zosozep7 wrote:What happened to Peter Green? I have never investigated it. Is he still alive??
Rob
I could write this out, but since I'm pressed for time at the moment, here's the story from Wilkipedia :
And yes, Peter's still alive and playing again.
Following the release of "Albatross" and consequent rise in fame, Green struggled spiritually with the band's success and being in the spotlight. While touring Europe and after a gig in Munich, Germany, Green went on a three day LSD fuelled binge. In his own words, he "went on a trip, and never came back". Green's personality changed drastically after the episode: he began wearing a robe, grew a beard, and wore a crucifix on his chest. His use of LSD may have been a contributing factor to his mental illness, schizophrenia.
He quit Fleetwood Mac in 1970, declaring money to be evil and giving it away to charity. He recorded an experimental and extremely uncommercial album The End Of The Game and faded into obscurity, taking on a succession of menial jobs.
Green had a brief reunion with Fleetwood Mac when Jeremy Spencer left the group (Green flew to the USA to help them complete the tour) and he was also an uncredited guest on their 1973 Penguin album on the track "Night Watch".
Green has been institutionalised in the past with psychological problems and he underwent electroconvulsive therapy in the mid-1970s. Many sources attest to his lethargic, trancelike state during this period. In 1977, he was arrested for threatening his accountant, Clifford Davis, with a rifle, but the exact circumstances are the subject of much speculation. After this incident he was sent to a psychiatric institution in London. This was prior to his re-emergence as a recording artist with PVK Records in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Urged by friends to resume playing, he resurfaced in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a series of albums, including In the Skies, Little Dreamer and White Sky. Although of inconsistent quality, these albums nevertheless contained glimmers of Green's unique blues styling and signature sound. He was also an uncredited guest on "Brown Eyes", from the Fleetwood Mac album Tusk; contributed to "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Super Brains" on Mick Fleetwood's solo album, The Visitor. A 1990's comeback saw Green form the Peter Green Splinter Group, with the assistance of fellow musicians including Cozy Powell. The Splinter Group released nine albums between 1997 and 2003.
A tour was cancelled and recording of a new studio album stopped in early 2004, when Green left the band and moved to Sweden. Shortly thereafter he joined The British Blues All Stars, but their tour in 2005 was also cancelled. A possible reason for these changes could be a planned reunion of the original Fleetwood Mac, as announced by Mick Fleetwood on March 14, 2005.
A quick addendum, at one point during the 70's Peter was actually working as a gravedigger. A sad story for sure of a guitarist who prompted B.B. King to say, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He’s the only one who gave me the cold sweats.” However although he's not quite as fiery as he was during the late 60's and early 70's, the fact that he's playing again is a miracle in itself.
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