The Green Manalishi

With The Two-Pronged Crown
Peter Green's Original Fleetwood Mac
Friday, June 11, 2010

While recently reexamining the music of Paul Butterfield, I was compelled to go back and revisit yet another blues giant of the era, the great Peter Green and the original Fleetwood Mac. Although Butterfield and Green were both quantified stars in their day, we're now 10 years into the new millennium, four plus decades since they jettisoned urban blues to the forefront of our consciousness. Their influence is readily apparent in modern day practitioner's of the blues, but today their names may be remembered only by the most staunch of blues aficionados, and in Green's case, solely electric guitarists. Perhaps I'm not giving ample credit to the younger person's understanding of their place in the evolution of contemporary music today, but then I've never had a great deal of faith in people's ability to see beyond their immediate reality. I reside somewhere near the outer reaches of Ray Davies' 'Village Green Preservation Society.' While I applaud new technologies and ideas, I'm not always so quick to fully embrace them. Same goes for people. I'm much more comfortable sitting on the sidelines just observing, and more often than not, I tend to be disappointed. Anyway, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is the order of the day, and I've assembled three outstanding sets, two of which are featured this week with the third to follow next.

Jumping At Shadows

Look at this guy. Pretty somber and intense, huh? Yeah, well Peter Green was both of those things. He took the blues pretty seriously and as the leader of Fleetwood Mac, he established what in my opinion was the foremost British blues band of the period. And there were lots of them. John Mayall's incredible contributions notwithstanding, the Mac stood head and shoulders above all of the other wankers. Of course, Green wasn't always so lugubrious. He was once fairly outgoing and playful, but then he ingested too much LSD and became something of an acid casualty, an affliction shared by many others in the 1960's. As a result he drew inward becoming unsociable, unpredictable, reclusive, and extremely paranoid. I can relate. Once at a Pop Festival, and we're talkin' a long time ago just so ya' know, I was given what I was told was a hit of acid. Window Pane, or something. Turns out it was STP, a hallucinogen several times more powerful that LSD, and after two and a half days of sheer madness I can emphatically say that I wasn't very convivial either. I don't believe I ever did hear any music that long weekend, or at least anything that resembled music. Just the deafening sound of my own internal organs doing their thing hour after hour for what felt like eternity. You know, heart pumping, blood surging, valves opening and closing, stomach gurgling, muscles stretching, lungs expanding, the whole nine yards. It was a little like being in that old sci-fi flick, 'Fantastic Voyage,' except without Rachel Welch to ponder on end. And then there were the voices. Inner dialogue with each and every facet of my tortured psyche. I never knew I had so many. But that's another story. This one's about Peter Green and his acid psychosis. I mean... his music.

So in 1966 he was tapped to replace hotshot Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Most would say Green had very big shoes to fill, but you know, I never understood that whole 'Clapton Is God' stuff. Green's contribution however to the ever evolving Mayall band was simply spectacular. His clear tone, vibrato, and economy of style lent a warmer sound to the proceedings with less flash and more soul. But it only lasted for one LP, 'Hard Road.' Green was keen to front his own band, so in 1967 he recruited John McVie and Mick Fleetwood to handle bass and drums respectively and then completed the ensemble with the guitar triumvirate of Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and himself out front. What a line-up! A straight up blues-rock band that covered the war horses, and presented some highly original self penned material. But Green's mental state became increasingly compromised as his newfound band garnered rave reviews and commercial success. Green felt conflicted by their accomplishment and believed himself unworthy of the attention, as having sold out. Deciding to leave the band his condition worsened, the culmination of his angst and acid intake as self medication. I don't believe however that Green was a career acidhead. Accounts indicate that he once binged on a loss weekend and as a result of his mental instability, "took a trip, and never came back." The end result was a drifter's life outside of the limelight performing a series of dead-end, low pay menial jobs, all of which were well beneath that of a Guitar God.

The 1970's subsequently saw Green in and out of psychiatric institutions, as well as undergoing electroshock therapy, but never fully regaining his stride. After a short creative spurt he relapsed back into his internal world, and apparently lived there as quite the recluse for many years until rescued by family members in the late 80's. After nursing him back to health, he formed The Splinter Group with Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell enjoying marginal success, although it was never to the degree of his former glory years with Fleetwood Mac, the greatest British blues band that ever was. And why were they the greatest British blues band ever? That question will be addressed in next week's post.

About the Music

I've taken the easy way out here with Volume One. It's actually 'The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac,' readily available through vender's like Amazon for mere pocket change. I question whether the discounted price is because anyone who cares already has the material within their collection (albeit, Mac material has been repackaged many times over), or whether the interest in Fleetwood Mac's early blues years is merely waning. If the latter, that is the impetus of this retrospective. Inexplicably, the CD includes one track from Christine Perfect with backing by Chicken Shack, as well as 'Dragonfly', the band's first single to be released after Green's departure, and also a very nice acoustic version of 'Albatross' recorded in 2002 no less by Peter and Chris Coco. Why they ended up in a collection called, 'The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac' is lost on me. That said however, I was too lazy to remove them. Plus I kinda like 'em, so I've left them intact. Of course, as superb a collection as 'The Best Of...' actually is, I found it lacking more than a few songs that further demonstrated the flair and power of Peter Green's Original Fleetwood Mac. So I made some work for myself and assembled two more volumes that are not available in stores anywhere. Lucky you. Volume Two collects those performances that I felt needed inclusion, and the forthcoming Volume Three gathers up some random leftovers. Too much, you think? You can make that decision after hearing Volumes One and Two. Oh yeah, I only repeated one song, and that was purely accidental. Enjoy.

The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Vol.1

1) Albatross
2) Black Magic Woman
3) Need Your Love So Bad
4) My Heart Beat Like A Hammer
5) Rollin' Man
6) The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
7) Man Of The World
8) Something Inside Of Me
9) Looking For Somebody
10) Oh Well, Pt.1
11) Oh Well, Pt.2
12) Rattlesnake Shake
13) Merry-Go-Round
14) If I Loved Another Woman
15) Need Your Love Tonight
16) Worried Dream
17) Dragonfly
(Fleetwood Mac minus Peter Green)
18) Stop Messin' Round
19) Shake Your Moneymaker
20) I'd Rather Go Blind
(Christine Perfect & Chicken Shack)
21) Albatross
(Peter Green w/Chris Coco)


The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Vol.2

1) Allow Me One More Show
2) Leavin' Town Blues
3) If You'll Be My Baby
4) Like Crying
5) Drifting
6) Stop Messin' Round
7) Without You
8) Blues In B Flat Minor (a.k.a. Before The Beginning)
9) The Madge Sessions, No.#2
10) Fighting For Madge
11) A Fool No More
12) My Dream
13) One Sunny Day
14) World In Harmony
15) Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
16) Rambling Pony, No.#2
17) Long Grey Mare
18) Watch Out
19) Love That Burns
20) Fleetwood Mac
21) Show-Biz Blues
22) World Keep On Turning
23) Underway
24) Can't Afford To Do It

Source material for 'The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Vols.1,2 & 3' come from the following:

Fleetwood Mac (1968)/Mr. Wonderful (1968)/English Rose (1968)
Then Play On (1969)/The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (1969)
The Original Fleetwood Mac (1971)
The Vaudeville Years (1999)/Show-Biz Blues (2001)
Jumping At Shadows (2002)/The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (2002)