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Peter Green
Name...Peter Allen Greenbaum
Date of birth...29 Oct 1946
Place of birth...Bethnal Green, London
Instruments...Guitar, vocal, harmonica.
British Blues/rock Guitarist, founder of Fleetwood mac.
A figurehead in the British blues movement, Green inspired BB King to say "He has the sweetest tone I have ever heard, he was the only one to ever give me cold sweats". Greens playing was marked with a distinctive vibrato and economy of style as well as his unique tone from his 1959 Gibson Les Paul as a result of his neck pickup being reversed to produce 'out of phase' sound. He used a Fender Stratocaster to record the classic track Albatross and used a national resonator on Oh Well part 1.
Green played lead in Peter Barden's, P B Looners Band. In 1966 after a three month stint he had the opportunity to fill in for Eric Clapton in the "John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers" Band for three gigs, upon Claptons departure not long after he was hired full time. Green made his debut album with the Bluesbreakers with "A Hard Road" featuring two compositions by Green, "The Same Way" and "Supernatural", the latter was one of Greens first instrumentals that would soon become a trademark. In 1967 Green formed his own "Bluesband" after appearing on just one album with the Bluesbreakers, (just as Clapton had done).
The name of Greens new band was Fleetwood Mac. It originated from the bands rhythm section that consisted of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. In the late 70`s the band topped the charts with mainstream pop/rock but initially it was a straight Blues Band playing classic Blues and some original material. Green wrote the song "Black Magic Woman" that was later covered by the great Carlos Santana. Green was the leader of the group throughout their initial period of success when hits included "Oh Well", "Man Of The World" and the British classic No1"Albatross".
Following the release of "Albatross" and his consequential fame, Green began to struggle spiritually with the bands success and being in the spotlight. While touring Europe, after a gig in Munich, Green went on a three day LSD fueled binge, in his own words he "Went on a trip and never came back". Green's personality changed drastically after the episode, he began wearing a robe, grew a beard and wore a crucifix on his chest. His use of LSD may well have been a contributory factor to his Schizophrenia. Green quit Fleetwood Mac in 1970, his final performance was May 20th 1970, they recorded a jam session "The End Of The Game". Green then faded into obscurity taking a series of menial jobs. It was in this period Green sold trademark 1959 Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard to Irish guitarist Gary Moore. Green had a brief reunion with Fleetwood Mac when Jeremy Spencer left the group, Green flew to the states to help the band complete their tour and was also uncredited on the 1973 album "Penguin" where he played on the "Nightwatch" track, also appearing on "Browneyes" on the 70`s album "Tusk".
In 2004 Green moved to Sweden, shortly after he joined "The British Blues All Stars" but the 2004 tour was cancelled. Green said that the medication he took to treat his psychological problems sapped his strength and made it difficult to play guitar. Whether there will ever be any future appearances by Green remains to be seen but either way Peter Green will go down in history as one of the greatest Blues guitarists of all time.
GOD BLESS YOU PETER. |
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