Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveMacD
It's a great performance, on that I agree (killer line-up, too).
I still believe Peter Green was mentally ill when he left Fleetwood Mac. The onset of mental illness wouldn't take away from his musical abilities, and I'd expect nothing less from Peter in June, 1970. In my experience as a social worker, I've observed that people with mental illness are among the most creative.
The reason I believe he was mentally ill at that point is because there are too many people, not just Fleetwood and McVie, that have said there was a profound change in Peter after Munich. It makes sense. Peter Green was by all accounts a very sensitive, perhaps even fragile, soul, made worse by growing up Jewish in London at that time in history. The typical onset of schizophrenia for a male is in early adulthood, and Peter Green was only 23 when he left Fleetwood Mac. The pressures of creating music, constant touring, record label BS, the political situations of the time, and drug and alcohol use mixed with his age, history, and personality was a recipe for disaster. To be sure, it got progressively worse as time went on. Luckily for all of us, they found better ways to treat the illness, and he seems to be coping well today.
I mean, Danny also had mental illness (based on things I've read from a wide range of people) when he was in the band, and he was also brilliant.
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Yes, it is a great performance, thank you slipkid! PG was at a peak musically, creatively and performancewise in the first part of 1970. After leaving FM he shared his talents with many people and was very active over the summerperiod. What happened after that was more like an implosion.
I agree totally with you with the regard to the illness which typically has an unset in early adulthood. In many young people the symptoms of schizofrenia can be brought on by (what is seen from the outside) lesser slights, like a girlfriend breaking up and the like. Also there is often a family history of mental illness (not necassarily schizofrenia).
The question is: would the illness have been brought on in PG without these heavy pressures? Would he have become ill if he had remained a butcher?
Didn't Martin Celmins indicate (in book and Man of The World DVD) that PG got better when he stopped the medication? I think he mentioned tranquilizers, which (on it's own) is a perculiar treatment for skizofrenic symptoms. Let's hope he can benefit from the newer treatments. Fortunately some experience a fading in symptoms with age - they (and the people around them) learn to live with the ups and down.
Ms Moose