Peter Green (musician)

Peter Allen Greenbaum was born in Bethnal Green, London, on 29 October 1946, into a Jewish family,{{cite web |url=http://www.loti.com/sixties_music/peter_green.htm |title=Peter Green – The Sixties Remembered – Sixties Music |publisher=Loti.com |access-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124021639/http://www.loti.com/sixties_music/peter_green.htm|archive-date=24 November 2011}} the youngest of Joe and Ann Greenbaum's four children. His brother, Michael, taught him his first guitar chords and by the age of 11, Green was teaching himself. He began playing professionally by the age of 15, while working for a number of east London shipping companies. He first played bass guitar in a band called Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes, which performed pop chart covers and 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/peter-bs-looners-p429514|title=Pater B's Looners|author=Eder, Bruce|publisher=allmusic.com|access-date=6 January 2012}} His recording of "If You Wanna Be Happy" was an instrumental cover of a song by Jimmy Soul.{{cite web |url=http://www.fmlegacy.com/Bios/biopeter.html |title=Peter Green Biography |publisher=Fmlegacy.com |access-date=30 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428011827/http://www.fmlegacy.com/Bios/biopeter.html |archive-date=28 April 2009 }} 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.

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.

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

{{blockquote|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.|sign=|source=}}

Green made his recording debut with the Bluesbreakers in 1966 on the album A Hard Road (1967),{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/John-Mayall-The-Bluesbreakers-A-Hard-Road/release/775178/ |title=John Mayall A Hard Road |year=1969 |publisher=discogs.com |access-date=16 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110131523/http://www.discogs.com/John-Mayall-The-Bluesbreakers-A-Hard-Road/release/775178 |archive-date=10 November 2012 }} 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".{{cite web |url=http://bolesblues.com/2010/10/03/peter-green-the-green-god-with-the-holy-grail-guitar/ |title=Peter Green: The Green God with the Holy Grail Guitar |publisher=Boles Blues |date=3 October 2010 |access-date=30 December 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321054353/http://bolesblues.com/2010/10/03/peter-green-the-green-god-with-the-holy-grail-guitar/ |archive-date=21 March 2012 }} In 1967, Green decided to form his own blues band and left the Bluesbreakers. Green attributed this decision to his dissatisfaction with the musical direction of the Bluesbreakers, which he believed was veering away from blues music.{{Cite book |last=Jopling |first=Norman|title=Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac: Interviews and Encounters |publisher=Chicago Review Press |date=19 August 1967 |isbn=978-161373-234-2 |editor-last=Egan |editor-first=Sean |chapter=Peter Green – The Guitarist Who Won't Forsake the Blues |publication-date=2016|pages=2–3 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/fleetwoodmaconfl0000unse_f7y2/page/2/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=registration}}

File:Fleetwood mac peter green 2.jpg

Green's new band, with former Bluesbreaker Mick Fleetwood on drums and Jeremy Spencer on guitar, was initially called "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". Bob Brunning was temporarily employed on bass guitar (Green's first choice, Bluesbreakers' bassist John McVie, was not yet ready to join the band)."[http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=3&c=1 Bassplayer (05/06/1995), A life with Fleetwood Mac – John McVie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404140708/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=3&c=1 |date=4 April 2016 }}", Blue Letter Archives. URL last accessed 20 February 2007 Within a month they played at the Windsor National Jazz and Blues Festival in August 1967,{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-story-of-peter-greens-fleetwood-mac-as-told-by-john-mayall-mike-vernon-and-green-himself |title=The story of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, as told by John Mayall, Mike Vernon and Green himself |last=Black |first=Johnny |website=Guitar World |date=9 July 2020 |access-date=27 July 2020}} and were quickly signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/fleetwood-mac-peter-green-bob-welch-david-fricke-1034127/ |title=Before the Landslide: Inside the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac |last=Fricke |first=David |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=26 July 2020 |access-date=27 July 2020}} Their repertoire consisted mainly of blues covers and originals, mostly written by Green, but some were written by slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer. The band's first single, Spencer's "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" with Green's "Rambling Pony" as a B-side, did not chart but their eponymous debut album made a significant impression, remaining in the British charts for 37 weeks.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28702/fleetwood-mac/ |title=Fleetwood Mac |publisher=Official UK Charts Company |access-date=27 July 2020}} By September 1967, John McVie had replaced Brunning.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mbHDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT261 |title=The Rockin' 60s: The People Who Made the Music |last=Helander |first=Brock |year=2012 |publisher=Schirmer Trade Books |isbn=978-0-85712-811-9 |page=261}}

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, Mr. Wonderful, was released in 1968 and continued the formula of the first album. In the same year they scored a hit with Green's "Black Magic Woman" (later covered by Santana), followed by the guitar instrumental "Albatross" (1969), which featured new band member 18-year-old Danny Kirwan and reached number one in the British singles charts. More hits written by Green followed, including "Oh Well", "Man of the World" (both 1969) and the ominous "The Green Manalishi" (1970). The double album Blues Jam in Chicago (1969){{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fleetwood-mac-p4273/discography/compilations|title=Fleetwood Mac Compilations|publisher=allmusic.com|access-date=4 January 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103001454/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fleetwood-mac-p4273/discography/compilations|archive-date=3 January 2012}} 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.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2tCGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT457 |title=Relix: The Book: The Grateful Dead Experience |last=Brown |first=Toni |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=457|isbn=9781617134159 }}

In 1969, after signing to Immediate Records for one single ("Man of the World",Liner notes for the CD The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac, 1968–1970, "Jet" Martin Celmins, Trojan Records, 2002. prior to that label's collapse) the group signed with 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.{{cite book|last=Rawlings|first=Terry|title=Then, now and rare British Beat 1960–1969|year=2002|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=0-7119-9094-8|page=77}} 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.{{cite AV media notes|first= Mike |last= Vernon |title= The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions |title-link= The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions |year= 1999 |others= Fleetwood Mac |type= CD box set booklet |publisher= Sire Records }}

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."

While touring Europe in late March 1970, Green took LSD at a party at a commune near Munich, an incident cited by Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis as the crucial point in his mental decline.John McVie – "Peter Green: Man of the World", BBC TV, 2009Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p28 Communard Rainer Langhans mentions in his autobiography that he and Uschi Obermaier met Green in Munich and invited him to their Highfisch-Kommune. Fleetwood Mac 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.Dawson, Dinky & Alan, Carter, "Life on the Road", Billboard, 1998, pp. 131–132. 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k92x1|title=Peter Green: Man of the World|work= BBC Four|date= 2009|access-date=26 July 2020}}

On 27 June 1970 Green appeared at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music with John Mayall, Rod Mayall (organ), Ric Grech (bass) and Aynsley Dunbar (drums). In that same year he recorded a jam session with drummer Godfrey Maclean, keyboardists Zoot Money and Nick Buck, and bassist Alex Dmochowski of The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation; Reprise Records released the session as The End of the Game, Green's first post-Fleetwood Mac solo album. Also soon after leaving Fleetwood Mac, Green accompanied former bandmate keyboardist Peter Bardens (of Peter B's Looners) on Bardens' solo LP The Answer, playing lead guitar on several tracks. In 1971, he had a brief reunion with Fleetwood Mac, helping them to complete a U.S. tour after guitarist Jeremy Spencer had left the group, performing under the pseudonym Peter Blue.SPL 1046 Stony Plain Records LP "White Skies" 1981 liner notes His first solo single, "Heavy Heart", was released in June 1971. That same month, he also performed the single on Top of the Pops with the co-writers of the song, which included Chris Kelly and Clifford Chewaluza on percussion and Nigel Watson on bass.{{Cite magazine |date=29 May 1971 |title=Green TV |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Sounds/70s/Sounds-1971-05-29.pdf |access-date=13 April 2025 |work=Sounds |pages=2 |via=World Radio History}}

Green recorded two tracks for the album Juju with Bobby Tench's band Gass,{{cite book

|last = Larkin |first = Colin |title = The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music |year = 1995

|publisher = Guinness |page = 947 |isbn = 1-56159-176-9 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/guinnessencyclop06lark}} followed by a solo single, one with 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.

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.{{cite book

| last = Celmins

| first = Martin

| title = Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac

| year = 1995

| publisher = Castle

| page = 143

| isbn = 1-898141-13-4

}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4703771/Shall-I-tell-you-about-my-life....html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091219223718/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4703771/Shall-I-tell-you-about-my-life....html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2009|title=Shall I tell you about my life...|author=Martin Celmins|date=31 August 1996|website=The Telegraph|access-date=13 January 2019}} In the 2011 BBC documentary Peter Green: Man of the World,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k92x1|title=BBC4 Peter Green: Man of the world|date=6 February 2011|publisher=bbc.co.uk|access-date=12 January 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023223021/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k92x1|archive-date=23 October 2011}} 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.{{cite book

| last = Celmins

| first = Martin

| title = Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac

| year = 1995

| publisher = Castle

| page = 145

| isbn = 1-898141-13-4

}}

File:Peter Green -Fleetwood Mac 1983.jpg 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.{{cite book

| last = Celmins

| first = Martin

| title = Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac

| year = 1995

| publisher = Castle

| page = 148

| isbn = 1-898141-13-4

}}

In 1981, Green contributed to "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Super Brains" on Mick Fleetwood's solo album The Visitor. He recorded various sessions with a number of other musicians notably the Katmandu 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. Despite attempts by Gibson Guitar Corporation to start talks about producing a "Peter Green signature Les Paul" guitar, Green's instrument of choice at this time was a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion guitar.{{cite web|url=http://www.archtop.com/ac_96hrf.html|title=1996 Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion|publisher=archtop.com|access-date=17 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223005911/http://www.archtop.com/ac_96hrf.html|archive-date=23 February 2010}} 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').{{cite web|last=Green|first=Peter|title=The Penguin Q&A Sessions|url=http://fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/petergreen_qa2.htm|work=FleetwoodMac.Net|access-date=25 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930094751/http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/petergreen_qa2.htm|archive-date=30 September 2014}} 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!"Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press p. 29.

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, between 1997 and 2004.{{cite news |title=Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green has died |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/fleetwood-mac-co-founder-peter-green-died-2715066 |access-date=26 July 2020 |work=NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs |date=25 July 2020}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/07/26/peter-green-guitarist-founded-fleetwood-mac-vanished-scene-decades/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/07/26/peter-green-guitarist-founded-fleetwood-mac-vanished-scene-decades/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Peter Green, guitarist who founded Fleetwood Mac but vanished from the scene for decades – obituary|date=26 July 2020|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}} 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.

Along with the other members of Fleetwood Mac, Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. 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,{{cite journal | title=The Return of Jeremy Spencer | last=Wasserzieher | first=Bill | author-link=Bill Wasserzieher | journal=Blues Revue | url=http://www.bluesrevue.com/jeremyspencer.html | access-date=20 May 2008 | date=October 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220105101/http://www.bluesrevue.com/jeremyspencer.html | archive-date=20 February 2008 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }} 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:

{{blockquote|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.{{cite web | work=The Penguin | url=http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/johnmcvie2_qa1.htm | title=The Penguin Q&A Sessions: John McVie Q&A Session, Part 2 | date=January 2006 | access-date=2008-05-20 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512122846/http://fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/johnmcvie2_qa1.htm | archive-date=12 May 2008 | df=dmy-all }}}}

In May 2009, Green was the subject of the BBC Four documentary Peter Green: Man of the World produced by Henry Hadaway.{{cite news |title=BBC Four - Peter Green: Man of the World |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k92x1 |access-date=26 July 2020 |work=BBC}} 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".{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/the-peter-green-tribute-concert-10-guitar-highlights-from-david-gilmour-kirk-hammett-billy-gibbons-pete-townshend-and-more|title=The Peter Green tribute concert: 10 guitar highlights from David Gilmour, Kirk Hammett, Billy Gibbons, Pete Townshend and more|author=Scott Rowley|website=Guitarworld.com|date=26 February 2020 |access-date=25 July 2020}} Fleetwood said the following year that Green was aware of the concert but did not attend. An album from this performance was released under the title Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac.{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Gary |date=20 April 2021|title=Mick Fleetwood's all-star tribute to Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green gets movie, album release |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2021/04/mick-fleetwoods-all-star-tribute-to-fleetwood-mac-co-founder-peter-green-gets-movie-album-release.html |access-date=18 April 2025 |website=Cleveland }}

Robin Denselow in The Guardian described Green as being "interested in expressing emotion in his songs, rather than showing off how fast he could play".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/25/peter-green-fleetwood-mac-founder-and-guitar-hero-of-the-british-blues-scene |title=Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac founder and guitar hero of the British blues scene|author-link = Robin Denselow|author= Denselow, Robin|work= The Guardian|date = 25 July 2020|access-date = 5 January 2022}} He has been praised for his swinging shuffle grooves and soulful phrases and favoured the minor mode and its darker blues implications. His distinct tone can be heard on "The Supernatural", an instrumental written by Green for John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers' 1967 album A Hard Road. This song demonstrates Green's control of harmonic feedback. The sound is characterised by a shivering vibrato, clean cutting tones, and a series of ten-second sustained notes. These tones were achieved by Green controlling feedback on a Les Paul guitar.

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.{{cite book

| last = Bacon

| first = Tony

| title = Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia

| publisher = Portable

| page = 124

| isbn = 1-57145-281-8

| year = 2000

}} 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.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.

File:Lespaul2DD629F92-0E01-498E-BB20-B144A3482AE8.jpg

{{cite web|last=Scapelliti|first=Christopher|title=Kirk Hammett Talks About His Prize: Peter Green and Gary Moore's Les Paul|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/kirk-hammett-talks-about-his-prize-peter-green-and-gary-moores-les-paul-see-it-action/25904|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806153921/http://www.guitarworld.com/kirk-hammett-talks-about-his-prize-peter-green-and-gary-moores-les-paul-see-it-action/25904|archive-date=6 August 2016|access-date=12 August 2016|website=Guitarworld.com|date=5 August 2016 }}

In the 1990s, Green played a 1960s Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion model, using Fender Blues DeVille and Vox AC30 amplifiers. Towards the very end of his playing days, the Gibson ES-165 saw more use.

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29196/man-of-the-world-the-peter-green-collection |title=Man of the World: The Peter Green Collection |access-date=8 August 2023 |website=Bonhams.com}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/36801/ | title=The Collection of Legendary Guitarist Peter Green Soars Past Estimate at Bonhams Sale |access-date=8 August 2023 |website=Bonhams.com}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29196/man-of-the-world-the-peter-green-collection |title=Man of the World: The Peter Green Collection |access-date=8 August 2023 |website=Bonhams.com}} Green's handwritten lyrics of Man of the World were expected to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000.{{cite web |url=https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/36129/ |title=Bonhams press release | access-date=8 August 2023 |website=Bonhams.com}} Some of the instruments were exhibited at the Guitar Show in Birmingham in February 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/peter-green-bonhams-auction-2023 |title=Over 150 guitars owned and played by Peter Green set to go up for auction | access-date=8 August 2023 |website=guitarworld.com|date=17 February 2023 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/peter-green-bonhams-auction |title=Inside Peter Green's guitar collection| access-date=8 August 2023 |website=guitarworld.com|date=23 June 2023 }}

Many rock guitarists have cited Green as an influence, including Gary Moore,{{cite web|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/classic-interview-gary-moore-talks-blues-for-greeny-jack-bruce-bb-king-albert-collins-and-never-playing-with-clapton|title=Classic interview: Gary Moore talks Blues For Greeny, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins and never playing with Clapton|work=musicradar|date=23 December 2019 |access-date=26 July 2020}} Joe Perry of Aerosmith,{{cite web|url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Joe-Perry/biography|title=Joe Perry Biography|publisher=monstersandcritics.com|access-date=3 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416054740/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Joe-Perry/biography|archive-date=16 April 2010}} Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash{{cite web

|url = http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/andy-powell-id-do-a-wishbone-ash-reunion/

|title = Classic Rock Magazine: Andy Powell Interview

|publisher = classicrockmagazine.com

|access-date = 3 April 2010

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100115061806/http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/andy-powell-id-do-a-wishbone-ash-reunion/

|archive-date = 15 January 2010

|df = dmy-all

}} and more recently, Mark Knopfler,{{Cite web|url=https://www.markknopfler.com/morenews/peter-green/|title=Peter Green|website=www.markknopfler.com}} Noel Gallagher and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.{{cite magazine |title=Radiohead's Secret Influences, From Fleetwood Mac to Thomas Pynchon |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18060334/radioheads_secret_influences_from_fleetwood_mac_to_thomas_pynchon/6 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421060907/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18060334/radioheads_secret_influences_from_fleetwood_mac_to_thomas_pynchon/6 |access-date=5 November 2019|url-status=dead |archive-date=21 April 2009 }}

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".

His songs have been recorded by artists like Santana, Aerosmith, Status Quo,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ma-kellys-greasy-spoon-mw0000191961|title=Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon - Status Quo | Songs, Reviews, Credits|via=www.allmusic.com}} The Black Crowes, Midge Ure,{{cite news

|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/midge-ure-delights-fans-airdrie-2825832

|title=Midge Ure delights fans with Airdrie show

|work=Daily Record (Scotland)

|date=27 March 2013

|access-date=3 October 2014

|url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006120917/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/midge-ure-delights-fans-airdrie-2825832

|archive-date=6 October 2014

}} Tom Petty,[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-best-fleetwood-mac-songs-20130327/7-oh-well-0227469 "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs. No. 7. Oh Well"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031092533/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-best-fleetwood-mac-songs-20130327/7-oh-well-0227469 |date=31 October 2014 }}. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 October 2014 Judas Priest,{{cite web|url=http://mediawahwah.com/2010/07/14/the-tragic-tale-of-the-green-god/ |title=The Tragic Tale of the Green God " Media Wah Wah |publisher=Mediawahwah.com |access-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321045313/http://mediawahwah.com/2010/07/14/the-tragic-tale-of-the-green-god/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 March 2012}} 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.

Green married Jane Samuels in January 1978; the couple divorced in 1979. They had a daughter.{{cite web |title=Peter Green, guitarist and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, dies at 73 |url=https://ew.com/music/peter-green-fleetwood-mac-co-founder-dies-at-73/ |website=Entertainment Week |author= Aquilina, Tyler|date = 25 July 2020|access-date=25 July 2020}}

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.{{cite book| last = Celmins| first = Martin| title = Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac - Revised and Updated Edition| year = 2022| publisher = Omnibus Press| page = 280| isbn = 978-1-913172-54-1}}

He lived for a period on Canvey Island, Essex,{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/14602602.it-was-like-liverpool-in-the-1960s-canveys-music-scene-remembered/|title=It was like Liverpool in the 1960s – Canveys music scene remembered|work=Evening Echo|author= Richmond, Maurice|date=7 July 2016|access-date=20 October 2019}} where he died in his sleep on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73.{{cite news |title=Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green dies aged 73 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53539989 |work=BBC News |date=25 July 2020|access-date = 5 January 2022}}

{{Main|Peter Green discography}}

• The End of the Game (1970)
• In the Skies (1979)
• Little Dreamer (1980)
• Whatcha Gonna Do? (1981)
• White Sky (1982)
• Kolors (1983)

• Fleetwood Mac (1968)
• Mr. Wonderful (1968)
• Then Play On (1969)
• Fleetwood Mac in Chicago (1969)
• Penguin (1973) (one song)
• Tusk (1979) (one song)

• A Hard Road (1967)

• Peter Green Splinter Group (1997)
• The Robert Johnson Songbook (1998)
• Destiny Road (1999)
• Hot Foot Powder (2000)
• Time Traders (2001)
• Blues Don't Change (2001)
• Reaching the Cold 100 (2003)

• A Case for the Blues (1985)

• A Touch of Sunburn (1985)

{{Reflist}}

• Bacon, Tony. Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. Portable (2006). {{ISBN|978-1-59223-053-2}}
• Celmins, Martin. Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac. Castle (1995). {{ISBN|1-898141-13-4}}
• Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness (1992). {{ISBN|978-1-882267-02-6}}
• The circumstances surrounding Peter Green's experience at the Highfisch-Kommune are explored in Ada Wilson's novel [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1901927482/ Red Army Faction Blues] {{ISBN|978-1-901927-48-1}}
• Celmins, Martin: Peter Green. Founder of Fleetwood Mac. Revised & Updated Edition. Omnibus Press, 2022. {{ISBN|978-1913172541}}

{{Commons category|Peter Green}}

• [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Green-and-Friends/135271205734 Peter Green and Friends on Facebook]
• {{Discogs artist|Peter Green (2)}}
• {{IMDb name|id=1467069}}
• [http://rockhall.com/inductees/fleetwood-mac/ Fleetwood Mac inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – 1998]
• [http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/five-essential-peter-green-live-solos/62196 Guitar Player Magazine – Peter Green: 5 Essential Live Solos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020180246/http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/five-essential-peter-green-live-solos/62196 |date=20 October 2017 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170319022644/http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1026/10-things-you-gotta-do-to-play-like-peter-green-the-early-years-1966-1970/22124 Guitar Player Magazine – Peter Green: Guitar Playing 1966–1970]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa36oA8L-6Y&t=3588s Peter Green - The Munich Incident (Peter's son interviews Rainer Langhans).]

{{Peter Green}}

{{Fleetwood Mac}}

{{John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers}}

{{1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Peter}}

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