Singer/guitarist/songwriter Peter Green, who founded the band Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood in 1967, died "peacefully in his sleep" today, according to a statement from his family. He was 73. No cause of death has yet been reported.
Peter Allen Greenbaum was born in the Bethnal Green area of London, the fourth and youngest child of Joe and Ann Greenbaum. During his childhood, after learning a few chords from his brother Michael, he started teaching himself guitar. He played bass guitar in several bands before switching to lead guitar in Peter B's Looners, where he first met Mick Fleetwood. In 1966, Green replaced Eric Clapton on guitar in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, who soon afterwards recorded the album A Hard Road, with John McVie on bass and Aynsley Dunbar on drums, who was later replaced by Fleetwood. Green soon decided to leave Mayall to form his own band, which included Fleetwood and guitarist/piano player/singer Jeremy Spencer. McVie was reluctant to leave the Bluesbreakers, so the new band, named Fleetwood Mac, hired bassist Bob Brunning as a stand-in. After about six weeks, McVie changed his mind and Brunning bowed out, which gave Green the band he wanted to form.
After putting out an eponymous debut album and the follow-up Mr. Wonderful in 1968, Fleetwood Mac added guitarist/singer Danny Kirwan. This lineup produced hits such as Black Magic Woman, Oh Well, Need Your Love So Bad and the U.K. chart-topping instrumental Albatross, and the band's third studio album Then Play On. They later recorded darker sounding songs written by Green, such as Man Of The World and The Green Manalishi. In March of 1970, Green was given LSD at a party in Munich, Germany, which may have contributed to his later mental health problems, such as schizophrenia.
Green left Fleetwood Mac in May of 1970, but returned to temporarily replace Jeremy Spencer in early 1971, who had walked out mid-tour. As a guest musician, he played guitar on two later songs by the group, Night Watch by Bob Welch (who had become Spencer's permanent replacement) from the 1973 album Penguin, and Brown Eyes by Christine McVie from the 1979 album Tusk. Green also recorded a number of solo albums and put together the Peter Green Splinter Group, which put out nine albums between 1997 and 2004.
Green married Jane Samuels in January of 1978, but they divorced in 1979. They have a daughter named Rosebud.
Read more at The Sun (H/T to RZ), BBC News, the Independent, the Daily Mail and The Telegraph.
Fleetwood Mac's 1968 debut album Fleetwood Mac includes Long Grey Mare, which features temporary member Bob Brunning on bass and Peter Green on harmonica.
The band's second album Mr. Wonderful includes Stop Messin' Around, featuring guest contributions by four sax players and Christine Perfect McVie on piano. Toward the end of the video, there are some pictures of Jeremy Spencer and a woman whom I believe is Judy Wong, at the time the band's part-time secretary, who had gone to high school in California with Bob Welch.
One of the last songs recorded by Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green is The Green Manalishi. Later lineups performed this one live, with lead vocals provided by either Bob Welch or Lindsey Buckingham. Judas Priest covered this one by speeding it up.
I would have liked to include Oh Well, but I can't find a video of the entire nine-minute song. Thus, I'll finish with Green's autobiographical Man Of The World, which I've posted before but would seem appropriate for a final tribute. This version appeared on the German TV show Beat-Club.
RIP, Peter, and say "hi" to Danny and all the Bobs.
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