Where Are They Now - Series

[royclough]

On satellite TV here in UK the whole two show, from which clip below is taken was broadcast 2 nights ago.


I have to say I am not really a fan of the blues genre but did enjoy some of the more commercial Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac offerings.

Peter Green was centre stage but did very little talking.

Not watched it all as yet but I was impressed by the instrumental version of Man Of The World.

I loved the original but the instrumental version was a surprise.

[winston]

Is blues ok here??

Peter is a one of many artists that have the ability play extremely well in a number of genres. So in that context yes, a clip of him playing blues is more than welcome here.

Thanks Charly for the youtube contributions.

It would seem from Roy's comments that we have actually located our quarry as a result of a very recent sighting in London.

Personally I am glad that Peter Green has battled his personal trials and tribulations sufficiently enough to be able to play again on the world stage. I wonder if he will ever recapture his earlier form and stage presence. One thing I know or sure. The respect, admiration and love of his music shown by his fans and peers will never die.

God bless you Peter for continuing to share your incredible music with us.

[tamborineman]

Peter's Les Paul suposedly had the neck pu wired backward [ or incorrectly in some manner ],
giving it a out of faze sound.
Also a great source of info is the bio of Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood. It's a very good read. In it he said that Danny Kerwin smashed his vintage Les Paul in a drug/depression induced rage in a back stage restroom.
These British blues cats almost single handedly saved the Les Paul from the scrap pile of antiquity as Gibson re-introduced the LP in 1968.

[peewee]

Peter's Les Paul suposedly had the neck pu wired backward [ or incorrectly in some manner ],
giving it a out of faze sound.

It's actually a magnet flip and is pretty simple to do. A lot of hard core Greenie fans do it to the neck pup giving the guitar an "out of phase" sound similar to a Strat when both pups are engaged. My guess is that the magnets fell out while the pup was out of the guitar and were accidentally replace upside down. Greenie's Les Paul had the neck pup removed for a short time because it wasn't working correctly and he gigged it with a single pup during that time with tape covering the pup route.

The best use of the magnet flip that I've ever heard was with a soapbar P90, giving the guitar a very hollow tone with a "quack" - similar to T-Bone Walker - when the selector switch was used in the middle. I'm wanting to try it with my goldtop!

[tamborineman]

I am beginning the dis-assembly of my 30th anniv. hummbucker version as we speak. Maybe I can breath some new life into a guitar I never play anymore.

[8mileshigher]

On the subject of Fleetwood Mac's heritage of fantastic guitarists, here's a little story (from last year) to update any fans on the whereabouts of Danny Kirwan. This is my "report" that I sent out to some friends in Sept 9, 2006, after talking to Mick Fleetwood at one of his wine promo events. We saw a thing in the local newspaper that said that drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac fame was going to be at the local Costco discount store in Sept 2006, signing bottles of wine and promoting his new “Mick Fleetwood Signature Wines” that Costco distributes.

So I got down two Mick Fleetwood books that I have in the bookshelf, and took them down to Costco and we bought a few bottle of his wine and he autographed the two books I have that are about his life and adventures in Fleetwood Mac over the last 30-40 years.

While my wife took my picture with Mick, I exchanged a little dialogue and asked Mick a few historical questions, so that he would know I was a fan. The dialogue went:

Rich: Well Mick, this is a long, long road from that first Windsor Jazz Festival . (Astute fans will recognize that the blues band Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac made their introductory musical debut at the Windsor Jazz Festival in the UK).

Mick: (He gave a thoughtful look, counting the years in his mind and said): Yeah, when was that, back in 1967, I think.

Rich: Mick, I was wondering when was the last time you saw or heard from Danny Kirwan (Mac’s third guitarist in secession, and writer of the tune Station Man). Is he doing OK now ?

Mick: (Another long thoughtful look, calculating back in time). It’s been maybe 10 or 12 years now since I’ve spoken to Danny. I don’t think he’s doing too well though.

Rich: I remember reading something, that he was battling drinking, alcohol, problems, so that situation’s not really improved ?

Mick: Sadly, no. (shook his head).

Rich: Didn’t Danny Kirwan try to resurrect a musical career, about 10 or so years ago, and release some CDs ?

Mick: No, I don’t think so. He was one of the greatest guitarists. It’s too bad.

Rich: You have really been honored, Mick, to have played with some of the greatest guitarists, of all time. I mean it.

Mick: (gave an appreciative look).

Rich: And now you’ve got this wine thing – it’s funny because I always remember reading that John MacVie was the wine “connoisseur” of the band. (Actually, I was being polite, because it has been reported that bassist MacVie was a serious wino ---- but I did not want to be that much to the point or hurt Mick’s feelings).

Mick: Well now the wine guy is me.

(At this point, Mick was holding up one of the books I had of his, dated from 1994, and he was looking at his picture on it).

Rich: Gee, you’re looking at that book of yours, like you have not ever seen it before !!! You wrote it, correct, not a ghost writer ??

Mick: (laughs) Yes, it’s just been a while since seeing this one.

Rich: thank you very much for signing the books. We look forward to enjoying the wine.

Mick: Thanks.

* * * * * *
Also Fleetwood Mac/blues era fans may want to check out that Vintage Guitar magazine from last year that has Tom Petty on the cover with his Rickenbacker, as that issue has a great story about the "return" of Fleetwood Mac's second guitarist, renown slide-man Jeremy Spencer, who has been out of circulation for about twenty years, involved with a religious group. Spencer talks about there NOT being a possibility of getting together with Green and Kirwan again. Also, the Vintage Guitar magazine from this Summer, with Gary Moore on the cover (with a red Gibson 335) has a couple of pages article about Peter Green and details some of his blues style in a lessons format. By the way for you RRF wine connoisseurs out there, those Fleetwood wines are really nothing to write home about.... just a marketing gimmick, using his name for products from several different wineries that he has nothing to do with in reality. In fact, when in Costco just before Christmas here, it looks like they were discounting them from the original price bench marks, from when they introduced the wines a year before.

Regards - Rich F.

[rob_mac]

Just to fill in a few of the blanks, he made a series of albums in the late seventies to the mid eighties the first was the 'in the skies' album which contained some great tracks:- two instrumentals 'Slaydo day' and 'Apostle' and the title track were highlights and featured the great Guitarist Snowy White. I remember buying this album when it first came out on green vinyl. He recorded a further five albums up to 1984. Most of the tracks are credited to his brother mike. I saw him in concert during this period in Leeds, UK. Thanks to the power of the internet I found this picture from the very concert.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinkersworld/494196623

Disappointingly most of the solos were done by a second guitar player not shown in this pic. Peter was sadly, totally out of it and was there in body only. After this tour he went off the radar and did not reappear until the late ninties.

From Rob