A GREAT of the guitar world has left us: it has been announced that Fleetwood Mac founder member Peter Green has died at the age of 73.
The news was revealed in a short statement from his family solicitors, Swan Turton, which reads as follows:
“It is with great sadness that the family of Peter Green announce his death this weekend, peacefully in his sleep.
“A further statement will be provided in the coming days”.
Born in Bethnal Green, East London, Peter founded the blues rock outfit Fleetwood Mac in 1967, graduating from a role as bassist in Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes to a full-time role in that mid-Sixties guitar proving ground, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, in which he served for a year before breaking away to form a new outfit with Mick Fleetwood, by which time his six-string proficiency had already earned him the epithet “The Green God”.
He contributed some of the best-loved songs for Fleetwood Mac mark one, including the chart- (and culture-) dominating “Albatross” and “The Green Manalishi”.
Deep flirtation with LSD led to a turning point oft-cited by band mates and the Mac’s then manager, when he took a large dose at a Munch commune, leaving the band soon afterwards.
He released a number of solo albums but struggled with his mental health thereafter.
As late as 1988 he told Fleetwood Mac chronicler Bob Brunning: “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!”
Rest in peace, Peter. You knew how to make six strings sing for you.
