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Guitar Player
July 2003
Issue 401
Vol. 37, No. 7
Page 22
(Input/Output Section)
“Blues Joint: Peter Green”
By Elliott Stephen Cohen
That Peter Green is a lost soul has been well documented. After a meteoric rise in the blush of London’s 60s blues scene as a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac, drug abuse and schizophrenia robbed him of his reason, his fame, and even his ability to play guitar. But in 1998, a frail and still mentally fragile Green returned to form with the critically acclaimed The Robert Johnson Songbook. It was a personal victory of epic proportions. The 56-year old Green recently released a follow-up, Reaching the Cold 100 [Eagle records], and spoke to GP about his mental health, his famous Les Paul, and how to really play the blues.
GP: You didn’t write any new songs for “Reaching the Cold 100, opting instead to rerecord some of your old Fleetwood Mac classics such as “Black Magic Woman” and “Albatross.” How come?
Peter Green: I actually didn’t have the time to come up with any new material for the album. I’m always studying the development—or lack of development—in my songs. That’s sort of where my creative energies apply themselves. I always want to see if I can improve on them.
GP: What equipment are you currently using?
Peter Green: I’m playing two Stratocasters—one of which is set up for slide—and a Gibson Howard Roberts that has settled in nicely. I like really heavy strings, and I prefer to play without picks. My amp is a Fender Pro Sonic.
GP: You once said you’d never play a Les Paul again. Why?
Peter Green: It’s too heavy for me now. Actually, buying a Les Paul is one of my biggest regrets. I should have left that to Eric Clapton. I sort of overshadowed his breakthrough. But my Les Paul was a fabulous guitar. I wish I could get it back today. When you’ve got something really perfect, you don’t realize it at the time.
GP: Don’t you also regret the years you were unable to play guitar and perform in public?
Peter Green: I have no regrets there. That was simply because of my hospitalization. I was kind of tricked into going into a hospital. I used to say, “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want electro-shock therapy.” Well, they tricked me into it, but shock therapy wasn’t the worst. My most hated thing was being forced to take tranquilizers. You try to stay awake, but you ain’t going to be able to do it. You’re left half asleep with no identity. I was just struggling to keep my eyes open. I couldn’t really think. I just kept blinking my eyes open like a cat. You know—on the blink, on the blink, on the blink. That’s all I was able to do.
GP: Have you ever considered that your personal challenges might allow you to approach blues music with more authenticity or conviction?
Peter Green: I’m playing that music, and I’m an honorable guy—If there’s a discrepancy or debate about it. But someone in New Orleans once said to me, “When I come to hear the blues, I know what color skin I want to see doing it!” He was a clever bloke. Well, I don’t think my history gives me any right to sing the blues, but perhaps it has improved my chances [laughs]. You don’t go right, but you get more wrong. It is best to have suffered—you can’t beat a lot of negativity coming in. If you’re comfortable in life, then that’s something holy, and something very sad.
GP: In the ‘70s, you believed that making money off one’s art was evil. Do you still think that’s true?
Peter Green: No. Back then, the acid heads had a different opinion, though. But I have no real proof that rock stars have any money. They haven’t given me any of it, or taken me to any lavish restaurants, so they may not have as much as people think. It might be interesting to say that rock stars were given money to take away the original sin. If the rock star keeps on rocking, he’s going to be repeating himself to a certain extent. A lot of them do seem to have something that I haven’t got, but, whatever it is, they can keep it. Having it becomes more than a curse.
~article by Elliot Stephen Cohen.
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