LOOKING BACK

On 25 July this year the world lost a music icon. Peter Green’s legacy goes far beyond what words can convey – and yet words are all we have. In the following pages, people who knew Peter, worked with him or saw him play during his rise to prominence in the late 60s offer their impressions of a humble master of the blues

- DAVID MEAD

In recent years Bernie Marsden visited Peter often. They played together and shared stories of life on the road back in the days when pop was being overtaken by rock and blues in the teenage mindset. Bernie’s memories of Peter reveal a side his fans didn’t see, a man with a wicked sense of humor and enduring resistance to the rock ’n’ roll limelight.

What was your reaction to the news about Peter’s passing?

“It hit me hard. Now you get to that reflective part when I think of all the things I could have asked him and didn’t and all the things I should have said to him… It was a shock and a surprise, you know because he was all right; he was okay in himself, he was in a pretty good place and so I’m glad about that. I’m just sorry that I won’t get to see him again. But then you look back and say, ‘Well, treasure all the times I’ve had over the last couple of years with him.’”

When did you last see him?

“I saw him on the day of the gig [the Allstar Peter Green Tribute at The London Palladium on 25 February this year]. He gave me a piece of his artwork and he signed it to me and he dated it that day. So, of course, that takes on a huge significance now because it’s the day of the gig. I arrived at his house around lunchtime and during the afternoon we were talking about Robert Johnson or fishing or guitars and I said, ‘You know what’s on tonight, don’t you?’ and he went, ‘Yeah…’ and I told him we could go and that I’d drive him up and go with him and he just said, ‘Nah, a cup of tea with you would be just as good.’