Peter Green earned acclaim from certain admirers as the finest white blues guitarist of his era, despite the presence of Eric Clapton. Originally named Peter Greenbaum, he adopted the surname Green by the time he turned fifteen and spent his formative years amid the working-class surroundings of London's East End. His earliest inspirations encompassed Hank Marvin from the Shadows along with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, and traditional Jewish music. He began on bass until keyboardist Peter Bardens recruited the nineteen-year-old in 1966 to handle lead guitar duties with the Peter B's, a group whose drummer was Mick Fleetwood. Green remained with Bardens for only three months before moving on to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, a unit whose lineup at the time featured bassist John McVie and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. An ardent admirer of Clapton, Green pressed Mayall for an opportunity once the regular guitarist departed for an open-ended stay in Greece. His performances impressed Mayall, who later recalled Green's disappointment upon Clapton's return after just a few shows, resulting in Green's dismissal.
Six months afterward, when Clapton departed permanently to establish Cream, Mayall persuaded Green to rejoin. Audiences initially reacted with resentment toward the newcomer who was not Clapton, yet they gradually recognized his abilities. Producer Mike Vernon expressed dismay upon discovering that the Bluesbreakers had arrived without Clapton for the late-1966 sessions that yielded A Hard Road, though Green's contributions ultimately convinced him. Several tracks displayed a sound so close to Clapton's that distinguishing the two proved difficult. An eerie instrumental titled "The Supernatural" revealed the emerging hallmarks of Green's fluid and haunting approach, one that echoed B.B. King.
Green parted ways with Mayall in 1967 and brought McVie and Fleetwood along to form Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan soon completed the lineup, creating an uncommon three-guitar configuration at the front. Green reached a creative high point across the releases Mr. Wonderful, English Rose, Then Play On, and a live recording from the Boston Tea Party. The instrumental "Albatross" became the band's first British number-one single, while "Black Magic Woman" later achieved major success for Carlos Santana. Acid experimentation, however, led to increasingly erratic conduct, especially following a three-day period of intense drug use in Munich. Green grew deeply religious and began appearing onstage in crucifixes and flowing robes. When the other members declined his proposal to donate the bulk of their earnings to charity, he exited in mid-1970 after composing the stark autobiographical piece "The Green Manalishi."
Following the release of his raw and meandering solo effort The End of the Game, Green set aside his guitar, though he assisted Fleetwood Mac in finishing a tour after Spencer abruptly joined the Children of God in Los Angeles and left the group. For nearly a decade Green's unsettled path fueled reports that he had worked as a gravedigger, tended bar in Cornwall, served as a hospital orderly, and lived in an Israeli commune. Confronted with an unsolicited royalty check from an accountant, he approached the individual while carrying an unloaded firearm, which led to a short jail stay before transfer to an asylum.
Green reappeared during the late 1970s and early 1980s on the albums In the Skies, Little Dreamer, White Sky, and Kolors, which included contributions from Bardens, Reg Isidore (formerly with Robin Trower), and Dave Mattacks (of Fairport Convention). He revisited the Mac staple "Rattlesnake Shake" from Then Play On for Fleetwood's 1981 solo album The Visitor. British writer Martin Celmins published a biography of Green in 1995. Plagued by psychological difficulties and medicated throughout most of the 1990s, during which he rarely played guitar, Green began occasional recording sessions again in the latter half of the decade. Occasional public appearances included his notable return on January 12, 1998, when Fleetwood Mac entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; on that occasion he joined fellow inductee Santana for a performance of "Black Magic Woman." Peter Green died in his sleep at home on July 25, 2020, at the age of seventy-three.
