Peter Green dead at 73

Peter Allen Greenbaum

October 29, 1946 - July 25, 2020

Peter Green, guitarist and co-founding member of Fleetwood Mac, died yesterday at the age of 73. A statement released yesterday says that Green passed away peacefully in his sleep. 

Born in a Jewish family in Peckham, London, England, Green started playing guitar professional by the age of 15. After playing in and out of bands throughout the 1960s, he landed a spot in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers- replacing Eric Clapton in October 1965. By 1967, Green left to form his own blues band- with Bluesbreaker bandmate drummer Mick Fleetwood joining him. Along with guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist John McVie, Fleetwood Mac were formed- with Green taking the name from the band's rhythm section of Fleetwood and McVie (although at the time of their formation, McVie wasn't ready to join just yet- technically making bassist Bob Brunning the original bassist). 

Shortly after the release of their debut album, the band brought in a third guitarist Danny Kirwan. As a five piece band with three guitarists, Fleetwood Mac stood out amongst their peers. As a musician, Green would write several of the band's early hits such as "Oh Well," "Albatross", "The Green Manalishi" and "Black Magic Woman"- with those last two later being covered by Judas Priest and Santana respectively. However, Green would leave the band in May 1970. In March of that year, the band were on tour in Europe. While in Munich, it's been said that Green attended a party at a commune- where he took LSD. Many see this point as Green's decline in mental health. Soon after leaving the band, Green would released an instrumental debut album The End of the Game in 1970.  In the years after leaving Fleetwood Mac, Green found himself in psychiatric hospitals. There was also an incident where Green held his accountant David Simmons at gunpoint.  In the late 1970s, Green was diagnosed with schizophrenia and underwent electroconvulsive therapy. 

In 1979, Green went back recording- starting with In The Skies. In the late 1990s, Green would form the Peter Green Splinter Group- with some help from musicians Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell. The band would perform and record from 1997 to 2004. For the rest of his life, Green kept a low profile while also agreeing to the occasional interview. 

In his life, Green was married once to Jane Samuels from 1978 to 1979. They would have one daughter, Rosebud- who was born in 1978.