PETER GREEN: "SAME OLD BLUES"

Peter Green (born Peter Allen Greenbaum, 29 October 1946, in Bethnal Green, London) is a British blues-rock guitarist and founder of the band Fleetwood Mac. A figurehead in the British blues movement, Green inspired B. B. King to say, «He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.» Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page have both lauded his guitar playing as well. Green's playing was marked with a distinctive vibrato and economy of style. Though he played other guitars, he is best known for deriving a unique tone from his 1959 Gibson Les Paul - a result of the magnet of his guitar's neck pickup being accidentally reversed to produce an 'out of phase' sound. The Les Paul would come to be referred to as Green's "magic guitar" but Green told Guitar Player in 2000 that «I never had a magic one. Mine wasn't magic...It just barely worked.» Green was ranked 38th in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (in Wikipedia)

This double CD set reunites the essential songs Peter Green recorded in his first comeback after being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early seventies (he spent all the mid seventies in treatments and inside a psychiatric institution in London). After 6 albums ("In the Skies", 1979; "Little Dreamer, 1980; "Whatcha Gonna Do?, 1981; "Portrait", 1981; "White Sky", 1982 and "Kolors", 1983), he suffered a relapse and went down again, until 1990.

PETER GREEN: "Watcha Gonna Do?"

Original released on LP Creole 6.24600

(GERMANY, March 1981)

The third album that Peter Green made after he launched a comeback in the late '70s, "Whatcha Gonna Do?" was a disappointment on several levels. It was a sluggish record, often with something of a going-through-the-motions feel. While Green's blues-rock guitar chops remained intact, they were executed with less fire, force, and imagination than they had been in his best work. Most disturbingly, there often seemed to be a conscious effort to move Green's sound toward mainstream soul-funk, as well as to add some uncomfortably incorporated reggae rhythms. It's an unmemorable album, but for all that, not a terrible one. You can hear Green's natural affinity for R&B in both his fluid guitar and earthy vocals on some of the better songs, like "Trying to Hit My Head Against the Wall," "Like a Hot Tomato," and "Lost My Love" (the last of which, like early Fleetwood Mac's cover of Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad," makes clear Green's overlooked love of sentimental '50s American R&B/proto-soul). These would be quite acceptable from a blues-rock journeyman, but Green was cursed, perhaps, by the shadow of his greater achievements and by listeners' knowledge that he had been capable of delivering more inspirational goods. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

PETER GREEN: "Little Dreamer"

Original released on LP Creole 6.24300

(GERMANY, April 1980)

When Peter Green issued "Little Dreamer" in 1980, it was the second straight year he had released an album after a nine-year gap. Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks must have wondered what he had gotten himself into because the opener, "Loser Two Times," ais almost as close to disco as the Rolling Stones got with "Miss You." Green continues in a funky vein with "Momma Don'tcha Cry," as if shaking off the cobwebs and actually trying to pay attention to the current scene. He goes right back to his roots on the album's third tune with "Born Under a Bad Sign" and stays with blues derivatives the rest of the way. The album-ending title track sounds like a seven-minute version of the dreamy Green tune "Albatross," a hit for Fleetwood Mac in the '60s. Sounding more confident than on his comeback album, he seems more like the Greeny of old, although the move toward funk didn't really suit him. (Mark Allan in AllMusic)

PETER GREEN: "In The Skies"

Original released on LP Creole 6.23793

(GERMANY, May 1979)

After almost a decade of personal, drug-addled hell since his 1970 debut "The End of the Game", Peter Green begins his comeback with "In the Skies", and a title tune that sounds downright hopeful compared to where he left off. Although Green shares lead guitar work with Snowy White, it's clear from his fluid technique and haunting tone that he can still play. "A Fool No More" is the kind of slow blues Green excels at. Robin Trower drummer Reg Isidore gives way on one track to Godfrey McLean, who played on "The End of the Game". Green dips even farther back into his past, courtesy of keyboards by Pete Bardens, who gave him his first professional music job in 1966 in a band with Mick Fleetwood. Green's singing, never a particular strength, is not a weakness here. Five of the nine songs are instrumentals, continuing a longtime Green tradition. It's an unambitious but solid and welcome return by a guitarist who in his prime rivaled Eric Clapton. If that seems far-fetched, listen to "A Hard Road" by John Mayall's Bluebreakers or "Then Play On" by Fleetwood Mac. (Mark Allan in AllMusic)

PETER GREEN Debut Album

Original released on LP Reprise RSLP 9006

(UK 1970, November 20)

When you listen to this album, you get the feeling it was more of a jamming session that was scrapped together for our listening privilege. It probably was just a jamming session, but it was ahead of its time in that respect, look at all the CD release of old bands jam sessions. It bogs down in parts, but to hear Peter Green on this album makes me sad that he dropped out of music immediately as his "Then Play On" album and then this album was a different and unique brand of music / blues and it would have been nice to have something different during the early 70's. Each track here is instrumental, and each carries its own flavor. The opener, "Bottom's Up", features a driving blues-rock jam with Green running cricles around his fretboard. "Timeless Time" is slower, more psychedelic in nature, with a slight avant-garde jazz feeling. "Descending Scale" is another phychedelic workout that's more like a trip than a song, with each player finding room to explore. "Burnt Foot" is a more stright ahead, driving heavy blues rock piece with some heavy drumming and killer bass lines. "Hidden Game" starts out sounding almost like mid 70's jammin' Grateful Dead, with Green's guitar tone eerily like Jerry's. Then the song slows down and becomes yet another psychedelic soaked ride, reminiscent of Pink Floyd's more piano dominated tracks, with a slow yet wicked solo. The final cut, and title track, "The End of the Game", is simply a masterpiece. Green and company break out the free-form element in the extreme. Green's guitar howls, moans, wails, cries and even sighs, all the while surrounded by hazy bass and crashing, scattered drumming. However impressed I had been with the great guitar work of Mr. Peter Green, after hearing this gem of an album I'm even more impressed. Highly recommended.

JOHN MAYALL's BLUESBREAKERS: "A Hard Road"

Original released on LP Decca SKL 4853

(UK 1967, February 17)

Eric Clapton is usually thought of as John Mayall's most important right-hand man, but the case could also be made for his successor, Peter Green. The future Fleetwood Mac founder leaves a strong stamp on his only album with the Bluesbreakers, singing a few tracks and writing a couple, including the devastating instrumental "Supernatural." Green's use of thick sustain on this track clearly pointed the way to his use of guitar riffs with elongated, slithery tones on Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" and "Black Magic Woman," as well as anticipating some aspects of Carlos Santana's style. Mayall acquits himself fairly well on this mostly original set (with occasional guest horns), though some of the material is fairly mundane. Highlights include the uncharacteristically rambunctious "Leaping Christine" and the cover of Freddie King's "Someday After a While (You'll Be Sorry)." (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

PETER GREEN'S 1ST SOLO ALBUM

Original Released on LP Reprise RSLP 9006

(UK 1970, November 20)

Peter Green (Guitar)

Zoot Money (Piano)

Nick Buck (Organ, Electric Piano and Keyboards)

Alex Dmochowski (Guitar Bass)

Godfrey McLean (Drums and Percussion)

Recording Engineer: Martin Birch

Photography: KEYSTONE

Cover Design: ABRACADABRA

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This instrumental jam session is Peter Green's first release, after quitting Fleetwood Mac. It isn't the one to pick up if you are looking for Green's classic blues vocals and guitar. On the other hand, if you're up for a creative and different blues guitar ride, get on board. I've enjoyed this since the original vinyl and I hear different sounds with each listen. This one is nearly impossible to categorize or describe. Jazz rythms, percussion and wah-wah guitar elicit a true feeling of the joy of being a big cat, running through the jungle, chasing prey, contemplating your reflection in a still pool, preparing for sleep, and finally, achingly, being killed by a hunter. Peter Green doesn't just play music, he injects every piece of his heart and every part of his soul here and lays it all out for everyone to bear witness to. Listen, and appreciate the magic of Peter Green.