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The guitarist that Robert Plant called superlative and soulful
Robert Plant was born in West Bromwich, England back in 1948 and started his musical career in 1965. Only three years later he would be recruited by Jimmy Page to be the vocalist of The New Yardbirds, which would later be renamed to Led Zeppelin.
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He had the chance to share the stage with Page, one of the greatest guitarists of all time but over the decades he praised many others. He once even mentioned one as being “superlative” and “soulful”.
The guitarist that Robert Plant called superlative and soulful
Back in 2022, Robert Plant was invited by BBC Radio 6 to list some of his favorite songs of all time. One of the 32 tracks he chose was “A Fool No More” by Peter Green and he praised the artist, calling him superlative and soulful.
(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “Probably one of the most superlative, soulful singer/guitarists that Britain has been proud to call our own. This is from Peter Green, from his ‘In The Skies’ record, which was released in 1979. So this came out after Peter spent nearly a decade out there away from the music scene,” Robert Plant said.
That track is from Peter Green’s second solo album “In The Skies”, released in 1979. That was his first album after 9 years without recording a solo record.
One of the most influential British guitar players of all time
Green was one of the most praised and influential British guitarists of all time. He was born in London, England in 1946, two years before Plant. The musician first achieved fame as a member of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, recording the album “A Hard Road” (1967). Curiously that record also had the bassist John McVie.
Later on Peter Green formed Fleetwood Mac, combining the surnames of the drummer Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. He was a member of the group from 1967 to 1970 being part of the albums “Fleetwood Mac” (1968), “Mr. Wonderful” (1968), “Then Play On” (1969), Fleetwood Mac in Chicago” (1969). He also appeared on “Penguin” (1973 – One song) and “Tusk” (1979 – One song).
Some of his most famous Fleetwood Mac songs are “Albatross”, “Black Magic Woman”, “Oh Well” and “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)”.
Plant is not the only one who praised the late artist. Musicians like Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Gary Moore, Joe Perry, Mark Knopfler and Kirk Hammett already paid tribute to the artist.
Illness and solo career
Due to mental health struggles, Green decided to leave Fleetwood Mac in the early 70s although he recorded two songs with the bands during that decade. He was eventually diagnosed with Schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals undergoing electroconvulsive therapy in the mid-70s.
During his career he released six solo albums. Four with Fleetwood Mac, one with John Mayall and seven as the Peter Green Splinter Group. He also was part of albums by Katmandu and The Enemy Within. His final album was “Reaching The Cold 100″, released in 2003 as Peter Green Splinter Group.
His songs have been covered by bands like Aerosmith, Santana, Status Quo, Tom Petty and Judas Priest.
Green died back in 2020 at the age of 73 and according to an official statement he passed away peacefully in his sleep”. A few months before, Mick Fleetwood organized a tribute show to Green at the London Palladium. The guitarist was not present but many famous artists were part of the show. Some of them were Billy Gibbons, John Mayall, Christine McVie, Steven Tyler, Noel Gallagher, Pete Townshend and David Gilmour.
