again...
I found it in the Christopher Hjort book. John Mayall indeed wanted Peter to tour the UK with the Bluesbreakers in September of '71. By that time Peter was digging graves.
Then Play On without the drugs...hmm. I guess songs like 'Underway' wouldn't have happened. Again that album was pretty much written by the spring of '69. It was recorded in July. If drugs were a factor (probably) it was as if Peter was on his third or fourth drink (nice buzz, feeling good), he hadn't reached his 15th or 16th (1970).
Kirwan:
According to what I've read as long as Peter was in the band he was still calling the shots, until early May of '70 when he was just going through the motions. Of course he asked Kirwan for help songwise and he would respond. The TPO sessions were a great example of this. If John, Mick, Danny, and Jeremy were in the studio, and Peter wasn't there, nothing was done. The rest of the band didn't take any initiative on themselves to work on the music. From Peter's perspective I can see how that could be a burden to have four musicians act like "speak to me great leader, we can't work without you".
Once Peter left, I think Danny, and Jeremy became the front men, and Mick Fleetwood became the "den mother". Obviously Jeremy couldn't take that and left within a year, leaving Danny. Future Games seems like a shared partnership with Welch, and Kirwan, with C. McVie's first song. The number of Kirwan tracks dominate Bare Trees, though Welch comes away with the most accessible song (Sent. Lady).
Charity:
Peter claims later that he didn't want to give all his money away, just keep enough to sustain yourself. I think this is where he had true inner conflict though. He had a thing for sportscars, and could afford the famous Shelby AC Cobra, but he settled on a 700 pound old Jaguar. I think that's when he was mentally losing his grasp. It's the balance between famous musician/star, and regular person with a close knit family.
|