I SPENT A considerable amount of time in the late Sixties lying on the floor of my girlfriend’s bedroom, listening to an album called A Hard Road by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. It featured an exciting newcomer to the British blues scene at the time — a guitarist named Peter Green, who had accomplished the Herculean feat of replacing Eric Clapton in Mayall’s band. By this point, Mayall’s previous disc — Blues Breakers: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, the so-called “Beano album” — had already become the stuff of legend. This was the era of “Clapton is God” graffiti.
But Green’s work with Mayall offered a different, and arguably deeper, dive into the mysterious, mystical thing that we call the blues. Green didn’t dazzle in the same way that Clapton did. Instead, he reached right inside your chest and wrenched your heart from its cavity. But to say, as some have, that Green favored emotional expression over technical virtuosity also sells him short. There’s a high degree of mastery in his work with Mayall and the band he went on to found — Fleetwood Mac. But Green deployed that mastery from a place of humility with respect to the grand tradition of the blues. He saw the electric guitar not as some kind of macho superstar phallic symbol, but as an implement with which we can claw and scrape our way to the essential truth of the human heart.
Sadly, the great heart of the man we knew as Peter Green stopped beating on July 25th of this year. He was 73 and died in his sleep. Not much more is known about his passing at the time of this writing.
This story is from the November 2020 edition of Guitar World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2020 edition of Guitar World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
KIM THAYIL
The mighty Soundgarden guitarist looks back on his most iconic riffs and solos, as well as the gear and tunings that guided him deep into the creative superunknown
ANDY BELL
The U.K. shoegaze pioneer discusses the recording of Ride's classic Nineties albums and his 10 years as a member of Oasis
MARC FORD
The respected SoCal guitarist explains why he chose the Black Crowes over Guns N' Roses - and how the Crowes' internal friction helped make them a compelling alternative to grunge
BRIAN VANDER ARK
Determined as he moves out of the shadow of his past, the guitarist recounts the origins of the Verve Pipe and the recording of a definitive Nineties anthem, \"The Freshmen\"
VERNON REID
From Vivid to Time's Up to Stain: How Vernon Reid's expressionist shredding juiced Living Colour through the grunge era
ART ALEXAKIS
The tenacious Everclear frontman/guitarist discusses the music, moments and \"dangerous\" amps that changed his life and maybe ours - in the Nineties and beyond
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
The retro designs, digital innovations and misfit toys that defined guitar gear and technology in the Nineties
IT'S ALL A BLUR...
The rise and fall of Britpop, the Nineties' other massive, guitar-based movement
NEVERMIND NEVERMIND!
10 overlooked rock albums from the Nineties that are worth a second listen
A GRUNGY GUITAR GUIDE TO THE '90S
Guitar World