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Monthly Archives: July 2020

Fleetwood Mac, Obituary, Peter Green, UK Articles

Peter Green obituary | The Times

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The Times

Influential blues rock guitarist who co-founded Fleetwood Mac but quit the band as he struggled with drugs and mental illness

Fleetwood Mac in 1969, the year before Peter Green walked out after suffering a disturbing dream: from top left to right, John McVie, Danny Kirwan, Green, Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood
GETTY IMAGES

One night in 1970 after taking LSD, Peter Green had a demonic dream in which he was visited by a green hellhound that barked menacingly at him.

“It scared me because I knew the dog had been dead a long time,” he recalled later. “It was a stray and I was looking after it. But I was dead and had to fight to get back into my body.”

When he awoke Green concluded that the beast was the Devil and the dream had been telling him that money was the root of all evil. His first reaction was to write a song about his demons. The result was The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) in which he described a satanic creature “Sneakin’ around,trying to drive me mad/ Bustin’ in on my dreams/ Making me see things I don’t want to see.”

The song was both brilliant and harrowing; its sinister riff, eerie howling and tormented lyrics made it one of the most disturbing hit singles to infiltrate the generally sunny terrain of the Top Ten. It was also the last song Green recorded with his band Fleetwood Mac, for his second reaction to his dream was to leave the group and give all his money away. He allegedly threatened to shoot his accountant unless he stopped sending him royalty cheques.

“It was a freedom thing,” he told The Times in 1997, when after long years away from music he was attempting a comeback. “I wanted to go and live on a commune. In the end I never did but I had to get away from the group. Acid had a lot to do with it.” Continue reading Peter Green obituary | The Times →

Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, UK Articles

Peter Green, the Fleetwood Mac founder who dropped out, dies at 73 | The Sunday Times

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Rosamund Urwin and Grant Tucker
The Sunday Times

He was the musician who encouraged a generation of teenagers to pick up the guitar but Peter Green’s own career was marred by psychedelic drugs and mental illness.

To some music fans, Green was the best of the British blues guitarists
GEORGE WILKES/HULTON ARCHIVE

Last night, the world of rock and blues was in mourning after the death of the Fleetwood Mac co-founder at the age of 73. Green, nicknamed the Green God by fans, formed the band with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bass guitarist John McVie in London in 1967. He was so instrumental in the band’s early years that its original name was Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.

Their greatest hits included Albatross, Man of the World, Oh Well and The Green Manalishi. After he left the band, he missed out on their biggest success, the 1977 Rumours album.

Fleetwood Mac enjoyed staggering success, with four hit albums. In 1969, the band sold more records than The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, combined, and Green became one of the most famous musicians in Europe. But he left the band at the height of its fame after a final performance in 1970. He said he was leaving the music business “for my freedom” but was also suffering from mental health issues, and was hearing voices. He later had schizophrenia diagnosed.

He had gone off the rails after taking LSD. In 1996, he admitted that the drug had left a lasting impression on him. “I’m still there. . . I never did come back off the trip. I guess I took one trip too many,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

While on tour in Munich, Germany, to promote their third album, Then Play On, matters came to a head. “Peter took some more drugs,” said Mick Fleetwood in the 2012 BBC documentary Man of the World, “and never really came back from that.”

Peter Green, far left, with other members of Fleetwood Mac
ARALDO DI CROLLALANZA/COURTESY OF ORANGE AMPS

Continue reading Peter Green, the Fleetwood Mac founder who dropped out, dies at 73 | The Sunday Times →

Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green dies aged 73 | BBC News

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Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green has died aged 73.

Solicitors acting on behalf of his family said in a statement: “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.”

Blues rock guitarist Green, from Bethnal Green in east London, formed Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood in 1967.

Green left the band after a last performance in 1970, as he struggled with his mental health. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in hospital in the mid-70s.

He was among the eight members of the band – along with Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie, Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer – who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

In February this year, artists including Fleetwood, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and guitarists Jonny Lang and Andy Fairweather Low performed at the London Palladium in a gig celebrating the early years of Fleetwood Mac and its founder, Green.

Originally posted on July 25, 17:10 at this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53539989 

 

Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Press Kits, Release Info, Website Content

Fleetwood Mac Early Years CD And LP Collections Available On September 4 From Rhino

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FLEETWOOD MAC’S EARLY YEARS SPOTLIGHTED IN TWO NEW BOXED SETS

8-CD Set Fleetwood Mac 1969-1974 Includes Remastered Versions Of Seven Studio Albums Plus An Unreleased 1974 Concert

4-LP Fleetwood Mac 1973-1974 Collection Features Penguin, Mystery To Me,

And Heroes Are Hard To Find, Plus 1974 Concert And A 7” Single Limited Edition, Colored-Vinyl Edition Available For Pre-Order Now exclusively From Rhino.com

All Three Sets Will Available On September 4

LOS ANGELES – After Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, John McVie, and Jeremy Spencer started Fleetwood Mac in 1967, they quickly found an audience eager for their British-style blues. Over the next seven years, the band would sign with Reprise Records, release seven studio albums, and release many classic tracks that are still beloved today. Fleetwood Mac’s early rise to fame takes centerstage on two upcoming Rhino releases that spotlight the group’s deep-blues roots.

The first release is an 8-CD boxed set that includes remastered versions of all seven studio albums the band recorded between 1969 and 1974, several bonus tracks, and an unreleased 1974 concert recorded just a few months before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band. On September 4, FLEETWOOD MAC 1969-1974 will be available on CD for $54.98.

The set covers a five-year time frame that encompasses several different band lineups, from founding members Fleetwood, Green, McVie and Spencer; to later additions like Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, Dave Walker, Bob Welch, and Bob Weston.

The collection includes seven studio albums: Then Play On (1969), Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971), Bare Trees (1972), Penguin (1973), Mystery To Me (1973), and Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974). Those records fueled Fleetwood Mac’s early popularity in the U.K. and propelled them into the Top Ten with singles like “Man Of The World,” “Oh Well – Pt. 1,” “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown),” and the #1 hit “Albatross.” Continue reading Fleetwood Mac Early Years CD And LP Collections Available On September 4 From Rhino →