Peter Green was the creme de la creme of British Blues-Rock guitarists from the 1960's "Guitar God" era. BB King and Eric Clapton both hold him in high regard. Countless others have sung his praises over the years, and yet countless more have no idea who the hell he is, even if they unwittingly know his material.
Peter's art is something special to me though. When I was in my mid 20's, his music spoke to me from a dark place spiritually. His best material bleeds with a heaviness that tears at my soul to this day. He was coming from a different perspective than his contemporaries of that era. Very few really executed dark and heavy material as well as Peter did in the late 60's.
When I first discovered Peter, it was the late '90's and thirty years after Peter introduced his blues band to the world. I admit, I never would have known his genius were it not for a Fleetwood Mac box set ordered through Columbia House, but when I saw that Peter was the sole writer of Black Magic Woman, it sparked my interest enough to give the early years a listen.
Before I dissect his material, there is something I should mention for those not in the know: In 1967, Peter Green founded Fleetwood Mac, a little band that broke every LP sales record known in 1977. It's drummer Mic Fleetwood and bassist John McVie were the only mainstay members from Peter's original group, but the iconic band of the '70's rise to international fame is another story entirely. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac had some impact in the UK in the late '60s (his star shines brighter still across the pond than here in the USA), but the real breakthrough success was not going to happen with Peter, as he quit his band.
Yes, Peter quit the Mac (and music almost entirely) in 1970. That was 5 years before the aquisition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks that led Fleetwood Mac to super stardom. Why did Peter quit? Because he went LSD bat-shit crazy. Hey, it happens. There is a thin line between genius and insane, or so they say.
Peter came back to the land of sanity in the '90's, and even started a band featuring Cozy Powell. They released 9 LP's under the name Peter Green Splinter Group. Unfortunately, by the time he finally came back, his ship had sailed many moons prior without him aboard. It is hard to create second chances in life, and you have such a small window in the Music biz anyway. Oh well.
Enough about that, for the sake of keeping this short, I am moving on to the music, but only looking at three selections. Not by coincidence, they are three of the most covered, coveted and copied of Peter's catalog:
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Green Manalishi:
I'll say it, and let it float out there. With all due respect, Judas Priest butchered this song. The sped up gnt..gnt..gnt..gnt.. JP signature makes this beast sound radio and the 16th notes on the high hat is borderline disco. Oh, I'll admit, this version kicks ass... but it's not really supposed to kick ass, is it? Worst yet, the signature line "cause you're the Green Manalishi with a two pronged crown" makes very little sense coming from Rob Halford.
Peter Green's original Green Manalishi is Hammer of the Gods heavy. It's evil and doomy. It's honest and did not need any "Metal Treatment". For you metal elitists getting ready to aim some strongly worded mud at me for calling out JP, I say this: Judas Priest does not really need this song (they have more "staples" then, well, Staples), nor do they need Diamonds & Rust or Johnny B Good.
It's simple math: Judas Priest > Cover Tunes
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Oh Well:
I have heard many covers of this song, none of which even comes close to Peter's, except for the one that kinda does. It is a live tribute sung and played by Lindsey Buckingham while fronting Fleetwood Mac. The rest, well, I get it, but it's tough to re-capture magic.
General rule of thumb: don't cover stuff just because the lyrics are cool.
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Black Magic Woman:
I almost hate to admit this: I really don't like Santana's version very much. I respect Santana, but more for his calculated resurrection in 1999 than his classic version of this song. However, when I hear the forgotten Fleetwood version, I almost forget the former. The original is a stripped down blues tune with swing. The lyric is witty. Gone is the over embellished keyboards and trippy dippy hippie-ness.
From a nerds perspective Santana's production is light years better, but sometimes sub-par producing adds character. Peter's delivery speaks for itself.
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Joe Perry, Billy Gibbons, BB King, Tom Petty and many others covered Peter's music. Peter's art is loved by his peers, and he has gotten huge recognition over the years by the rock community. I am sure he will remain under the radar to the masses however, and quite frankly, thats where I like him.
Peter's story is a great read. Fleetwood Mac's story is a better one. Big props to Mic and John for keeping that beast together. Little known fact: Nago loves the Mac in most of it's incarnations. Peter Green and Lindsay Buckingham are both in my top 10 guitar players list, and Mic Fleetwood may be the most underrated Rock drummer of all time (save one Louie Rice).
Go Green.......
Baby stop nerdin 'round, you're nerdin' round all the time.
