Remembering Peter Green

Peter Allen Greenbaum was born October 29, 1946 in London, England. He picked up the guitar at age 11, his brother taught him a D chord and the next day he was in a band. By Christmas he was playing lead guitar in “Peter’s Blue Balls” where he met Mick Fleetwood. 

Peter replaced Eric Clapton in “John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers” and was the talk of the town. An up and coming guitar slinger. He was touted as the next great jewish blues guitar hero. Green was known for his tone and feel. He was often referred to as the jewish BB King. 

Fleetwood Mac

In 1967 he formed “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac featuring Peter Green”. They shortened the name to “Fleetwood Mac” and did well for themselves: “Black Magic Woman” (later covered by Santana), followed by the guitar instrumental “Albatross” (1969), which reached number one in the British singles charts. More hits written by Green followed, including “Oh Well”, “Man of the World” (both 1969) and the ominous “The Green Manalishi” (1970), later covered by Judas Priest. 

Peter took too much LSD and it impacted him negatively. He was never the same and slowly lost his mind and was unable to function much. He left Fleetwood Mac and  endured periods of mental illness and destitution throughout the 1970s and 1980s. 

Green is an under rated guitarist, but many rock guitarists have cited Green as an influence, including Gary Moore, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, and more recently, Mark Knopfler, Noel Gallagher, and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood. Green was The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson’s pick in Guitar World’s “30 on 30: The Greatest Guitarists Picked by the Greatest Guitarists”.

Fleetwood Mac went on to huge fame and fortune as a pop band after adding Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green passed away in 2020. 

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