate Bridge. And he would even still get to sing a lead or two on each album, allowing the records to get different vocal flavors. As keyboardist, he was able to play for the song while still occasionally sneaking in some musicianship through the back door. And as songwriter, he’d contribute to the likes of “Feeling That Way/Anytime”, “Winds Of March”, “City of Angels”, and “Someday Soon”.

Sadly, that chapter would close as well, though the Gregg Rolie story didn’t come anywhere the end. On the contrare, he’d front two of his own bands in The Storm and the Gregg Rolie Band in addition to reuniting with many members of the classic Santana band as Abraxas Pool before reuniting with Santana itself for Santana IV. He’s been a staple of Ringo’s All Starr Band since 2012, sharing the stage with a Beatle in addition to the likes of Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather, Gregg Bissonette, and Joe Walsh. And he’s done a great deal of work supporting music education, becoming an official supporter then a board of directors member of Little Kids Rock.

When I said Gregg has enjoyed a life and career most only dream of, I meant it. He’s been apart of so much music that’s touched people’s lives, inspired them to become musicians, to be better musicians, or to simply pushing through the hard knocks of life. Any band or setting is that much better for him being there, and he’s never allowed his fame or fortune to go to his head.

Happy birthday Gregg, thank you for all the joy and memories you’ve given me and I hope I finally get to see you in the future.