Nigel?

Tom · #1 03-21-2005, 09:24 PM

So - tell the new guy (me) about Nigel Watson. As I'm getting this Splinter material I see he's all over the place. I'm just curious if Pete has known him a long time, or if he sort of latched on to him more recently. I have no idea which is why I'm asking. I just got this live Splinter DVD, and even though Mr. Watson is a good player I was bummed out to see him do leads where I wanted to see Greeny do them. I wonder if that was at Peter's insistance or what. I've learned in here that Pete has parted company with Nigel, so maybe that's my answer there.
I believe that this will be thread #99 in the Peter Green part of this site. It's the only one still under 100. We're almost over the hump

SteveMacD · #2 03-21-2005, 10:28 PM

Nigel goes back to the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac days. In fact, he played congos on the "Kiln House" tour after Jeremy Spencer quit. It was Nigel's acoustic blues guitar playing that inspired Peter Green to take the guitar up again in the mid 1990s. I don't know how I view the whole Splinter Group thing. On the one hand, there was a long-time friendship. However, part of me feels that there was the element of exploitation from the beginning. Consider this: Nigel's sister, Michele Reynolds, was married to Cliff Davis, the Mac's ex-manager. Subsequently, Mich was the original manager of the Splinter Group. Ironically (or maybe not), she got the rights to Peter Green's music, which were held by Davis, in the divorce. Draw your own conclusions.

***ThePenguin*** · #3 03-22-2005, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Nigel goes back to the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac days. In fact, he played congos on the "Kiln House" tour after Jeremy Spencer quit. It was Nigel's acoustic blues guitar playing that inspired Peter Green to take the guitar up again in the mid 1990s. I don't know how I view the whole Splinter Group thing. On the one hand, there was a long-time friendship. However, part of me feels that there was the element of exploitation from the beginning. Consider this: Nigel's sister, Michele Reynolds, was married to Cliff Davis, the Mac's ex-manager. Subsequently, Mich was the original manager of the Splinter Group. Ironically (or maybe not), she got the rights to Peter Green's music, which were held by Davis, in the divorce. Draw your own conclusions.

Yeesh, I'd nearly forgotten all that stuff. I'd like to believe Nigel/Mich truly did care about pete and had his best interests at heart....I mean they'd known him for years and he was in a bad way for much of that time....but I guess maybe there could have also been some financial reasons behind their desire to get him back out and playing again.

-Lis

chiliD · #4 03-22-2005, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom

I just got this live Splinter DVD, and even though Mr. Watson is a good player I was bummed out to see him do leads where I wanted to see Greeny do them. I wonder if that was at Peter's insistance or what.

From interviews that Peter did during his PGSG tenure, he was MORE than happy to let Nigel play the solos that Peter had recorded (on the Fleetwood Mac material). Peter's thinking was that if Nigel did those parts, he was free to experiment with a different approach to the songs...which I think he pulled off pretty well.

I think the PGSG was GREAT for Peter, to a point. I think he just outgrew them...it got to a point where he was being stifled (probably by Nigel, mainly). The only way he would be able to take his playing to another level (again, after having to totally relearn how to play) was to break free of the PGSG.

If you haven't already, pick up both the Destiny Road & Time Traders albums...those, IMHO, are the two best PGSG albums.

Gwillaker · #5 04-07-2005, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Nigel goes back to the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac days. In fact, he played congos on the "Kiln House" tour after Jeremy Spencer quit. It was Nigel's acoustic blues guitar playing that inspired Peter Green to take the guitar up again in the mid 1990s. I don't know how I view the whole Splinter Group thing. On the one hand, there was a long-time friendship. However, part of me feels that there was the element of exploitation from the beginning. Consider this: Nigel's sister, Michele Reynolds, was married to Cliff Davis, the Mac's ex-manager. Subsequently, Mich was the original manager of the Splinter Group. Ironically (or maybe not), she got the rights to Peter Green's music, which were held by Davis, in the divorce. Draw your own conclusions.

That speaks for itself really, doesnt it?

But at least some good came out of it, and it did benefit Peter.