Musician and Bluesman Peter Green has died.  The law firm Swan Turton announced that the artist had died peacefully in his sleep over the weekend at the age of 73.  No other details were given.

Green was just 19 when he took over for Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

The following year Green, and drummer Mick Fleetwood left to join Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning to form Fleetwood Mac.  When Brunning left the band, Bluesbreakers’ bass player John McVie took over,

Fleetwood Mac released their self titled debut album in 1968 and saw the album reach the top five on the UK album chart and remained on the chart for over a year.

Green appeared on the group’s first three albums and penned a number of their early hits including “Black Magic Woman” which later launched Santana’s meteoric career.

He left Fleetwood Mac in 1970 and released his debut solo album “ The End of the Game”.  But a stint in a mental hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia kept Green from releasing another album until 1979.   He would go on to release an album each year for the next five years.

Considered by some to be the best Blues Rocker in the UK; Blues legend B.B. King once spoke on Green saying, Green, “has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.”

Noting that Green deserved credit for the band’s early success, former band mate Mick Fleetwood described Green, “as a standout in an era of great guitar work.”

Current Fleetwood Mac lead singer spoke on Green saying, “I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Peter Green.  My biggest regret is that I never got to share the stage with him. I always hoped in my heart of hearts that that would happen. When I first listened to all the Fleetwood Mac records, I was very taken with his guitar playing. It was one of the reasons I was excited to join the band. His legacy will live on forever in the history books of Rock n Roll. It was in the beginning, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and I thank you, Peter Green, for that. You changed our lives.”

When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Green was listed as one of the inductees.

Green returned to performing in the ‘90’s with Peter Green Splinter Group.

He was born Peter Allen Greenbaum on Oct. 29, 1946  in the East London community of Bethnal Green where he began playing guitar at age 10.  Later he played in various venues around the UK while still in his teens.

This fall Fleetwood Mac will release a boxed set that will feature their music in their early years when Green was a part of the band.

Divorced, Green is survived by his children Rosebud and Liam.

Peter Green discography:
“The End of the Game”
“In the Skies”
“Little Dreamer”
“Blue Guitar”
“Whatcha Gonna Do?”
“White Skies”
“Kolors”
“Come on Down”
“A Case for the Blues”
“Peter Green” – import
“Kolors” – import
“Legend” – import
“Little Dreamer” – import
“A Portrait of Peter Green”
“A Rock Legend”
“Watcha Gonna Do” – import
“White Sky” – import
“Farewell Concert”
“Peter Green Splinter Group”
“Bandit”
“The Robert Johnson Songbook”
“Green’s Blues”
“Blues for Dhyana”
“Two Greens Make a Blues”
“Destiny Road”
“Peter Green Songbook”
“Hot Foot Powder”
“Peter Green”
“The Clown”
“MacBeth: An Original Score”
“Me & the Devil”
“Time Traders”
“Soho: Live at Ronnie Scott’s”
“A Fool No More”
“Peter Plays the Blues: The Classic Compositions of Robert Johnson”
“Reaching the Cold 100”
“Blues by Green”
“Blues Don’t Change”
“Soho Sessions: Live in Soho”
“Rarities”

 

feature photo credit: By Tony Hisgett – https://www.flickr.com/photos/hisgett/4193246701/in/faves-24788065@N02/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10046822