The only guitarist who outdid Peter Green, according to Christine McVie
Believe it or not, there was a Fleetwood Mac before 1977 and the dramatic days of Rumours. Standing at the centre of a revolving door of artists were the band’s namesakes, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The resolute and unwavering anchors of the rhythm section, they explored every avenue of popular rock before landing on their charismatic dream-pop five-piece.
Together, the pair hoped to form the engine room of the next great blues band. Traipsing around the smoke-filled rooms of London’s late-night blues scene, they rubbed shoulders with oncoming greats. Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds and The Who all frequented this burgeoning arena, quietly jostling for the top spot.
It was, of course, Zeppelin who assumed that role with their truly captivating brand of sprawling blues rock. Robert Plant was indeed a charismatic figurehead through whom they could channel it, and John Bonham was the human version of rolling thunder, but the technicality of their addictive melodies was down to Jimmy Page.
Fleetwood and McVie would have been forgiven for feeling despondent as their hopes of bagging the best guitarist in town title faded away, but they were eventually handed an ace up their sleeve. Peter Green joined the ranks, and from the very second he laid down his first guitar part, the pair were quickly confronted with the potential for oncoming greatness.
After joining in 1967, he quickly penned some of the band’s most underrated hits and, without the overwhelming success of their later sound, would have been at the top of a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits compilation. On their 1969 album, Then Play On, he made his mark abundantly clear with some stellar blues takes, winning over Christine McVie as a fan.
When she joined the ranks a year later in 1970, she was soon basking in the brilliance of Green via studio and songwriting sessions, with one particular song standing above the rest in terms of impact. Speaking of their ‘70s track ‘Man of the World’, McVie said she was “Awestruck—everybody was awestruck by Peter. Except for Eric [Clapton], there was only Peter […]. We all thought he was just a superlative genius,” concluding, “I just loved that song.”
Like many geniuses of that time, Green’s brilliance flew too close to the sun. His very ability to descend into melodic chaos fed an internal beast that ultimately saw him leave the band after an LSD-induced breakdown. Fleetwood Mac’s threat to the throne of London’s blues scene diminished with Green’s exit, and they were left in a state of scramble, completely ignorant of the fact that in five years, they would welcome two of music’s most impactful songwriters into their ranks.
But before their band became transatlantic, it was only within the concentrated London scene where they could focus. A scene that Green, along with Clapton, dominated. He played with John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, as well as Green, back in the early days of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. A band that history would later inform us was jam-packed with future icons and, had things panned out differently, could have changed the course of a future Fleetwood Mac.
