He also made an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac’s double album Tusk, on the song “Brown Eyes,” released the same year. He produced a string of solo albums starting with 1979’s well-received In the Skies. In 1979, Green began to re-emerge professionally, and with the help of his brother Michael, he was signed to Peter Vernon-Kell’s PVK label. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in hospital in the mid-70s. Green left the band after a last performance in 1970, as he struggled with his conflicted views on the band’s success. More hits written by Green followed, including such British pop landmarks as “Oh Well” (“Can’t help about the shape I’m in, I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin”), “Man of the World” (“Shall I tell you about my life?”) and the dark, ominous “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown).” For almost the first time I could feel the pain, hurt and sense of loss that Peter was expressing through the solace of the blues.”ĭuring Green’s mercurial tenure with the band, Fleetwood Man scored a hit with Green’s “Black Magic Woman” (later covered by Santana), followed by the guitar instrumental “Albatross,” which reached No. On Mr Wonderful, Green explicitly referred to his childhood traumas with his song “Trying So Hard To Forget.”Īs Mick Fleetwood later recalled to MOJO, it was “Peter Greenbaum baring his soul about growing up in Whitechapel, London’s Jewish ghetto. Although Green was reluctant to assume star billing, under his direction, they produced three highly acclaimed albums: Fleetwood Mac, Mr. Green and Fleetwood convinced John McVie to join their new outfit as bass guitarist, in part by naming the band Fleetwood Mac. So proficient was he that his musician friends bestowed upon him the nickname “The Green God.” In 1967, Green decided to form his own blues band and left the Bluesbreakers. Green made his recording debut with the Bluesbreakers on the album A Hard Road, which featured two of his own compositions, “The Same Way” and “The Supernatural.” The latter was one of Green’s first instrumentals, a style that would soon become a trademark. Soon after, when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers, Green became a full-time member of Mayall’s band from July 1966.
In October 1965, before joining Bardens’ outfit, that Green had the opportunity to fill in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for four gigs.
It was with that group that he made his recording debut with the single “If You Wanna Be Happy.” By Christmas 1965, Green was playing lead guitar in Peter B’s Looners, led by future Camel member Pete Bardens, where he met drummer Mick Fleetwood.
He went on to join a rhythm and blues outfit, The Muskrats, then The Tridents, in which he played bass. He first played bass guitar in a band called Bobby, Dennis And The Dominoes, which performed pop chart covers and rock ‘n’ roll standards. He began playing professionally by the age of 15, while working for a number of east London shipping companies. His brother Michael taught him his first guitar chords and, by the age of 11, Green was teaching himself.