Peter Green
On 29/10/1946, Peter Green was born. He was born in Bethnal Green, London. His full birth name was Peter Allen Greenbaum.Green first played the bass guitar with Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes. With the band, he performed pop chart covers and rock and roll standards. Green then went on to join the R&B band The Muskrats. After The Muskrats, he joined The Tridents, where he played bass.
In 1966, he made his recording debut when he played lead guitar in Peter B's Looner's (Peter Barden's band) song "If You Wanna Be Happy".
After three months playing in Peter Barden's band, he filled in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for three concerts. Eric Clapton left soon afterwards and Green became a full member.
In 1967, the Bluesbreakers released the album "A Hard Road" with Green. Two of the Green's compositions were on the album, "The Same Way" and "The Supernatural". Peter Green was given the name "The Green God". Later in 1967, Green left to form his own band.
Green joined Mick Fleetwood, who had also played in the Bluesbreakers. Fleetwood played the drums, Jeremy Spencer played guitar and Bob Brunning played bass. They played Windsor National Jazz and Blues Festival. Soon after they were signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label. By the end of 1967, John McVie, Green's first choice bassist, replaced Brunning.
In 1968, Fleetwood Mac released their eponymous debut, it was brought the band great success. Their second album "Mr Wonderful" was released the same year.
The band had hits with songs such as "Black Magic Woman", "Albatross", "Oh Well", "Man of the World" and "The Green Manalishi".
In 1969, they released "Blues Jam in Chicago", where they played with artists such as Otis Spann, Big Walter Horton, Willie Dixon, J.T. Brown and Buddy Guy. In the same year, they signed to Warner Bros. Records after their previous label Immediate Records collapsed. With Warner they released "Then Play On" in the same year, which included their new third guitarist Danny Kirwan.
During the making of "Then Play On", Green was taking large doses of LSD, grew a beard and wore robes.
In 1970, the band toured Europe. In Munich, Green took LSD at a commune. It has been cited as a critical point in his mental health decline. Roadie Dinky Dawson remembers himself another roadie Dennis Keane and Fleetwood needing to go and collect him from the commune after Green said he would not leave. Green declared he had fond memories when speaking about the incident in 2009.
On 20/05/1970, Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac.
In June 1970, Green joined John Mayall, Rod Mayall and Larry Taylor on stage at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. Green also accompanied Peter Barden on his album "The Answer". Green featured on the album "Juju" by Bobby Tench's band Gass. Still in 1970, he recorded a jam session called "The End of the Game".
In 1971, Green briefly reunited with Fleetwood Mac to complete a US tour. He used the pseudonym Peter Blue for the tour.
In 1972, he recorded sessions in London with B.B. King.
In 1973, he had an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's album "Penguin".
By the mid-1970s, Green's mental health had deteriorated and he spent time in psychiatric hospitals. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In 1977, Green threatened his accountant Clifford Davis with a shotgun. The circumstances are unclear, but one popular speculation is that Green wanted Davis to stop sending money to him.
In 1979, Green signed to Peter Vernon-Kell's PVK label. He started to record solo albums, starting with "In the Skies" that was released the same year. In the same year he had an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's album "Tusk".
In 1981, he contributed two songs to Mick Fleetwood's solo album "The Visitor". Green recorded for the Kathmandu album "A Case for the Blues" with Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry, Vincent Crane from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Len Surtees of The Nashville Teens.
In 1986, Peter and his brother Micky contributed to Lawrie 'The Raven' Gaine's album "A Touch of Sunburn".
In 1996, he played the Shadow's song "Midnight" on the tribute album "Twang". Hank Marvin was Green's guitar hero.
In the late 1990s, Green formed the Peter Green Splinter Group with Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell. They released nine albums between 1997 and 2004.
In 2004, the group had a tour and recording cancelled when Green left the band and moved to Sweden. Green then joined The British Blues All Stars, but the tour that was scheduled was cancelled when Dick Heckstall-Smith died.
In 2009, Green toured as Peter Green and Friends. The band toured Ireland, Germany and England.
In 2010, the group toured in Australia and were supported by Garron Frith for UK tour dates.
Peter Green has been influential. Gary Moore, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash have all cited him as an influence.