Eric Clapton’s opinion on Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green

One of the most talented and successful British guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton made his mark on music history as a member of The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith, all within just a few years. His influential career continued with the acclaimed Derek & The Dominos album, followed by a prolific solo career.

He was part of a groundbreaking generation of guitar players who changed the course of Rock and Roll. Over the decades he gave his opinion on many of his peers and their bands, including Fleetwood Mac and its late founding member Peter Green.

What is Eric Clapton’s opinion on Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green

Eric Clapton is a fan of Fleetwood Mac but although he remained a good friend of the band throughout all their line-ups, he has always praised the Peter Green era of the group, since he admired the late guitarist a lot. “Returning to England in late October 1965, I found that my place in the Bluesbreakers had been filled by a brilliant guitarist, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, who had aggressively pestered John to employ him, often turning up at gigs and shouting from the audience that he was much better than whoever was playing that night.”

“Though I barely knew him, I got the impression that here was a real Turk, a strong, confident musician who knew exactly what he wanted and where he was going, but who played his cards close to his chest. Most important, he was a phenomenal player, with a great tone. He was not happy to see me, as it meant rather a sudden end to what had obviously been a good gig for him.”

Eric Clapton continued:

“One change that didn’t particularly surprise me was that McVie had finally been given the boot. (He) had been replaced by Jack Bruce, the bass player from the Graham Bond Organisation, whom I had seen play at the Marquee,” Eric Clapton said in his autobiography. Peter Green was the guitarist who replaced Eric Clapton when he decided to leave John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers in 1966. It wasn’t an easy task, not only was it difficult to play Eric’s material, but it was also challenging to be accepted by fans who were constantly asking for the former band member during shows.

Curiously, he was the only British guitar player who Clapton believed had the same musical background and love for the Blues. “I only got to know two or three guys that play that style. There was Peter Green, and I can’t think of anyone else who played from the same origin, same root of influence as I did. The other guys mentioned (by the interviewer) like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were much more from a rockabilly sensibility. There were very few people drawn to Chicago blues and country blues the way I was and Peter Green was. I suppose because we were so rare, there wasn’t a rivalry. It was more of a nurturing.”

He continued:

“We’d be starving, and if you run into another of your kind, it’s something to feed on. The head-cutting thing is an interesting phenomenon. I’ve been involved in it, where I’ve been on stage with lots of players and we try to expand what we usually do, just to make a statement. I never felt it to be anything other than that. Not hostile. I’ve never seen it done with any malice,” Eric Clapton said in an interview with Pop Matters in 2007.

Clapton had the chance to play on stage with Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green back in 1970. He joined the band during their show in Boston, USA. A bootleg of this performance, titled “Boston Jam Party“, runs for over 20 minutes.

When Eric Clapton went to see Fleetwood Mac opening for B.B. King, the American guitarist said Peter Green was the best

In the 1960s, fans revered Clapton as a divine force, even creating the famous graffiti in London that read “Clapton Is God.” After Green replaced him in the Bluesbreakers, fans began calling him the “Green God” and claiming that “Peter Green Is Better Than God,” to say he was better than Eric. It turns out that according to Martin Celmins, author of “Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac – The Biography”, B.B. King at the time said that in his opinion Green was the best.

That happened when Fleetwood Mac was the opening act for him at the Royal Albert Hall, while Eric and George Harrison were watching the show from a private area. “At one point B.B. broke a string and put it down to nerves explaining to the audience: ‘Man, you’d be nervous if you could see who I can see right now.’ He was referring to George Harrison and Eric Clapton sitting in a private box, enjoying the show. But then B.B. declared: ‘But I’ve got to say that, I’m sorry, Peter Green is the best,’” Martin Celmins said. Of course, B.B. King’s opinion might have changed in the following decades since he became a good friend and admirer of Clapton.

Eric Clapton watched both eras of Fleetwood Mac live and played with Lindsey Buckingham

As any Blues musician, Clapton was always more drawn to the first era of Fleetwood Mac. But he also went to see the band’s new line-up with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, having the chance to hang out with them many times. When they were promoting the groundbreaking album “Rumors” (1977), he went with Pattie Boyd to see them playing. Mick Fleetwood, who was married to Pattie’s sister, recalled in his biography.

“We toured Europe in April of that year. Jenny and the children came with me to London where we played at Wembley Stadium, our first gig back home with the new line-up. Jenny’s sister Pattie came along, with her boyfriend Eric Clapton. It was a huge success,” Mick Fleetwood said. Clapton’s marriage to Pattie lasted from 1979 to 1989, while Mick’s marriage to Jenny lasted from 1970 to 1978. So they didn’t have the chance to officially become brothers in law. Mick and John McVie were friends of Eric since they were young musicians in London. But Eric only played with McVie on John Mayall’s band, since the drummer would only join them in 1967.

The guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham, who along with Stevie Nicks was a key element of Fleetwood Mac’s huge commercial success, said that whenever Clapton used to hang out with them, he said he missed being in a band.” “That’s something a lot of people who have gone solo miss. When Eric Clapton hangs out with Mick or us he’s always saying, ‘God! I wish I was in a band again.’ That’s because the burden is all on him.”

He continued:

“It’s just not the same when, as a leader, you’re paying people a certain amount each week to play with you. The balance of power is not the same. It drains you,” Lindsey Buckingham said in an interview with BAM Magazine in 1981. Four years later he was invited to play on Eric Clapton’s ninth solo studio album “Behind the Sun”. He played rhythm guitar in the song “Something’s Happening”.

Eric Clapton said John McVie is a brilliant bassist and an incredibly funny man

Out of all the members of Fleetwood Mac, the co-founder and bassist John McVie is certainly the most “mysterious” one. He always was more quiet on stage, being overshadowed by all the guitarists and singers the band had. Interestingly, Clapton said in his autobiography that John was brilliant as a bass guitarist and a really funny person.

“John McVie, who later formed Fleetwood Mac with Mick Fleetwood. Not only was he a brilliant bass guitarist, but he was an incredibly funny man with a very dark, cynical sense of humor. At that time the two Johns and myself were obsessed with the Harold Pinter play The Caretaker. I had seen the film, with Donald Pleasance as the tramp Davies, as many times as I could. I had also bought the script, a lot of which I knew by heart. We would spend hours acting out scenes from the play, swapping roles. So that sometimes I would play the character of Aston, other times Davies or Mick. We would piss ourselves with laughter,” Eric Clapton said.

In 2021, Clapton’s concerts were canceled due to the pandemic, but he still reunited his band and recorded some performances. A series of songs played live were released, including a rendition of “Black Magic Woman”. That classic was written by Peter Green and released by Fleetwood Mac in 1968, later being covered by Santana.