Peter Green (musician)

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Peter Green
Green in 1970
Green in 1970
Background information
Birth namePeter Allen Greenbaum
Born(1946-10-29)29 October 1946
Bethnal Green, London, England
Died25 July 2020(2020-07-25) (aged 73)
Canvey Island, Essex, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • harmonica
Years active1961–2020
Labels
Formerly of

Peter Allen Greenbaum (29 October 1946 – 25 July 2020),[1][2] known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist.[3] As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.

Green was a major figure in the "second great epoch"

B.B. King commented, "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats."[5][6][7] His trademark sound included string bending, vibrato, emotionally expressive tone, and economy of style.[4][8]

In June 1996, Green was voted the third-best guitarist of all time in Mojo magazine.[9][10] In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked him at number 58 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[11] Green's tone on the instrumental "The Supernatural" was rated as one of the 50 greatest of all time by Guitar Player in 2004.[12]

Biography

1946–1965: Early life and career

Peter Allen Greenbaum was born in

rock 'n' roll standards, including Shadows covers. He later stated that Hank Marvin was his guitar hero and he played the Shadows' song "Midnight" on the 1996 tribute album Twang. He went on to join a rhythm and blues outfit, the Muskrats, then a band called the Tridents in which he played bass. By Christmas 1965 Green was playing lead guitar in Peter Bardens' band "Peter B's Looners", where he met drummer Mick Fleetwood. It was with Peter B's Looners that he made his recording début with the single "If You Wanna Be Happy" with "Jodrell Blues" as a B-side.[14] His recording of "If You Wanna Be Happy" was an instrumental cover of a song by Jimmy Soul.[15] In 1966, Green and some other members of Peter B's Looners formed another act, Shotgun Express, a Motown-style soul band which also included Rod Stewart, but Green left the group after a few months.[2]

1966–1967: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers

In October 1965, before joining Bardens' group, Green had the opportunity to fill in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for four gigs. Soon afterwards, when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers, Green became a full-time member of Mayall's band from July 1966.[4]

Mike Vernon, a producer at Decca Records recalls Green's début with the Bluesbreakers:

As the band walked in the studio I noticed an amplifier which I never saw before, so I said to John Mayall, "Where's Eric Clapton?" Mayall answered, "He's not with us anymore, he left us a few weeks ago." I was in a shock of state [sic] but Mayall said, "Don't worry, we got someone better." I said, "Wait a minute, hang on a second, this is ridiculous. You've got someone better? Than Eric Clapton?" John said, "He might not be better now, but you wait, in a couple of years he's going to be the best." Then he introduced me to Peter Green.[15]

Green made his recording debut with the Bluesbreakers in 1966 on the album A Hard Road (1967),[16] which featured two of his own compositions, "The Same Way" and "The Supernatural". The latter was one of Green's first instrumentals, which would soon become a trademark. So proficient was he that his musician friends bestowed upon him the nickname "The Green God," itself a reference to Eric Clapton's nickname "God".[17] In 1967, Green decided to form his own blues band and left the Bluesbreakers.[4]

1967–1970: Fleetwood Mac

Green on 18 March 1970

Green's new band, with former Bluesbreaker Mick Fleetwood on drums and

British charts for 37 weeks.[21] By September 1967, John McVie had replaced Brunning.[22]

Although classic blues covers and blues-styled originals remained prominent in the band's repertoire through this period, Green rapidly blossomed as a songwriter and contributed many successful original compositions from 1968 onwards. The songs chosen for single release showed Green's style gradually moving away from the group's blues roots into new musical territory. Their second studio album,

Blues Jam in Chicago (1969)[23] was recorded at the Chess Records Ter-Mar Studio in Chicago. There, under the joint supervision of Vernon and Marshall Chess, they recorded with some of their American blues heroes including Otis Spann, Big Walter Horton, Willie Dixon, J. T. Brown and Buddy Guy.[24]

In 1969, after signing to

Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records label and recorded their third studio album, Then Play On, which prominently featured new third guitarist and songwriter Kirwan. Green had first seen Kirwan in 1967 playing with his blues trio Boilerhouse, with Trevor Stevens on bass and Dave Terrey on drums.[26] Green was impressed with Kirwan's playing and used the band as a support act for Fleetwood Mac, before recruiting Kirwan to his own band in 1968 at the suggestion of Mick Fleetwood.[27]

Beginning with the melancholy lyric of "Man of the World", Green's bandmates began to notice changes in his state of mind. He began taking large doses of LSD, grew a beard and began to wear robes and a crucifix. Mick Fleetwood recalls Green becoming concerned about accumulating wealth: "I had conversations with Peter Green around that time and he was obsessive about us not making money, wanting us to give it all away."[15]

While touring Europe in late March 1970, Green took LSD at a party at a

roadie Dinky Dawson remembers that Green went to the party with another roadie, Dennis Keane, and that when Keane returned to the band's hotel to explain that Green would not leave the commune, Keane, Dawson and Mick Fleetwood travelled there to fetch him.[30] By contrast, Green stated in 2009 that he had fond memories of jamming at the commune. "I had a good play there, it was great, someone recorded it, they gave me a tape. There were people playing along, a few of us just fooling around and it was... yeah it was great." He told Jeremy Spencer at the time "That's the most spiritual music I've ever recorded in my life." After a final performance on 20 May 1970, Green left Fleetwood Mac.[31]

1970–1973: After Fleetwood Mac

On 27 June 1970 Green appeared at the

Gass,[33] followed by a solo single, one with Nigel Watson, sessions with B.B. King in London in 1971 and an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's Penguin LP in 1973, on the song "Night Watch". At this time, Green's mental illness and drug use had become entrenched and he faded into professional obscurity.[15]

1974–2009: Illness and first re-emergence

Green was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals undergoing electroconvulsive therapy during the mid-1970s. Many sources attest to his lethargic, trancelike state during this period.[34] In 1977, Green was arrested for threatening his accountant David Simmons with a shotgun. The exact circumstances are the subject of much speculation, the most famous being that Green wanted Simmons to stop sending money to him.[35] In the 2011 BBC documentary Peter Green: Man of the World,[36] Green stated that at the time he had just returned from Canada needing money and that, during a telephone conversation with his accounts manager, he alluded to the fact that he had brought back a gun from his travels. His accounts manager promptly called the police, who surrounded Green's house.[37]

Hala Pionir in Belgrade
on 30 May 1983.

In 1979, Green began to re-emerge professionally. With the help of his brother Michael, he was signed to Peter Vernon-Kell's PVK label, and produced a string of solo albums starting with 1979's In the Skies. He also made an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's double album Tusk, on the song "Brown Eyes", released the same year.[38]

In 1981, Green contributed to "

Les Paul" guitar, Green's instrument of choice at this time was a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion guitar.[39] In 1986, Peter and his brother Micky contributed to the album A Touch of Sunburn by Lawrie 'The Raven' Gaines (under the group name 'The Enemy Within').[40] This album has been reissued many times under such titles as Post Modern Blues and Peter Green and Mick Green – Two Greens Make a Blues, often crediting Pirates guitarist Mick Green
.

In 1988 Green was quoted as saying: "I'm at present recuperating from treatment for taking drugs. It was drugs that influenced me a lot. I took more than I intended to. I took LSD eight or nine times. The effect of that stuff lasts so long ... I wanted to give away all my money ... I went kind of holy – no, not holy, religious. I thought I could do it, I thought I was all right on drugs. My failing!"[41]

Along with the other members of Fleetwood Mac, Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.[2] In the early 2000s there were rumours of a reunion of the early line-up of Fleetwood Mac, involving Green and Jeremy Spencer. The two guitarists and vocalists were apparently unconvinced of the merits of such a project,[42] but in April 2006, during a question-and-answer session on the Penguin Fleetwood Mac fan website, bassist John McVie said of the reunion idea:

If we could get Peter and Jeremy to do it, I'd probably, maybe, do it. I know Mick would do it in a flash. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much chance of Danny doing it. Bless his heart.[43]

In May 2009, Green was the subject of the BBC Four documentary Peter Green: Man of the World produced by Henry Hadaway.[44] On 25 February 2020 an all-star tribute concert was performed at the London Palladium, billed as "Mick Fleetwood and Friends Tribute to Peter Green". The Guitar World review said that Green was not in attendance and possibly unaware of the event.[45]

1997–2009: Peter Green Splinter Group

Green formed the Peter Green Splinter Group in the late 1990s, with the assistance of Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell. The group released nine blues albums, mostly written by Watson,[2] between 1997 and 2004.[46] Early in 2004, a tour was cancelled and the recording of a new studio album stopped when Green left the band and moved to Sweden.[47] Shortly thereafter he signed on to a tour with the British Blues All Stars scheduled for the following year. In February 2009, Green began playing and touring again, this time as Peter Green and Friends.[46]

Musical style

Les Paul guitar.[12]

Equipment

Early in his career, Green played a Harmony Meteor, an inexpensive hollow-body guitar. He began playing a Gibson Les Paul with the Peter B's, a guitar which was often referred to as his "magic guitar". Though he played other guitars, he is best known for deriving a unique tone from his 1959 Les Paul.[6][49] Green later sold it to Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore for all the money Moore could get by selling his Gibson SG guitar. Green had bought the guitar after his first spell with Mayall but before joining the Peter B's, for £114 from Selmers in Charing Cross Road. In 2014, Kirk Hammett of Metallica bought the guitar. Hammett has stated that he paid quite a bit less than $1m for it, being in the right place when the guy who was selling it needed some cash.[50]

In the 1990s, Green played a 1960s

Fender Blues DeVille and Vox AC30 amplifiers.[4] Towards the very end of his playing days, the Gibson ES-165 saw more use.[39]

By the time of his death, Green had accumulated more than 150 electric and acoustic guitars and other instruments. They were sold at auction by Bonhams of London in June 2023. The sale also included amps and equipment, programmes, records, letters, sketchbooks, and handwritten lyrics.[51][52] A 1968 Gretsch White Falcon semi-acoustic and a 1931 National Duolian Resonator each sold for £38,400, and a 1999 Fender Strat USA Custom Shop relic guitar fetched £23,040.[53] Green's handwritten lyrics of Man of the World were expected to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000.[54] Some of the instruments were exhibited at the Guitar Show in Birmingham in February 2023.[55][56]

Influence and legacy

Many rock guitarists have cited Green as an influence, including Gary Moore,[57] Joe Perry of Aerosmith,[58] Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash,[59] and more recently, Mark Knopfler,[60] Noel Gallagher, and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.[61] Green was The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson's pick in Guitar World's "30 on 30: The Greatest Guitarists Picked by the Greatest Guitarists" (2010). In the same article Robinson cites Jimmy Page, with whom the Crowes toured: "he told us so many Peter Green stories. It was clear that Jimmy loves the man's talent".[7] Green's songs have been recorded by artists such as Santana, Aerosmith, Status Quo,[62] The Black Crowes, Midge Ure,[63] Tom Petty,[64] Judas Priest,[65] and Gary Moore, who recorded Blues for Greeny, an album of Green compositions. In 1995, the tribute album Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green was released, and subsequently was reissued in 2000 as Peter Green Songbook.

Personal life

Green married Jane Samuels in January 1978; the couple divorced in 1979. They had a daughter.[66]

Enduring periods of mental illness and destitution throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Green moved in with his older brother Len and Len's wife Gloria, and his mother in their house in

Gorleston near Great Yarmouth, where a process of recovery began.[15][67]

He lived for a period on Canvey Island, Essex,[68] where he died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73.[2][69]

Discography

Main article: Peter Green discography

Solo albums

With Fleetwood Mac

With John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

With the Peter Green Splinter Group

With Katmandu

With The Enemy Within

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Peter Green". Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e Pareles, Jon (26 July 2020). "Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac's Founder, Is Dead at 73". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. ^ Dantzig, Jol (16 August 2011). "The Secret of Peter Green's Tone". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Marshall, Wolf (September 2007). "Peter Green: The Blues of Greeny". Vintage Guitar. 21 (11): 96–100.
  5. ^ "Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, The Band, The Music, The Legacy". Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  6. ^ a b "15 Iconic Les Paul Players". Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  7. ^ a b Robinson, Rich. "Guitar World: 30 on 30: The Greatest Guitarists Picked by the Greatest Guitarists". www.guitarworld.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Thirty Great Guitarists – Including Steve Vai, David Gilmour and Eddie Van Halen – Pick the Greatest Guitarists of All Time". www.guitarworld.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  9. ^ "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Mojo (31). June 1996.
  10. ^ "Mojo – 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  11. ^ "58: Peter Green". The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  12. ^ a b Blackett, Matt (October 2004). "The 50 Greatest Tones of All Time". Guitar Player. 38 (10): 44–66.
  13. ^ "Peter Green – The Sixties Remembered – Sixties Music". Loti.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  14. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Pater B's Looners". allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Peter Green Biography". Fmlegacy.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  16. ^ "John Mayall A Hard Road". discogs.com. 1969. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Peter Green: The Green God with the Holy Grail Guitar". Boles Blues. 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Bassplayer (05/06/1995), A life with Fleetwood Mac – John McVie Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine", Blue Letter Archives. URL last accessed 20 February 2007
  19. ^ Black, Johnny (9 July 2020). "The story of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, as told by John Mayall, Mike Vernon and Green himself". Guitar World. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  20. ^ Fricke, David (26 July 2020). "Before the Landslide: Inside the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Fleetwood Mac". Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  22. ISBN 978-0-85712-811-9
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  23. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Compilations". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  24. ISBN 9781617134159
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  25. ^ Liner notes for the CD The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac, 1968–1970, "Jet" Martin Celmins, Trojan Records, 2002.
  26. ISBN 0-7119-9094-8
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  27. The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions
    (CD box set booklet). Fleetwood Mac. Sire Records.
  28. ^ John McVie – "Peter Green: Man of the World", BBC TV, 2009
  29. ^ Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p28
  30. ^ Dawson, Dinky & Alan, Carter, "Life on the Road", Billboard, 1998, pp. 131–132.
  31. ^ "Peter Green: Man of the World". BBC Four. 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  32. ^ SPL 1046 Stony Plain Records LP "White Skies" 1981 liner notes
  33. ISBN 1-56159-176-9
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  34. ISBN 1-898141-13-4
    .
  35. ^ Martin Celmins (31 August 1996). "Shall I tell you about my life..." The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 December 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  36. ^ "BBC4 Peter Green: Man of the world". bbc.co.uk. 6 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  37. ISBN 1-898141-13-4
    .
  38. ISBN 1-898141-13-4
    .
  39. ^ a b "1996 Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion". archtop.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  40. ^ Green, Peter. "The Penguin Q&A Sessions". FleetwoodMac.Net. Archived from the original on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  41. ^ Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p. 29.
  42. ^ Wasserzieher, Bill (October 2006). "The Return of Jeremy Spencer". Blues Revue. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  43. ^ "The Penguin Q&A Sessions: John McVie Q&A Session, Part 2". The Penguin. January 2006. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  44. ^ "BBC Four - Peter Green: Man of the World". BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  45. ^ Scott Rowley (26 February 2020). "The Peter Green tribute concert: 10 guitar highlights from David Gilmour, Kirk Hammett, Billy Gibbons, Pete Townshend and more". Guitarworld.com. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  46. ^ a b "Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green has died". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  47. ^ "Peter Green, guitarist who founded Fleetwood Mac but vanished from the scene for decades – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  48. ^ Denselow, Robin (25 July 2020). "Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac founder and guitar hero of the British blues scene". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  49. ISBN 1-57145-281-8
    .
  50. ^ Although much has been (inaccurately) written about the famous 'out-of-phase' sound of Peter's Les Paul, this was not a 'factory accident'. London Luthier Sam Li worked extensively on the neck pickup of the guitar twice during the period November 1966 to April 1967. He rewound the pickup with 43swg wire rather than the factory spec 42swg and later reversed the magnet to give the 'out-of-phase' B B King type sound, presumably at Peter's request. Despite published reports that the wiring was original and the pickup had never been taken off the guitar, at least one photograph of the guitar exists, taken at Decca's West Hampstead studios during the Bluesbreakers' recording session with Paul Butterfield in Late November 1966, clearly showing the pickup's absence at that time. It was replaced by early February 1967 but removed again by March that year.
    A Peter Green autographed Les Paul

    Scapelliti, Christopher. "Kirk Hammett Talks About His Prize: Peter Green and Gary Moore's Les Paul". Guitarworld.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

  51. ^ "Man of the World: The Peter Green Collection". Bonhams.com. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  52. ^ "The Collection of Legendary Guitarist Peter Green Soars Past Estimate at Bonhams Sale". Bonhams.com. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  53. ^ "Man of the World: The Peter Green Collection". Bonhams.com. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  54. ^ "Bonhams press release". Bonhams.com. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  55. ^ "Over 150 guitars owned and played by Peter Green set to go up for auction". guitarworld.com. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  56. ^ "Inside Peter Green's guitar collection". guitarworld.com. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  57. ^ "Classic interview: Gary Moore talks Blues For Greeny, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins and never playing with Clapton". musicradar. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  58. ^ "Joe Perry Biography". monstersandcritics.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  59. ^ "Classic Rock Magazine: Andy Powell Interview". classicrockmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  60. ^ "Peter Green". www.markknopfler.com.
  61. ^ "Radiohead's Secret Influences, From Fleetwood Mac to Thomas Pynchon". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  62. ^ "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon - Status Quo | Songs, Reviews, Credits" – via www.allmusic.com.
  63. ^ "Midge Ure delights fans with Airdrie show". Daily Record (Scotland). 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  64. ^ "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs. No. 7. Oh Well" Archived 31 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 October 2014
  65. ^ "The Tragic Tale of the Green God " Media Wah Wah". Mediawahwah.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  66. ^ Aquilina, Tyler (25 July 2020). "Peter Green, guitarist and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, dies at 73". Entertainment Week. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  67. ISBN 978-1-913172-54-1
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  68. ^ Richmond, Maurice (7 July 2016). "It was like Liverpool in the 1960s – Canveys music scene remembered". Evening Echo. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  69. ^ "Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green dies aged 73". BBC News. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2022.

Further reading

External links

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