Happy 2009 Video Birthday to Blues Master Peter Green

by Robert Wilkinson

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest guitar heroes ever to pick a note, the legendary Peter Green. This guitar genius founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 and wrote some of the most haunting songs ever recorded, including "The Supernatural," "Black Magic Woman," "Oh Well," and the amazing "Green Manalishi." Enjoy these great videos celebrating the birthday of this master of electric blues.

This is the blues player about whom the legendary BB King said, "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats." No small praise from one of the greatest blues guitarists in history! Another from the great BB: "Peter Green has more talent in his little finger than I have in my whole body." Some backstory from last year's post:

Peter Green replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and recorded the early Mayall masterwork "A Hard Road." He then went on to found Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac with other alumni of Mayall's English blues incubator. This was a different Fleetwood Mac than most know, since they were the height of hard core British electric blues, and not the pop rock and roll group of the mid-70s.

With 3 guitars including Danny Kirwin and the amazing slide work of Jeremy Spenser they forged an entirely different sound altogether. The band was (and are) considered one of the greatest electric blues band ever to come out of the UK. In 1969 Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac sold more records in Great Britain than the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Yes, they were THAT good!

I had the incredible experience of seeing Peter play in Austin in December 1969 when Fleetwood Mac opened for Jethro Tull on the latter's "Stand Up" tour, complete with wildman Ian Anderson leaping on stage high kicking in his chequered coat complete with long tails.

It was truly one of the most amazing concerts I've ever seen. That night, Peter was a very long hairy creature in a long white robe, looking like some kind of ancient biblican figure playing a screaming version of electric blues-rock that was stunning in its impact.

Last year I had some links that are no longer good - too bad, since some were beyond great (including an amazing version of "Homework.") So I found a few more. Enjoy!

A great live performance of Rattlesnake Shake by Peter and Fleetwood Mac at the Playboy Club probably late 1969. (Hef's sounding erudite!)

A truly great live performance of the legendary Oh Well from the BBC "Monster Music Mash" in 1969. Another version here.

A good live performance of Need Your Love So Bad probably from 1968.

We finish out the performance videos with a few more Fleetwood Mac live performances from the late 1960s,

Shake Your Moneymaker

Like It This Way

Another music video of a live performance of Shake Your Moneymaker.

4 minutes of live Fleetwood Mac.

After many years in the proverbial desert, Peter came back to create the Peter Green Splinter Group. Though much different than Fleetwood Mac, they're definitely worth checking out!

Here's the Peter Green Splinter Group performing an incredibly beautiful live audio version of his first classic, The Supernatural.

Here's the Splinter Group doing another of Peter's major hits from the early days, Albatross.

Here's a great video of the Peter Green Splinter Group performing his last masterwork, "The Green Manalishi." Several more fantastic versions of this harrowing self-confessional are at the end of the article.

These are audios from the 60s, some live!

Here's the original album version of the first song of his I heard, The Supernatural featuring Peter playing with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Whether the version above or this one, it's still an extraordinarily haunting blues piece!

"Coming Home"

Live At Filmore West

"Coming Your Way" (Live)

Here are a few more early Fleetwood Mac songs showcasing Peter's guitar mastery:

The original audio version of Black Magic Woman.

A great live audio version from 1970 of Black Magic Woman.

Here's another live audio version of Black Magic Woman.

From "Then Play On," the original album track of Coming Your Way

From the 1968 album "English Rose," Jigsaw Blues by Danny Kirwin.

And now for "The Green Manalishi (with the two pronged crown)," which was its original title.

I found a truly amazing 7 and a half minute music video which includes segments of an extended live performance of The Green Manalishi. - A great version of the song, and a good video to boot! Another version here.

Here's the studio version of The Green Manalishi.

Here's an interesting live performance of The Green Manalishi by Fleetwood Mac long after Peter had left.

A brief piece from a documentary on Fleetwood Mac: Crazy Fleetwood Mac

Peter, thanks for showing us all how magical a guitar can be in the right hands! May you have many more years of performing your tunes and turning new generations on to the electric blues, played by a master. Infinite gratitude from your countless fans! You're still an amazing musician and a great Being!

Copyright © 2009 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Alexandra]

This is SO GOOD. Thank you for the connection to this!
Your site has proven to be a wealth of a LOT of gems.

[Morvah]

Thanks Robert, Love this reminder of our awakening days. As time goes by those days seem more and more extraordinary don't they?
Shanti

[Robert]

Hi both - He's been one of my favorites since 1968, and is truly a master of his craft. Very difficult life (as per all strongly 4th Ray types) but I'm glad he's still with us. The late 60s through 1980 were a time of promise and effort, sometimes misguided idealism, but other times brilliant, beautiful, and hopeful of a world of greater conscience and diminished war. However, assassinations destroyed a dream, followed by Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes, and the apparatichiks that did so much damage. Yet the music lives on, and new generations get to discover some fairly incredible art. We got an extraordinarily vast soundtrack to the movie of our lives.

[K.]

Hi Robert,
For land sakes alive!
About a decade and a half ago, I asked a dear friend of mine to make a couple of tapes of some of his favorite ditties from his extensive Blues collection, and on one were a few from the “Live in London ‘68”, if I have the album title correct.

Now, I LOVE the Blues among my eclectic taste in music, but I’d not heard these cuts before. I asked who it was and through that smirk he’d said, “Fleetwood Mac before the girls!” Until then, I had no idea there ever was Fleetwood Mac without Stevie and Christine!

It really is a bright spot in my day to check out what present from the broad spectrum of your knowledge you’ll surprise us with each day! I am so grateful that I stumbled into your site a couple of months ago!
Thank you,
K.