Peter Green and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 1965 - 1967
Peter Green: Give Up Livin' | John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 1965-7 | Live 1967-70 | Munich 1970 |
Peter in his prime in the ’60s was just without equal (John Mayall 2003)
Greeny
British guitarist Peter Green (29 October 1946 - 25 July 2020) was twice a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - (1) for a week during late October - early November 1965, and (2) from July 1966 through to June 1967. He also sat in with various John Mayall bands over the following years. In the initial brief stint with the Bluesbreakers, the nineteen year old Green replaced Eric Clapton who had gone AWOL during August 1965 and took part in a notorious trip with friends to Greece a few months later. Whilst there, Clapton was kidnapped by a club owner. However, upon his eventual return, Green was kicked out of the Bluesbreakers, before being asked back six months later, when Clapton left for good to form Cream. Green was his replacement from July 1966 through to June 1967, at which point he too headed off to form Fleetwood Mac. Green also sat in with Mayall during the Bath Music Festival on 24 June 1970 and remained friends with Mayall through to his final years playing with the Splinter Group. However, during his time with Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Peter Green rightly acquired a reputation as one of the premier rock and blues guitarists in Britain, on par with Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and rising stars such as Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and (later) Paul Kossoff of Free. The release of the Bluesbreakers LP A Hard Road on 4 February 1967 consolidated this reputation, alongside various singles and an EP issued between October 1966 and June 1967. At the time (1966-1967) the '59-60 Gibson Les Paul sunburst guitar was the instrument of choice for all, bar Page who would use a 'Burst with Led Zeppelin from 1969 onward, though had a triple pickup 1960 Les Paul 'black beauty' for studio work from 1962. Green's guitar from the Bluesbreakers period is legendary, having been owned and played in recent years by Garry Moore of Thin Lizzy and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. As Green noted in 1998 regarding the purchase of a Les Paul at the time of rejoining the Bluesbreakers in July 1966:
I stumbled across one when I was looking for something more powerful than my [Harmony] Meteor. I went into Selmer’s in Charing Cross Road and tried [a Les Paul]. It was only £110 and it sounded lovely and the colour was really good. But the neck was like a tree. It was very different from Eric’s, which was slim. I’ve never seen another guitar with such an old-fashioned neck. But I couldn’t consider a Telecaster for some reason, and I didn’t want a [Fender] Stratocaster. Mine was a funny old fuddy-duddy, sweet old thing. (Peter Green 1998)
Recordings by Green during the 12 months he was with Mayall, including A Hard Road, are now seen as some of the greatest ever produced during the British blues boom of the 1960s - not necessarily because of the recording quality, but rather, as a showcase of Green's ability, both in the studio and live performances. These recordings are listed below, along with rare bootlegs of live gigs from 1967. Green's playing during this period is intense, moving and, at times, energetic and experimental. This is befitting a relatively young 18 to 20 year old rock and blues enthusiast with a unique and often unsurpassed skill in emotive expression as both performer and song writer. Green would go on to consolidate and expand upon this talent on the world stage with Fleetwood Mac through to May 1970, after which he semi-retired due to mental illness exacerbated by the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. The Peter Green of the 1980s+ Splinter Group was a mere shadow of his former self in regard to the intensity of his performance, dulled in large part by his treatment for mental illness during the 70s and 80s. Though a tragic figure in the mold of Syd Barrett - the original Pink Floyd guitarist - Green continued to play and bring joy to many fans through to his final years and death at the age of 73 in 2020. The author of this blog saw Green play with the Splinter Group in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, and will never forget the experience of being in the presence of one of the greatest guitarists of all time, even if his best work - which he left on so many Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac recordings - was behind him.
References: Where is Eric?; Concerts Wiki; Chrome Oxide; Green 1998.
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Chronology
The following chronology lists known gigs by the Bluesbreakers featuring Peter Green. However, according to both Green and Mayall, there were a lot of gigs not listed, including multiples on individual dates in London nightclubs and music venues. Also, the dates given are subject to dispute. For example, John Mayall stated in 2019 that 24 November 1965 was the date of Green's first gig with the Bluesbreakers whilst Eric Clapton was in Green. However, other sources list 27 October.
c.1964
Peter Green: I didn’t really want to play blues at first, but I used to go and listen to the Yardbirds at places like the Crawdaddy Club and the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, which made me want to give up the bass and try and get that Eric Clapton style on guitar. I used to love watching Paul Samwell-Smith, the Yardbirds’ bass player; he interested me because he looked a bit like a University teacher and always used to do this doubling-up thing at the end of numbers to bring them up to a climax. I was intrigued by everything about them. They seemed to attract a college crowd; sometimes they were a bit ragged, but it was a fabulous show. I’d seen the Stones in Richmond, but the Yardbirds were very different; they were all very clean, their guitars were new and their hair looked good, whereas the Rolling Stones always seemed to be dirty and dusty. Their music wasn’t that clever technically, I suppose, but for me it was a new high, a climactic thing that really seemed to be going somewhere. (Peter Green 2007)
Peter Green: Then, when I first heard Eric Clapton (with the Yardbirds) everything he played was pure enjoyment. Magic. Magic-er than magic. And Paul Samwell-Smith, the group's bass player, what he played I enjoyed too. He played chords on his bass. He had a beautiful bass guitar and a lovely amplifier. And the whole group was rocking along to Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley things. And it was 'Wow, look at that!' And, you alter course, like a fish. I was onto Bill Wyman too. When you're young you kinda go on people who impress you. They're up there, strong and hairy, and futuristic I guess. So, I was a bass player for a while, and Eric Clapton was the person who led me here. He was the person who led me to this path. He put me on this path. Before that my guitar was a pastime. Then, when I got a job as a bass-guitarist, I found I could make a little bit of money. Not very much at all. Enough to pay for a guitar, a uniform and an amplifier. Nothing else really. But I didn't make much money as a bass player. (Peter Green 1997)
Peter Green: I get so excited about playing like Eric Clapton’s. When he first started there used to be a hell of a lot of excitement. Total excitement. And it was so thrilling - there was simply no word to use for Eric. It really was fantastic. No words could explain him. I followed him from the Yardbirds to John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. I saw his first performance and I saw him on his last night on Eel Pie Island. Seeing him play was so strange. Such superior musicianship. It was really marvellous .... (Peter Green 1996)
1965
August
- Eric Clapton temporarily leaves the Bluesbreakers and John Mayall begins auditioning replacements, eventually settling on Geoff Krivit.
October
- Jack Bruce joins the Bluesbreakers on bass during October - November, when John McVie was sacked for drunkenness.
- 14th John Mayall: The next night we were playing the Flamingo [Club, London], and a young guy with black curly hair and a strong East End accent stood at the front of the stage while we played. In the interval, he began to pester me about letting him play guitar with The Bluesbreakers. "I've been to a lot of your gigs," he said, "and I heard you were still trying people out - so I was hoping you'd let me have a go. If you're going to have auditions, you should really hear everybody! I'm not saying I can do what Eric does, but I've got my own style, and I think I'm as good as some of the guys you've been using." There was something about this young man's self-confidence and persistence that I couldn't ignore, so I invited him to our house to see what he could do. He said he was mainly a blues guitarist, but was currently learning the bass and playing in a local group. Plugging an electric Harmony Meteor guitar into my amp, he played through some of the current repertoire, including Stepping Out and some Freddie King stuff. To my ears, his playing was a revelation. He played the blues with the purest tone I'd heard sing Eric left. The young man's name was Peter Green, and he was later a bona fide blues legend with Fleetwood Mac. Geoff Krivit was told the bad news and Peter took the stand with us on November 24. The old sound, spirit and intensity of The Bluesbreakers were back. (Mayall & McIver 2019)
John Mayall: When Eric left (in the summer of 1965), and decided to get some friends together and go off to Greece, there was probably about a week or ten days when we were just trying different guitar players. For me, it was panic stations because we’d come to rely on him so much and there were so few people to choose from as a replacement. I got a lot of replies to an ad I put in the 'Melody Maker', so I was auditioning different players every night. Then Peter came up to me during a gig at The Flamingo in Wardour Street - and he was fairly forceful, very insistent that he was better than the guy I had on stage that night. Peter was very pushy about it. So I gave him a shot. Once I heard him play, I realised he was quite right about that. Unfortunately, it was only a couple of weeks before Eric came back from Greece, and Peter was out again. He wasn’t very pleased about that, but that was the way it was. (Q magazine, 1990)
Peter Green: I decided to go back on lead guitar after seeing Eric Clapton. I’d seen him with the Bluesbreakers and his whole concentration was on his guitar. He had a Les Paul, and his fingers were marvelous. The guy knew how to do a bit of evil, I guess. (Peter Green 1998)
Eric Clapton: Peter had pestered John to employ him, often turning up at gigs and shouting from the audience that he was much better than whoever was playing that night. (Peter Green 2007)
Peter Green: I still didn’t ever make any conscious decision to play blues guitar, but I’d seen Eric Clapton playing with John Mayall so much. Peter B’s Looners used to support John Mayall at the Flamingo club, and when I found out Eric was going to Greece I went along to the Zodiac [Pontiac] Club in Putney where I lived to try and get an audition. They had someone called Geoff Krivit playing guitar, and although I didn’t necessarily think that I could do a better job than him, I just wanted to have a go! He was doing these little blues phrases like the riff on My Babe, and I thought, ‘I can’t do that’ – but I also noticed that he had big fingers, and that encouraged me. John wouldn’t let me play that day but I was persistent, and eventually I answered his advert in the Melody Maker saying that he wanted a guitarist of the Buddy Guy or Otis Rush calibre. I went to his house in Lee Green and we had a little audition. He said, ‘Well, you’re the best I’ve heard since Eric’ – which was good because I was pushing the hell out of the strings trying to sound like him! I was a tremolo arm kid – I’d never had a guitar with one, but I was trying to get that same bendy effect. I was quite nervous stepping into Eric’s shoes. I worried that the band played too powerfully for me, or perhaps that John wouldn’t like me. But I ended up doing two or three gigs with John – Newcastle, Sheffield Mojo and I think Klooks Kleek in Hampstead – before Eric came back. (Peter Green 2007)
John Mayall: Peter got up from the audience and came up to me angling for the job saying ‘Let me play. I’m better than he is.' He kept on doing this, each time becoming a bit more forceful, and because I was pretty much open to hearing anyone, I gave him a shot at it. (John Mayall 2007)
- 27th Le Disque a Go-Go Club, Bournemouth. Peter Green briefly (1 week) becomes a member of the Bluesbreakers. He performs three concerts with the band, this being the first. Band members at the time include: John Mayall on vocals, keyboards, harmonica and guitar; Jack Bruce on bass; and Hughie Flint on drums. At this point Green was using a Harmony Meteor guitar with a Selmer amplifier. The sound was less than impressive when compared with Clapton's combination of a Les Paul and Marshall amplification.
- 29th Peter Green turns 19.
- 30th Mojo Club, Sheffield.
November
- 4th Blue Triangle Club, Ealing.
- 5th Eric Clapton returns to England and immediately rejoins the Bluesbreakers. Green leaves to join Peter B's Looners, with Mick Fleetwood on drums.
- 28th Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton perform together as part of the Bluesbreakers at the Flamingo Club.
1966
February
Studio sessions: Peter Green records the instrumentals If You Wanna Be Happy (2.31), If You Wanna Be Happy alternate take - not released (3.08) and Jodrell Blues (3.10) with The Peter B's - Pete Bardens (ex-Them organist / pianist), Peter Green, Dave Ambrose and Mick Fleetwood. Released as a single in March on Columbia. They referred to their music as "Cool blue pop."
- 2nd. The Peter B's, Outrage (2.51), Soul Dressing (3.50) + another, Jazz Beat programme, BBC radio. Live recording.
May - June
Peter Green plays with Shotgun Express, whose lead singer is Rod Stewart. Green would play with this band and the The Peter B's for approximately 8 months in between his stints with John Mayall. There does not appear to be any Shotgun Express recordings featuring Green, though a later (circa March 1967) recording with Rod Stewart, Jack Bruce and Aynsley Dunbar of Stone Cold Crazy (5.10) perhaps reveals an example of the sound.
July
- 16th Eric Clapton leaves the Bluesbreakers to join Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Mayall immediately asks Green to return. The band now comprises: John Mayall, Peter Green, John McVie and Hughie Flint.
- 22nd Bluesbreakers: John Mayall with Eric Clapton LP is released on Decca. It is also famously known as the Beano album. It had been recorded the previous March, during a period when Clapton is God was seen on billboards around London. The album is a hit, with some incredible guitar work from Clapton and his Les Paul. Clapton had left the band by this stage, and for a brief period his replacement, Peter Green, was forced to play many of the tunes on the album in a style similar to Clapton. Eventually Green was accepted by audiences as a unique talent in his own right and a competent replacement.
Peter Green: I’m only Eric Clapton’s replacement, I’m not Eric Clapton. I didn’t really know what I was doing on the guitar. I was very lucky to get anything remotely any good. I used to dash around on stepping stones, that’s what I used to call it. (Peter Green 1998)
The first time I used that [Les Paul] guitar was when we [were] playing Klooks Kleek, and John said, ‘So that’s your new weapon! You should do better with that.' (Peter Green 2007)
And John gave me lots of music to listen to. He was always very enthusiastic. That's the only discipline he ever imposed: we had to be enthusiastic. We had to have that emotion and that ability to portray and form a tune. (Peter Green 1997)
- 24th Brittania Rowing Club, Nottingham. This was Green's first gig with the Bluesbreakers during 1966. He would use a Les Paul similar to Clapton's, having acquired one off Tony Tyler, an assistant editor of the New Musical Express and keyboard player. He ran the Les Paul through a JTM45 50W Marshall head and 4x12 20W speaker cabinet. Photographs also exist of Green playing with a VOX speaker cabinet.
- 25th Marquee, London.
August
- 15th Marquee, London.
September
- 4th Marquee, London.
- 15th Ricky Tick, Harpenden.
- 18th Aynsley Dunbar replaces Hughie Flint on drums.
- 30th Studio session: The Bluesbreakers enter Decca studio, West Hampstead, to begin recording the A Hard Road album. They put down Looking Back and So Many Roads, which were released as a single on 21st October. Mike Vernon, a producer at Decca Records, recalls Green's début with the Bluesbreakers:
Mike Vernon: As the band walked into the studio I noticed an amplifier which I never saw before, so I said to John Mayall, "Where's Eric Clapton?" Mayall answered, "He's not with us anymore, he left us a few weeks ago." I was in a state of shock, but Mayall said, "Don't worry, we got someone better." I said, "Wait a minute, hang on a second, this is ridiculous. You've got someone better? Than Eric Clapton?" John said, "He might not be better now, but you wait, in a couple of years he's going to be the best." Then he introduced me to Peter Green.
Peter Green: I didn’t ever want to be a frontman, though. All I wanted was to be a sideman like Buddy Guy when he worked with Junior Wells. I didn’t want to do vocals at all. It just came along by accident. (Peter Green 2007)
Peter was every bit as good in the studio as he was on the road. He just nailed it. I didn’t need to give him any instructions. I chose him for his individuality, for the way he played, so why would I try to direct him? Peter played some really wonderful stuff. I'd [also] heard him singing and I wanted to feature that aspect of his work. Everything happened very naturally and it was all very successful. The only thing he actually wrote for the album was the instrumental, 'The Supernatural', but that was a great piece of music. Peter's emerging voice aspired to say as much as possible in a few well-chosen notes, delivered with a haunting and sweet, yet melancholy tone. I think most people will realise what a tough time lay ahead in the way of comparison and criticism for any guitarist in the country faced with replacing the acknowledged master of blues guitar, Eric Clapton, in my band. However, Green took over the job and managed to brave out the storm. Within weeks he developed his own ideas and the technique to express them, until now it is obvious that both Eric and Peter have improved beyond recognition but in totally different directions.
Mike Vernon: I am reasonably sure that I had not met Peter prior to his arrival at West Hampstead studio in October 1966. Me and engineer Gus Dudgeon were looking at him, thinking ‘Who the hell is this ? Where’s Eric Clapton?’ John Mayall just said: ‘Oh, he’s Eric’s replacement.’ John said Peter was as good as Eric, which was a bit hard to believe until he actually plugged in and then we thought ‘Umm, he can play a bit!’ Initially, Peter seemed like a very quiet and somewhat reserved kind of guy, not outspoken or aggressive in any way. He must have felt somewhat awkward though, following in Clapton’s footsteps. As the sessions progressed, Peter became a little more certain of his role as a Bluesbreaker, especially when he was given the chance to exercise his vocal chords. He certainly was not as reluctant to sing as his predecessor had been - he seemed to really enjoy that role and he was very good. When I heard Peter sing 'The Same Way' for the first time, I thought ‘Wow! Here is a great blues singer, no inhibitions about singing with an English accent, expressive and individual.' I had a feeling that Peter was destined to make his mark in the music business. Recording sessions took only five days in total, spread over a month. That was a major departure in sound and feel from anything we’d done with Eric Clapton. The fluidity of Peter Green's playing was quite awe-inspiring. He seemed to have a natural ability to string together notes and phrases that worked straight away. There was little time spent on working out what he was going to play, either because he had already figured out what he was going to do in advance, or the ‘moment’ took over and it just happened. In my estimation, Peter Green was just the very best blues guitarist this country has ever produced. Everyone was making comparisons with Eric, but once we got into recording 'Hard Road', Peter was obviously trying to carve out something that was his own. For instance, 'The Supernatural' was a major departure in sound and feel from anything we'd done with Eric. Peter was able to really put good melodies together within his playing, probably more so than Clapton, who had a much more rhythmical approach - he never got out of the groove. Whereas Eric had energy in his playing, Peter had a deftness, a touch and a more melodic style - actually, at that time he probably had a deeper blues than Eric. (Mike Vernon 2013)
October
- 4th Marquee, London .
- 11th Studio session: Sitting in the Rain and Out of Reach (sung by Green). Later released as a single. The second song is the first to be written and recorded by Peter Green whilst with John Mayall.
- 11, 12, 19 & 24 Studio sessions: A Hard Road album tracks recorded: A Hard Road, It's Over, You Don't Love Me, The Stumble, Another Kind of Love, Hit the Highway, Leapin' Christine, Dust My Blues, There's Always Work, The Same Way, The Supernatural, Top of the Hill,, Someday After a While, Living Alone.
- 14th All Night Invasion Rave, Hastings Pier Ballroom, Hastings. With Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Shotgun Express and The Grass.
- 19th Studio session: Mama, Talk to Your Daughter and Alabama Blues (sung by Green) are recorded.
- 21st Looking Back / So Many Roads single released. The latter features exquisite guitar playing from Green.
- 25th Corn Exchange, Bristol.
- 29th Peter Green turns 20.
- ? Studio session: Peter Green and John Mayall, Evil Woman Blues (4.08).
November
- 11th Studio session: A Hard Road album tracks recorded.
- 11th Bluesville '66, Marquee, London.
- 14th Bluesville Club, The Baths Hall, Ipswich.
- 26th Studio session: The Bluesbreakers record tracks with Paul Butterfield - a visiting US singer and harmonica player then on tour with his Paul Butterfield Blues Band, starring Mike Bloomfield on guitar.
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| John McVie, Peter Green and Paul Butterfield, November 1966. Note that in this photograph Peter Green has removed the neck pickup from his Les Paul guitar. |
December
- 2nd Friday, Bluesville Club, Manor House, London. Handbill notes : 'Featuring blues guitar boss Peter Green.'
- 7th University of Hull, Kingston-upon-Hull.
- 8th Marquee, London.
- 9th Manor House, London.
- 10th Bluesville '66 Polytechnic London, Isleworth.
- 12th Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton.
- 13th Exeter University Exeter.
- 14th Bromel Club, Bromley Court Hotel, London.
- 15th University of Sussex, Brighton.
- 19th Camberley.
- 22nd The Pavilion, Worthing.
- 23rd Odeon, Birmingham.
- 27th Marquee, London.
- 30th Roundhouse London.
- 30th Friday, Bluesville Club, Manor House, London.
1967
January
- 6th John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Paul Butterfield EP released. Contents: All My Life, Ridin' on the L&N, Eagle Eye and Little by Little. Recorded on 26 November 1966.
- 7th Ricky Tick, Windsor.
- 10th Marquee, London.
- 13th Sitting in the Rain / Out of Reach released as a single.
- 13th Concord Club, Guildhall, Southampton. In regard to the photograph below, Cliff Gater (Facebook, January 2021) remembered the following:
Great picture; this is how they squeezed up on stage when I saw them at the Concorde Club in Southampton. For the first half McVie was "absent". I offered via Peter to play bass but then McVie turned up! (drat . . . . missed opportunity there!).
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| Aynsley Dunbar, John McVie, Peter Green and John Mayall. |
- 14th Coventry Theatre, Coventry.
- 15th Ricky Tick, Hounslow.
- 18th Town Hall, Stourbridge.
- 19th Granby Hall, Leicester.
- 20 Club A Go Go, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- 21 Floral Hall, Southport.
- 23rd BBC Light Programme Saturday Club recording session: No More Tears, Ridin' on the L&N, Sitting in the Rain, Dust My Blues, Curly and Leaping Christine. Curly was an instrumental by Peter Green.
- 24th Corn Exchange, Bristol.
- 30th Marquee, London.
February
- n.d. Klooks Kleek R&B Club, Railway Hotel, West Hampstead, London, with Jimi Hendrix on guitar for part of the set.
- Friday, 3rd Ram Jam Club, London. Bootleg recording by Tom Huissen, a Dutch fan. As Huissen noted in regard to the reception Green received around this time:
Peter had a hard job. He had to replace Eric [Clapton], who was ‘God’ in those days. But after a couple of concerts, that whole idea was gone, because he was so amazing. What I remember about those concerts is that nobody was calling for Eric. They accepted Peter straight away. The way he played – it’s just phenomenal.
- 3rd Rhythm and Blues program, BBC radio. Tracks: No More Tears, Curly.
- 4th A Hard Road LP is released in the UK as Decca LK / SKL 4853.
- 4th The Polytechnic, London.
- 7th Tuesday, Malvern Winter Gardens.
- 16th Marquee, London.
- 16th Studio session: Greeny, Curly and Missing You recorded in the studio. All tracks are by Peter Green.
- 22nd Avesta, Sweden.
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| Peter Green, Ansley Dunbar, John McVie, John Mayall (l. to r.), Lorensberg Cirkus, Gothenburg, Sweden, February 1967. |
Dan Franck [Facebook 2020] - I was at that concert, at Lorensbergs Cirkus, in my home town Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden. I was very young, only 13 years, but since the age of 9, music had become my biggest passion in life, and by April 1967 I had already been on several big concerts, such as with The Kinks, or The Who. But this was my first real blues concert, where John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was the main act, hitting the stage after Chicken Shack. The Gothenburg press had announced, Mayall had a new guitarist, one I hadn't heard of until then - Peter Green. He stood to the left, just playing, without making otherwise any business of himself, while Mayall did the talking between songs. Peter though was the shining star, amongst the other also so excellent blues musicians, and let everyone clearly understand, he was not just a 19 years young substitute for a leaving Clapton, but already a full blooded blues guitarist and messenger on his own.
- 22nd Folkeparken, Gavle, Sweden. Though only fifty miles away from Avesta, bad weather had the band arriving in Gavle only ten minutes before the venue’s normal closing time. Though many of the patrons had already left, Mayall and his band gamely took the stage using equipment borrowed from the Swedish supporting act, The Mascots. Mayall did not unpack his Hammond, playing only guitar and harmonica.
March
- 3rd Friday, Glinton College Main Hall, Peterborough.
- 8th Studio session: Your Funeral and My Trial and Please Don't Tell recorded in the studio.
- 12th Marquee, London.
- 14th Studio session: First of three studio sessions in which the Bluesbreakers back American blues pianist Eddie Boyd.
- 17th Studio session: Recording with Eddie Boyd, with Peter Green on guitar.
- 21st Studio session: Recording with Eddie Boyd, with Tony McPhee on guitar. Later released as a 16 track LP by Decca, UK.
- 24th Curly / Rubber Duck released as a single. Both sides written in full, or part, by Peter Green. It is likely that Curly was influenced by Green's meeting with Jimi Hendrix at Klooks Kleek and jamming with him on a number of occasions.
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- 31st Assembly Hall, Aylesbury.
April
- n.d. Aynsley Dunbar replaced by Mickey Waller and then Mick Fleetwood joins Mayall, Green and McVie in the Bluesbreakers.
- 19th Studio session: Bluesbreakers record Double Trouble and It Hurts Me Too. Green plus Fleetwood and McVie record Fleetwood Mac and First Train Home.
- 26th Klooks Kleek, London. Bootleg recording by Tom Huissen, a Dutch fan. Tracks: I Can't Quit You Baby, Curly, Stormy Monday.
- 27th Marquee Club, London. Bootleg recording by Tom Huissen, a Dutch fan. Tracks: Talk to Your Daughter, Tears in My Eyes, Streamline, The Stumble, So Many Roads, Four Million Nobs, Double Trouble. Duration: 49 minutes.
- 28th Ram Jam Club, London. Tacks: Four Million Nobs, Talk to Your Daughter, Chicago Line, Hi Hell Sneekers and San-Ho-Zay.
- 29th Bromley Technical College. Bootleg recording by Tom Huissen, a Dutch fan. Tracks: Brand New Start, Tears in My Eyes, Bye Bye bird, Talk to Your Daughter, Double Trouble, Your Funeral and My Trial, Stand Back Baby, Sometime After Awhile (You'll Be Sorry) and Looking Back.
May
- 2nd Klooks Kleek, London. Tracks: Curly, Telephone Blues, Talk to Your Daughter.
- 5th Manor House, London. Bootleg recording by Tom Huissen, a Dutch fan. Duration: 50 minutes.
- 7th Plaza Ballroom, Newbury.
- 16th Marquee, London.
- 20th Grand Pavilion, Matlock Bath. An account of the gig is contained in Stuart Penney's booklet, Live in 1967:
The British Blues boom … There’s a tendency to dismiss it as little more than a bunch of lank-haired white boys from the home counties misappropriating the music of black America. And not in a good way. There may be a grain of truth in that but it’s not the full picture by a long way. In its late '60s heyday, the Blues boom in UK was a vibrant cultural movement directly linking the beat and R&B groups of the early '60s with the stadium rock bands of the '70s and beyond. And while it's true that some blues bands took themselves way too seriously, it wasn’t all lumpen 12-bar boogie and "Woke-up-this-morning" lyrics by any means. "A Hard Road", the third John Mayall's Bluesbreakers album (and the first to feature Peter Green) appeared in February 1967 and a consensus was quickly reached. On this evidence, Green was not only the equal of Eric Clapton but in certain areas he may have had the edge over the man the London graffiti artists had labelled "God". There was only one way to find out for sure. So, on Saturday 20 May 1967, together with Alan, a like-minded school pal, I hitchhiked to the Derbyshire spa town of Matlock Bath where John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers were booked to play at the Grand Pavilion.
We arrived mid-afternoon just as Mayall’s van crunched into the gravel car park. There were no band tour buses back then, and even a well-known recording group such as the Bluesbreakers travelled the country crammed into a mid-sized Ford Transit, equipment and all. With no other fans around, we volunteered to help unload the gear and while the roadie (singular, as I recall) and band members struggled up four flights of stairs with Mayall’s Hammond organ and the Marshall speaker cabinets, we were entrusted with drum cases and guitars. Precious cargo indeed, especially in light of subsequent events. Unlike today’s big-name guitarists who routinely have a clutch of instruments tuned-up and waiting in the wings, I’m sure Peter Green brought just the one guitar with him that day. But what a guitar it was! The 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul nicknamed "Greeny", that he used throughout his time with the Bluesbreakers and later Fleetwood Mac, went on to acquire mythical status.
John Mayall was notorious for hiring and firing his musicians almost at will, and the Bluesbreakers’ line-up seldom remained the same from one month to the next. It transpired that Aynsley Dunbar, the drummer on "A Hard Road", had recently been dismissed from the band for his so-called "jazz leanings" and by May 1967 the drum stool was occupied by Mick Fleetwood. So, with Peter Green on guitar and John McVie on bass, this incarnation of the Bluesbreakers brought together for the first time the core line-up of the yet-to-be-formed Fleetwood Mac. But it was Peter Green we’d come to see, and he didn’t disappoint. Considering he’d appeared on just a few minor recordings before "A Hard Road" (including a handful of Mayall’s Decca singles and a UK-only collaboration EP with Paul Butterfield) he arrived fully formed and firing on all cylinders. Not only was Green an unbelievable guitar player, he also had a tremendous singing voice and was already writing his own material. With all the confidence of a veteran guitar slinger, the 20-year-old Green replicated Clapton’s parts on the "Beano Album" classic "All Your Love", a song he grabbed by the scruff of the neck and turned inside out. The Freddie King catalogue was a rich source of material for the '60s British blues groups, with the instrumentals proving especially popular. Green's showcase instrumental was "The Stumble", but during 1967 he was also performing another lesser-known Freddie King piece "San-Ho-Zay" which became a highlight of the Bluesbreakers' live set. Green utilised every trick in the book on this instrumental, from delicate B.B. King style vibrato to muscular heavy rock with Hendrix overtones.
The Pavilion stage was small and during the set Green played partially hidden behind his Marshall speaker cabinets, prompting Mayall to refer to him as "the invisible man on guitar" during the band introductions. After the show, we spoke with the band as they were packing up. Green was cocky, garrulous and his conversation was peppered with expletives. With his tousled curly hair, beat-up leather jacket, hooped rugby shirt and washed-out Levi 501s (difficult to find in Britain at that time) he couldn’t have looked cooler. To a couple of 16-year-old provincial schoolboys like us, he was everything we wanted to be.
This Bluesbreakers configuration was together for just three months and other than the single "Double Trouble", very little official material was recorded. But thanks to Tom Huissen, a Dutch John Mayall fan, we can now hear how they sounded on stage. Recorded on a lo-fi domestic reel-to-reel tape recorder at five shows in and around London in April and May 1967, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers "Live in 1967", Vols. 1 & 2 (Forty Below Records) were released individually in 2015 and, despite the average sound quality, are a good representation of the music we heard in Matlock Bath that night.
- 26th Marquee, London.
- n.d. Mick Fleetwood replaced by Keith Hartley. Chris Mercer joins on sax. The partial jazzification of Mayall's music would eventually lead to the departure of bassist John McVie.
June
- 2nd Bluesville '67 Manor House, London.
- 2nd Double Trouble / It Hurts Me Too released as a single.
- 11th Le Metro, Birmingham.
- 15th Peter Green's last gig. He leaves the Bluesbreakers to form Fleetwood Mac. Green is replaced by Terry Edmonds and then Mick Taylor.
Peter Green: They were a bit too powerful for me, too powerful. I had to have my guitar up loud to keep up. Also John had this jazz thing and he couldn’t entertain me with that at all. We’d done this song, ‘Leaping Christine’ and I thought, ‘This ain’t nothing to do with the blues.’ I thought it was a joke. If he’d laughed at the end of it, I would have been happy. … What I actually wanted to do was to leave Mayall and go play on the South side of Chicago. But Marsha Hunt (American actress and Mayall's girlfriend at the time) put me off that. She said if I did it, some copper would pull me off the stage and ask to see my work permit, which of course I wouldn’t have. Then, instead, I thought I might become the house guitarist for 'Blue Horizon' which was just starting out then. Like Buddy Guy was for 'Chess', although that didn’t ring true for me. How could you have Buddy doing every solo ? It would just become the Buddy Guy story. (Peter Green 2000)
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July
- Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood form Fleetwood Mac, with Bob Brunning playing bass on a temporary basis. Jeremy Spencer joins the group around this time and is present at their performance at the 7th Annual Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor, on 13 August. John McVie joins the band in September.
August
- Peter Green: the guitarist who won't forsake the blues, Record Mirror, August 1967: When he replaced Eric Clapton after a series of auditions by John Mayall in which Peter won hands down, he was taunted on nearly every date by cries of "We want Clapton" from some of the audience."They weren't the kind of things which made me play better", said Peter." They would just bring me down. For a long time with John, I wasn't playing at my best, as good as I was able. Only in the last few months with him could I really feel uninhibited." A while ago, Peter wanted to go to Chicago, because he felt that the blues scene in Britain wasn't wide enough. But he has abandoned the project now and formed his own band, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Why did he leave John Mayall's band, which has the reputation of being the country's most successful blues outfit? "Various reasons. But the most important was that I didn't agree with the kind of material which was being played. It was becoming, for me, less and less of the blues. And we'd do the same thing night after night. John would say something to the audience and count us in, and I'd groan inwardly."
1968
Peter Green interview, Melody Maker, March 1968.
1969
Peter Green interview, Melody Maker, March 1969.
John McVie and Peter Green interview, John Mayall Turning Point [documentary extract], 1969. Duration: 1.44 minutes.
Peter Green interview, Detroit Tubeworx [video], December 1969. Duration: 2.48 minutes.
1970
May
- Peter Green leaves Fleetwood Mac.
June
- 28th Peter Green plays in John Mayall's ad hoc band at the Bath Festival. Duration: 47.09.
Bath Festival, 28 June 1970.
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1994
Shapiro, Harry, Peter Green: The Supernatural, Mojo, May 1994.
1995
Peter Green, Guitar World, 1995.
1996
Donovan, Mike, Peter Green [interview], Ptolemaic Telescope [website], 21 December 1996.
Jones, Cliff, "I'm Peter Green", Mojo, September 1996.
1997
Harper, Colin, Things are rosier for Peter Green, but does he still have the blues?, The Scotsman, 5 May 1997.
Murray, Charles Shaar, Peter Green: Still got the Greens..., Mojo, June 1997.
1998
Weingarten, Marc, Guitarist Peter Green is going his own way, Los Angeles Times, 4 September 1998.
Varga, George, Mac founder Green on the road again, The San Diego Union Tribune, 9 September 1998.
1999
Wazzerzeiher, Bill, Peter Green: The Man of the World returns, Blues Review, July 1999.
Bragg, Billy, Interview with Peter Green, Live from Guildfest 1999, BBC Radio 2 [audio], 1999. Duration: 11.31 minutes.
2000
Shapiro, Harry, Peter Green: Now Play On..., BluePrint, June 2000.
Ellis, Andy, Peter Green, Guitar Player, November 2000. [See Scapelliti 2018]
2011
Peter Green interview, Guitarist, December 2011.
2012
Peter Green's Guitar Collection [video], Music Bank, 2013. Duration: 8.09 minutes.
2013
A Hard Road anniversary, Blues, November 2013.
2014
Black, Johnny, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac, Blues, January 2014.
2016
Peter Green interview, Rock Cellar Magazine, 2016.
2017
Fleetwood Mac [special edition], Rolling Stone, May 2017.
2018
Scapelliti, Christopher, The deep secret behind Peter Green's "magic" 1959 Les Paul tone, Guitar World, 29 October 2018.
2019
John Mayall and Joel McIver, Blues from Laurel Canyon: My Life as a Bluesman, Omnibus Press, 2019.
2020
Yates, Henry, The story of Peter Green, one of British blues' most mythologized - and influential - players, Guitar World, 16 June 2020.
Black, Johnny, The story of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac as told by John Mayall, Mike Vernon and Green himself, Guitar World, 9 July 2020.
Classic Interview: "I'm only Eric Clapton's replacement, I'm not Eric Clapton" - Peter Green, 1998, Music Radar [website], 25 July 2020.
Remembering Peter Green: Our 1997 interview with the late Fleetwood Mac guitarist, Hot Press [website], 27 July 2020.
Peter Green, Guitarist, September 2020.
Cohen, Elliot Stephen, Peter Green talks life, music, demons and gear in this previously unpublished 2003 interview, Guitar Player [website], 4 November 2020.
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Appendix 1
List of Songs - Peter Green with John Mayall 1966-7 & 1970
The following is a brief listing of all known recordings, both studio and live, including bootlegs. Titles, length, recording date and other relevant information is given where known, or included in more detail within the Chronology above. Albums noted include A Hard Road (original release 1967) and the 2006 extended version with additional released and unreleased tracks; Crusade; Live '67 volumes I and II; and The First Generation (2021). A number of tracks are also only available online via YouTube e.g. Bath Festival 1970. NB: The quality of the bootlegs varies. A number of recordings Mayall made at the time that do not feature Green are not included, including a jam with Steve Winwood.
Alabama Blues - 2.31 - Peter Green vocal - Hard Road 06
All My Life - 4.22 - Butterfield EP / Hard Road 06
All Your Lovin' - 3.41 - Live 67 (Manor House 5 May)
Another Kinda Love - 3.06 - Hard Road. One of Green's first aggressive 'rock' solos, rather than traditional blues-based solo.
Bad Boy - 2.31 - The First Generation (Manor House 5 May)
Brand New Start - 4.50 - Live 67 (Bromley 29 April)
Brand New Start - 4.14 - The First Generation (Manor House 5 May)
Bye Bye Bird - 6.02 - The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Chicago Line - 7.25 - The First Generation (Ram Jam 28 April)
Chicago Line - 6.53 - The First Generation (Marquee 27 April)
Crazy Women - Bath 70
Curly (Green) - 2.00 - The First Generation - recorded 6 February. Early studio version, released in 2020
Curly - 2.02 - BBC Rhythm & Blues (3 February 1967) - The First Generation
Curly - 2.48 - BBC (23 January 1967) - The First Generation
Curly - 5.02 - Crusade - Studio, 16 February 1967 - heavy blues, reminiscent of Hendrix's Foxy Lady, Fleetwood Mac's Long Grey Mare and Cream's Strange Brew. Green's most aggressive recording, with McVie and Dunbar, and a precursor to the psychedelic blues of '69. Apparently recorded by Green, Fleetwood and McVie without Mayall's knowledge, and as a power trio.
Curly - 5.07 - Live 67 (Klooks Kleek)
Curly - 7.33 - The First Generation (Klooks Kleek 2 May)
Curly - 4.49 - Single - Through the Years / Hard Road 03
Double Trouble - 3.22 - Single - Hard Road
Double Trouble - 6.28 - Live 67 / The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Double Trouble - 6.33 - Live 67 (Manor House 5 May)
Dust My Blues - 2.43 - Hard Road
Dust My Blues - 2.15 - BBC (23 January 1967) - The First Generation
Eagle Eye - 2.49 - Butterfield EP / Hard Road 06
Evil Woman Blues - 4.08 - Peter Green vocal - Raw Blues / Hard Road 03
First Time Alone - 5.00 - Blues from Laurel Canyon / Hard Road 03
Four Million Nobs - see Greeny
Greeny (Four Million Knobs) (Peter Green) - 3.54 - Crusade / Thru the Years / Hard Road 03
Greeny (Four Million Knobs) - 6.30 - Live 67 (Marquee Club 27 April, with Fleetwood and McVie).
Greeny (Four Million Nobs) - 3.12 - The First Generation (Ram Jam 28 April)
Have You Ever Loved a Woman - 8.20 - Live 67 (Ram Jam 28 April)
Hi Heel Sneakers - 3.32 - Live 67 (Ram Jam 28 April)
Hit the Highway - 2.10 - Hard Road
I Can't Quit You Baby - 4.40 - Live 67 (Klook's Kleek)
It Hurts Me Too - 2.55 - Single - Hard Road 03
It Might as Well be Raining - Bath 70
It's Over - 2.47 - Hard Road
Jenny - 4.46 - Single - Hard Road 03
Leaping Christine - 2.18 - Hard Road,
Leaping Christine - 1.55 - BBC (23 January 1967) - Hard Road 06 / The First Generation
Little by Little - 2.44 - Butterfield EP / Hard Road 06
Living Alone - 2.20 - Hard Road
Looking Back - 2.36 - Single - Hard Road 06
Looking Back - 2.42 - Live 67 / The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter - 2.40 - Studio - Hard Road 06
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter - 6.42 - The First Generation (Ram Jam 28 April)
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter - 2.58 - The First Generation (Klooks Kleek 2 May)
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter - 2.23 - The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Missing You (Peter Green) - 1.56 - Hard Road 03 / The First Generation
My Pretty Girl - Bath 70
No More Tears - 2.19 - BBC Rhythm & Blues (3 February 67) - Hard Road 06 / The First Generation
No Place to Go - Bath 70
Out of Reach (Green) - 4.41 - Peter Green vocal - beautiful, sad slow blues - Single
Picture on the Wall - 3.01 - Single - Hard Road 03
Please Don't Tell - 2.26 - Studio - Thru the Years / Hard Road 03
Ridin' on the L&N - 2.24 - Butterfield EP / Hard Road 06
Ridin' on the L&N - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
Ridin' on the L&N - 2.19 - BBC (23 January 1967) - Hard Road 06 / The First Generation
Rubber Duck - 3.42 - Single - Hard Road 03 / The First Generation
San Ho Zay (Freddie King) - 8.12 - instrumental - Live 67 (Manor House 5 May)
San Ho Zay - 4.35 - The First Generation (Ram Jam 28 April)
San Ho Zay - 8.09 - Live 67 (?)
Sitting in the Rain - 2.56 - Single - Hard Road 06
Sitting in the Rain - 2.50 - BBC (23 January 1967) - Hard Road 06 / The First Generation
So Many Roads - 4.42 - beautiful Green guitar work - Single.
So Many Roads - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
So Many Roads - Live 67 (Manor House 5 May)
Someday After a While (You'll be Sorry) - 2.57 - Hard Road,
Someday After a While (You'll be Sorry) - 5.11 - Live 67 / The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Stand Back Baby - 2.43 - The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Stormy Monday - 8.23 - Live 67 (Manor House 5 May)
Stormy Monday - Live 67 (Klooks Kleek)
Streamline - 4.00 - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
Sweet Little Angel - 2.21 - Live 67 (Ram Jam)
Talk to Your Daughter - see Mama, Talk to Your Daughter
Tears in My Eyes - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
Tears in My Eyes - 7.29 - Live 67 / The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
Telephone Blues - 2.40 - Live 67 / The First Generation (Klooks Kleek 2 May)
The Same Way (Freddie King) - 2.07 - Peter Green vocal - Hard Road
The Stumble - 2.50 - Peter Green solo - Hard Road
The Stumble - 6.30 - Live 67 (Marquee 27 April)
The Stumble - Live 67 (Bromley 29 April)
The Stumble - 4.42 - The First Generation (Manor House 5 May)
The Super-Natural (Peter Green) - 2.57 - Peter Green solo - Hard Road
There's Always Work - 1.38 - Hard Road
Top of the Hill - 2.34 - Hard Road
What's Wrong Now - Bath 70
You Don't Love Me - 2.40 - Hard Road
Your Funeral and My Trial - 3.54 - Studio - Thru the Years / Hard Road 03
Your Funeral and My Trial - 4.07 - The First Generation (Manor House 5 May)
Your Funeral and My Trial - 5.21 - The First Generation (Marquee 27 April)
Your Funeral and My Trial - 5.31 - The First Generation (Bromley 29 April)
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Peter Green: Give Up Livin' | John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 1965-7 | Live 1967-70 | Munich 1970 |
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Last updated: 24 July 2021
Michael Organ, Australia
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