Peter Green first rose to fame as a guitarist thanks to John Mayall. When Mayall's star player Eric Clapton disappeared for three months in 1965, a young Green got the chance to fill in for him for some gigs, though it did not last long as Clapton soon returned. However Mayall did not forget him, and when Clapton left for good in 1966, Peter Green was offered the job as lead guitarist of The Bluesbreakers. He subsequently appeared on 1967's A Hard Road, and quickly proved his skill as a blues musician.Green then left Mayall's band, taking with him bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Together with second guitarist Jeremy Spencer, they became Fleetwood Mac, one of the best British blues groups of the 1960s. From 1967 to 1970 Green led the band to new artistic heights, with great chart success. He became one of Britain's most distinctive blues-rock guitarists, with his delicate touch and unmistakeable tone. He also penned such classic songs as "Black Magic Woman", "Man Of The World", "Oh Well" and "The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Prong Crown)".
However it was then that his troubles began to arise, as his mental health appeared to be deteriorating (reportedly due to being spiked with some particularly potent LSD). He wanted the band to give all their money to charity, and unsurprisingly the others did not agree. He left Fleetwood Mac in 1970, disillusioned with the trappings of fame.
That same year he released his first solo album. The End Of The Game was a very strange record, and to fans of his music with Fleetwood Mac it must have appeared very worrying, and sure proof that he had gone off the rails. It did not feature any songs, but rather six loose improvised jams, dark and unpredictable in character, and defiantly uncommercial. Starting a solo career with such an experimental release was always going to be risky, but it seems he did not have any plans for continuing his career. The next year he released two singles in a similar style, and then seemed to completely retire from the music business. He did not release another album until 1979.
|> In The Skies (1979)
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3 comments:
It's difficult to determine if this is at the beginning or end (or in the middle) of the blog.
I love some of the choices.
Are these "faves" or what.
Certainly not definitive, in a broad sense. What about Yardbirds, for e.g.
So I wonder what the criteria are. I've looked and haven't been able to determine.
Hmmm.
I just want to say that this album ranks among the best ever. Sadly overlooked just because many think Green was just a junkie at the time. Who gives a damn, he was a major artist nonetheless nad his band could back him effectively. I would for sure have this album with me, had I to choose ten to bring along for my last trip to a desert island.
The End of the Game was a contractual obligations album. Peter was legally bound to produce another album on 1970, even after leaving Mac. Since Peter had decided to leave the music biz, he quickly assembled a group of talented musicians and recorded a brilliant full length jam session.
Great album, got the original on vinyl.
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