Peter Green (f. Peter Alan Greenbaum 29. oktober 1946) er en av rockens mest legendariske gitarister, kjent for sin innsats i Bluesbreakers og Fleetwood Mac.

Green havnet først i søkelyset da Eric Clapton sluttet i John Mayalls Bluesbreakers i 1966. Mayall stilte snart med en ny solist på scenen: Peter Green; en ukjent musiker som ikke bare kopierte Clapton perfekt, men som snart viste seg å ha sin egen, høyst personlige stil.

Bare ett år seinere slo Green seg sammen med seg bluesbreaker John McVie på bass, veteranen Mick Fleetwood på trommer og en ung villmann ved navn Jeremy Spencer. Sammen startet de gruppa Fleetwood Mac.

Gruppa steg sakte mot toppen, og i 1969 solgte de mer enn The Beatles med tidenes gitarinstrumental-hit, den sakteflytende, rytmisk suggererende «Albatross». Sommeren etter sa Green overraskende takk for seg.

Frå 1970 deltok han bare sporadisk på ein del plateinnspillinger.  Store personlige problemer satte en stopper for ham i mange år.  I 1996 dannet han Splinter Group som blei ein stor suksess.   

Albatross - Black Magic Woman - Man of the World - Oh Well er kjente klassikere med Fleetwood Mac og Peter Green.

Her er en kort omtale på engelsk:

Born in the East End of London in 1946, Peter Greenbaum's teenage passion was for the guitar, inspired by contemporary popular guitarist Hank Marvin, blues icons like B B King and Otis Rush, and also traditional Jewish music.

Peter started his super stardom career playing in teenage bands the Looners and Shotgun Express playing bass and later guitar with, amongst others, Mick Fleetwood and Rod Stewart.

Eric Clapton, at the time lead guitarist with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was worshipped as a guitar hero on the London Blues scene. Green had big boots to fill when he was asked to replace Clapton (who left to form Cream) in the Bluesbreakers - but he was admirably equipped for the task. He developed his own unique style on the album, 'A Hard Road'.

By 1967, drummer Aynsley Dunbar had left Mayall, and Green's former "Looners" buddy Mick Fleetwood was drafted in. A chance instrumental, 'Fleetwood Mac' was recorded featuring Green, Fleetwood, and bassist John McVie. Thus 'the Mac' were born!

Peter's reputation as a superb player was the creative focus of the band and their first album, 'Fleetwood Mac' was an instant success, one of the best selling British Blues albums ever. Hit singles soon followed - the number one instrumental single 'Albatross' and "" (later a hit for Carlos Santana). The epic, moody and tropical sounds that soared through "Albatross" indicated that Fleetwood Mac were moving beyond the confines of pure Blues to a new musical fusion. The band still continue to record pure blues albums, like 'Blues Jam at Chess' the 1969 double album recorded in Chicago which featured Willie Dixon, Otis Spann and J.T. Brown.

Other hit singles followed; - 'Man of the World' sung by Peter Green, 'Oh Well' a single in two parts, featured Peter playing Cello, Spanish guitar and Recorder on part two, proceeded by Peter's final Mac album, 'Then Play On', combining progressive music with intense blues jams.

60's hedonism, LSD and sudden fame played its own blues over the life of young Peter. The band's final single 'The Green Manalishi' reflected Peter's phobia of his own wealth, depicting money as the manifestation of the Devil. He became very interested in religion, appearing on-stage wearing crucifixes and flowing robes and fought with the band whom he encouraged to donate all their money to charities. In 1970 Peter left the band.

Sporadically over the next decade Peter remained an active guitarist, guesting on several blues albums with Memphis Slim, Bobby Tench's Gass and B B King and gigging around London as well as releasing an album recorded in one night, "The end of the Game". Ironically, for Peter the game was very nearly over, hallucinations, mental health problems, and antipathy towards the music industry led to him hanging up his guitar for the rest of the decade. A few splattering of recordings followed like the album "In the Skies" but reports were that Peter had grown his fingernails long and his appearance was disheveled and distant - he took up the remaining threads of a normal life left for him as Peter Greenbaum. Peter Green "sightings" became nearly as notorious as his contemporary Syd Barrett; rumours were that he was a gravedigger, a bartender in Cornwall, a hospital orderly and a member of an Israeli commune.

By 1995 after a Martin Celmins biography and release of a Gary Moore 'tribute' album, interest in the Green Manalishi was building. In 1996 close friend Nigel Watson persuaded Peter to relearn the guitar by playing the songs of blues legend Robert Johnson, and the Splinter Group was born. In the same year, MOJO magazine voted Green in the top three guitarist of all time - well ahead of former rival Clapton - alongside Steve Cropper and Jimi Hendrix. In 1998 he was the first British guitarist to be awarded a W.C. Handy Blues Award by the Rhythm and Blues foundation. The band have recorded four albums; Splinter Group, the Robert Johnson Songbook, Soho Sessions and Destiny Road. The Splinter Group ethos is a clubbing together of its versatile members talents to focus on the blues, reinvented in a fresh, modern style. Hot Foot Powder is a continuation of the spirit of The Splinter Group, recorded in the USA and featuring Nigel Watson and special guests Dr. John, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Honey Boy Edwards.

http://www.snappermusic.com/petergreen/index2.htm