My brother, Peter Solley, who has died aged 75, was a musician and producer. He played the organ, the piano and keyboards with a number of successful pop and rock groups of the 1960s and 70s before moving into record production.
In 1966 Peter enjoyed a year playing with the Thunderbirds, Chris Farlowe’s backing band, on tour with Albert Lee and Carl Palmer (later a founder member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer). He then spent 1968-69 touring as organist with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, before travelling across the US on keyboards in the band of the singer Terry Reid. In the early 70s he was a founding member of the British progressive rock band Paladin, and later he had a year playing the Hammond organ with Procol Harum until they disbanded in 1977.
As he had gradually became enmeshed in the US music scene, hanging out with people such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, Peter had begun to move into studio work, producing four albums for the Detroit band the Romantics, and later for Ted Nugent, Peter Frampton, Motörhead and Wreckless Eric.
Born in Holloway, north London, and brought up in a political and intellectual household, Peter was the son of José Fisher, who opened Raw Deal, one of the first vegetarian bistros in London, and Leslie Solley, a barrister and postwar Labour MP. Peter took to music from a young age, setting up a jazz band at Hendon county grammar school and playing lead trumpet in the first National Jazz Youth Orchestra before switching to keyboards.
Based in Florida after his career in rock and pop, Peter began writing advertising jingles for large corporate groups such as British Airways, Coca-Cola and BMW, and in 2007 he moved to Vermont, where he made his own gelato ice-cream for a cafe in the village of Newfane that he ran with his wife, Susan (nee Tondeau), whom he had married shortly before leaving Florida. It was so successful that he started making gelato commercially.
Peter is survived by Susan and a daughter, Hannah, from his first marriage, to Ann Crockford, who died in 1975.
