Peter Green

Peter Allen Greenbaum was born October 29, 1946, in the East End of London to working class parents. The Greenbaum home was a musical one and before long Peter caught the big and was given a guitar by his brother who also showed him some rudimentary chords. His earliest influences were Hank Marvin and various blues musicians.



By the age of fifteen Peter was playing bass in several amateur bands befire Peter Bardens asked him to play lead in his band in 1966. The band, Peter B's Looners, did not offer too much scope for Peter's talent but it was during his short stint with the band that Peter met Mick Fleetwood. After a brief period, the now twenty year old, Green was asked to replace Eric Clapton in the legendary John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.



Taking Clapton's place proved very trickey to begin with but it didn't take too long for Peter to prove how good he was and after the loss of Clapton had faded the British blues scene had a new hero. In that same year the Bluesbreakers recorded the seminal 'Hard Road' album. Peter wrote two songs for the album most notably the instrumental masterpiece 'The Supernatural'. The song is said to have laid down the blueprint for Carlos Santana's whole style of playing and Santana also went on to score massively with a cover of Peter's 'Black Magic Woman'. After just the one album Petr elected to leave the Bluesbreakers and start hhis own band. He roped in Mick Fleetwood on drums and later recruited John McVie on bass. Thus Fleetwood Mac was born.



With just one more addition, guitarist Jeremy Spencer, the and had a complete line up. Spencer was an ElmoreJames obbsessive and brought a playful aspect to the band, which resulted in them becoming one of the main live attractions of the late sixties. Signing for Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label they released their first album in 1968 to rave reviews. They were heralded as the crusaders of the blues with Peter held aloft as king. Green, however, had bigger things in mind and began composing songs out ofthe scope of blues and bound for the hit parade. Knowing the limiations of Spencer he decided to hire a third guitarist who would be able to help him broaden his musical vision.



With the classic line up now in place Peter began redefining rock and pop music with a succession of outstanding songsthat reeked of genius. Tracks such as 'Black Magic Woman' and the number one hit 'Albatross' cemented the band's sucess but just as they were getting going things started to go wrong for the band, or more pecisely, Peter. Experimenting withacid and other various drugs began to take its toll on Peter and his mental decline can actually be observed through the songs he was writing such as 'Man Of The World' and 'Green Manalishi'. Both songs rife with loneliness, frustation and touching on insanity.



After turning to religion, to the point of wearing robes and crucifixes, and falling out with the band over financial matters Green decided to leave in 1970. The band and all the fans were devastated but by now Green was too 'far-gone' to come back. He began his solo career with an album entitled 'The End Of The Game' but it was not well received and it seemed his star had burnt out. He rejoined the Mac in the early seventies to fill in for Jeremy Spencer for some live shows and was an un-credited guest on a few album tracks but remained out of the spotlight. Towards the end of the seventies Peter began making albums again but to no real fanfare and by the early eighties he dissappeared offthe musical scene for along period.



In the time he was absent from the scene there were many stories and much speculation. There were tales of the man who grew his nails so long that he couldn't play the guitar and that he was a gravedigger amongst many other things. Therewas even the classic story of the egg and potato farmer who bore some resemblance to Peter and could not mimic his guitar work taking in Roger Taylor of Queen for a ride by claiming he was Peter and revieling him of money stating he wanted to make an album!



The real Peter started his come back when he joined Green obessed Gary Moore on stage in 1996. Soon after he was convinced by a friend and long time admirer Nigel Watson to start playing again and so after having to basically re-learn the guitar he formed The Splinter Group. The Splinter Group began playong a string of low-key dates gingerly placing Peter back in the spotlight performing a variety of blues covers. So encouraging wasthe reaction that Peter decided it wastime to getback in the studio.



The result of that decision was the self-titles 'Peter Green Splinter Group'. Not ready for writing any new compositions 'Greeny' dipped into the well he loved so much and recorded an eclectric selection of blues covers that ranged from the raw Delta style of Black Ace's 'Hitch Hiking Woman' all the way across to the classic 'Dark End Of The Street'. The album signalled that the one time hero of British blues had come back to claim his throne and was acclaimed by fans and critics alike. The following year Peter and the boys paid the ultimate tribute to the ultimate blues man when they had recorded 'Robert Johnson Songbook'.



His comeback was offered even more validity in 1998 when he was inducted into the prestigious Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. 1999 saw the release of the album 'Destiny Road'. With songs mainly written by the band this was what the fans had been waiting for and were suly rewarded as once again saled and reviews confirmed the record's success and so it would seem the comeback is complete.