The Greeny - Little Richard connection

[sharksfan2000]

I've been listening to some Peter Green-era live shows this evening and I'm just now realizing that he must have been a huge Little Richard fan. He sang at least 5 Little Richard songs in various shows: "Long Tall Sally", "Tutti Frutti", "Jenny Jenny", "Ready Teddy", and "Keep A-Knockin'". I think Peter's own song "Sandy Mary" bears a resemblence to "Jenny Jenny" (and I'm sure to a number of other early rock'n'roll songs as well).

With other songs like "Twist and Shout" and "Tallahassee Lassie" that Peter sang live, it seems clear that he was as big a rock'n'roll influence on the band as Jeremy was.

Peter really got into those songs, too - his vocals could be pretty wild! The band was amazing during those numbers - Peter and Danny blazing on guitar, Jeremy banging away on piano, and John and Mick really driving the rhythm. It's clear that they were all having a blast playing this stuff.

Although some of Jeremy's work might be called '50s revivalist, for the most part the band didn't attempt to replicate the original sounds of these old songs. They seemed determined to play them rougher, harder, louder than they ever were before. I think more than anything, playing these songs gave the band a chance to really cut loose and have fun. Any comments? Agree? Disagree?

[dansven]

Hi sharksfan2000,

I agree with you, Peter must have been quite a rock'n'roll fan. It is my impression that even if Jeremy was a 50s r'n'r enthusiast, he didn't start doing "Great Balls Of Fire", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Tiger" etc... until later (1969). In the beginning he did mostly Elmore James style onstage.

On the other hand Peter did things like "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally" and "Ready Teddy" from the very beginning and they stayed with him in the setlists up to 1970.

But this is just what I believe from the setlists I have, and have seen. Maybe Jeremy also did r'n'r from the beginning. It's just that I haven't seen it.

You're right about Peter and the band being very wild during these songs. Maybe in the end Peter saw these numbers as a chance to get away from the pressure he felt as a rock star - to put a bit of humour and fun into the music, and to play it with the same attitude as he did before he became famous? Who knows?

Daniel

[ThePenguin]

Jeremy admits that Peter and John knew all those old 50's songs that Jeremy loved to do, that's what made it so easy for them to just do them 'off the cuff'. I guess all three of them had a good knowledge base of that kind of music. They did seem to have a blast.

--Lis

[sharksfan2000]

I should mention that I'm bringing up this topic since I hadn't really thought of Peter being a big rock'n'roll influence on the band before. Almost all the written accounts of this period talk about Jeremy's r'n'r songs being a big part of their live show, but few mention much about this with regard to Peter. I wonder if this is because the writers (intentionally or not) wanted to present Peter as a "serious blues artist" and didn't want to dilute that view by bringing up his love for wild & crazy rock'n'roll.

[BklynBlue]

I think the reason most writer's have not brought up Green's taste for early rock 'n roll is because it really was only on display in concert.
While he undoubtedly knew and enjoyed those numbers; had most likely played those songs in the various bands in the years before joining the Peter B's, the music did not really inform his playing or writing style. Not in the way that Chuck Berry so indelibly stamped the playing of Keith Richards.
My feeling is that those numbers, when done in concert, were just a way for the band to cut loose and send the audience home with a high powered blow-out.
Although it is not as prevalent now, most of the big British and even American acts threw songs like that into their encores. It was a way of acknowledging their roots, where they came from (having to do only covers when starting out), and showing that as big as they are, they still have a sense of humor.
I was never a big fan of those numbers and felt it was a shame that they didn't just adapt some of the more aggressive blues numbers to the same effect - "Shake Your Moneymaker" being an obvious choice for such treatment.
I believe the reason that they didn't do that was because they had so compartmentalized their ideas of the music that they thought that would be disrespectful the originals.
I don't think Spencer would ever "adapt" an Elmore James or Buddy Holly song. Nor would Green have taken on a Robert Johnson number the way that Clapton adapted "Cross Road Blues".
They paid tribute by playing a song as closely to the original as possible.
Green was a little more flexible. He might stretch out on a B.B. King number, but he always stayed true to the "spirit" of the original, adding his own stamp but acknowledging those who came before.
I think Green and Spencer felt they had a little more lee-way with the numbers that they chose.