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  #1  
Old 12-15-2014, 12:53 AM
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sharksfan2000 sharksfan2000 is offline
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Default Need a new thread! How about early '70s Peter Green

As much as I love Peter Green's guitar work with Fleetwood Mac, I'm also fascinated by some of the solo and session work he did in the early 1970s. Some of that work features a haunting, ghostly sound that seems almost ephemeral, like it could just fade away at any moment. There are hints of that in some of his earlier work, where he sometimes drops down to a tone that's barely audible ("First Time Alone" with John Mayall is an example). But by the early '70s it seems like Green had broken from much of the blues-based convention of the previous years and was exploring some really interesting and different sounds. Not sure I've explained myself very well, but here are a few clips of what I'm talking about:

"Timeless Time" from End of the Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ-hM5JpIP0

"Heavy Heart"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjTBUncvhxc

"Only Love Is Worth This Pain" from Hold On It's Coming with Country Joe McDonald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmrGyP73S0U

"Night Watch" from Penguin with Fleetwood Mac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xYuBfQkKwU

That style has shown up now and again since that time, but not as often. I get some of it in the guitar work for "A Fool No More" from In The Skies in the later 1970s (overall my favorite of his post-Mac tracks), and I hear it again on this, from the early 2000s (assuming that is Green's guitar during the last minute of the piece) - "Sky Blue" from Up with Peter Gabriel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFvwVOX95GY

Even without his famous Les Paul, the tone and phrasing are so distinctive, and I don't know of much else that really explores similar musical territory. Anyone have suggestions on who else I might check out for anything similar to this?

Last edited by sharksfan2000; 12-15-2014 at 12:56 AM..
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  #2  
Old 12-15-2014, 01:47 PM
lazy poker lazy poker is offline
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Originally Posted by sharksfan2000 View Post
. . . I don't know of much else that really explores similar musical territory. Anyone have suggestions on who else I might check out for anything similar to this?
maybe this is a wee bit off-topic here . . . but there's a guitarist that i think everybody who likes peter's style should have a listen to. his name is gregor hilden. don't be put off by the fact that he's german (like me ). he's influenced first and foremost by peter green, but you can also trace other influences like larry carlton, jeff beck or wes montgomery in his tasteful playing. anyone who might wannna check him out - treat yourself to his own "beale street strut" or his version of "proud pinto" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFPt...T4suTXHMVydYsQ
not quite in the vein of the tracks you were mentioning, sharksfan, but i hope you enjoy it anyway.
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Old 12-21-2014, 12:11 PM
dino dino is offline
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Good thread idea :-)
Know what you're talking about; the tracks where Peter has that very delicate touch, sparse noted combined with a lot of reverb.
Let's not forget Memphis Slim's "Blue Memphis Suite", which has tasteful Greeny licks all over it.
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Old 12-22-2014, 12:03 AM
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sharksfan2000 sharksfan2000 is offline
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Good thread idea :-)
Know what you're talking about; the tracks where Peter has that very delicate touch, sparse noted combined with a lot of reverb.
Let's not forget Memphis Slim's "Blue Memphis Suite", which has tasteful Greeny licks all over it.
Yes, that's exactly what I mean, dino. Good call on the "Blue Memphis Suite" too.
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Old 01-13-2015, 02:39 PM
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there's a guitarist that i think everybody who likes peter's style should have a listen to.
A good idea for another thread perhaps? A school of Green? My first thought is Rory Gallagher.
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Old 01-14-2015, 04:25 AM
lazy poker lazy poker is offline
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A good idea for another thread perhaps? A school of Green? My first thought is Rory Gallagher.
a good thread idea indeed, becca! i don't know if that's been done before - do you? but it should be definitely worth starting . . .

p.s. but, as you mentioned him - i can't really see a big relation between peter and rory playingwise, that is. i love 'em both, but for my money they're two different kettle of fish. but that's another story for another place . . . and another time . . .
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Old 07-10-2015, 06:10 AM
dansven dansven is offline
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Yes, this a very special way of approaching/playing the guitar. I can't think of anybody else who did this. By 1969-70 Peter had developed a monstrous technique with both speed, taste and wah-wah - and of course feel. This can be heard on the last Fleetwood Mac jams (i.e. "Rattlesnake Shake/Underway"), and his work with Peter Bardens, Memphis Slim Toe Fat and The End Of The Game.

The style that you're referring to is really quite the opposite... Sparse and often muted, and with much reverb. He blends those two styles on The End Of The Game and the Memphis Slim LP. On other recordings such as the Country Joe McDonald LP he sticks more to this sparse style.

I highly enjoy both styles. Can't help but think that this sparse style was part of his "vision", and the playing revealing his soul.... The mental illness, guitars "speaking" to him etc...
But also his natural way of not wanting to be the front man. Others would probably turn the amp to 11 when it was their time for soloing.

A passage in Martin Celmins' biography comes to my mind. I don't have the book here now, so I'll write from memory. It was right after Peter had left Fleetwood Mac. He was staying at a friend's house (maybe in the US?). The friend woke up in the morning and found Peter sitting on the front porch with his guitar, playing small tones and phrases to the birds. The friend found this very touching. This great guitar star sitting and communicating with birds.
His playing on for example "Only Love Is Worth This Pain" in a way resembles birds.

And mentioned, there are traces of this elsewhere too. I hear some of it in the two PVK instrumentals "Just Another Guy" and "Rubbing My Eyes", but really this style is something he did most around 1970. I also came to think about one special live version of "Rattlesnake Shake/Underway". It's a long time since I heard it, and I have to go through my bootleg collection to find it. But this version differs from the rest. The band "do their tings" rocking away as planned. But Peter never really "takes off". His solos are slow and sometimes sparse all the way through.

Last edited by dansven; 07-10-2015 at 06:43 AM..
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