A Look At Peter Green's Legacy

10/25/2011
. (Gibson) Peter Green is far from the lean, furry-faced rock star who fronted the original incarnation of Fleetwood Mac and wrote such insanely great blues-infused classics as "Black Magic Woman" and "Oh Well." But for all of his trials with mental and physical health issues, Green, who turns 65 on October 29, remains active on the rock and blues trail.

One of the fundamental architects of the mid-to-late 1960s Gibson Les Paul Standard sunburst sound, Green was Eric Clapton's replacement in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He smeared transcendent guitar all over 1967's A Hard Road, setting a creative bar in British blues with his interpretations of classics like Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" and Freddie King's "The Stumble," plus contributing his own now-classic songs "The Same Way" and the instrumental "The Supernatural," which remains the tonal textbook for balancing volume, sustain and natural reverb.

That same year Green ventured off with Mayall's rhythm section to form Fleetwood Mac. Over the next three years and four studio albums, Green's version of Fleetwood Mac were at the creative forefront of the blues-rock movement, quickly creating a catalog that includes "Black Magic Woman," the instrumental hit "Albatross," "Oh Well," "Man of the World," "Rattlesnake Shake" and "The Green Manalishi." Those tunes remain touchstones for any guitarist serious about exploring the best of British blues. more on this story

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