1970 June Bath Festival

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by slipkid

This is Peter Green performing with John Mayall just weeks after leaving Fleetwood Mac (5/70), at the Bath Festival. Judge for yourselves. Peter Green was not crazy when he left FM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQtXT...eature=related

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.