Fleetwood Mac’s Jewish co-founder, master blues guitarist Peter Green, dies at 73

Peter Green, one of the master guitarists of the rock era, and along with Michael Bloomfield and Mark Knopfler, among the most acclaimed Jewish rock guitarists, died over the weekend at age 73 in England.

Green co-founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 and his incendiary work on the band’s early albums has influenced countless guitarists.

Born Peter Greenbaum in London’s Bethnal Green, Green learned to play guitar from his brother Michael, and was performing professionally by the age of 15.

At the age of 20 after a stint in John Mayall’s

Bluesbreakers – filling in for Eric Clapton – he formed Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie and guitarist Jeremy Spencer.

The band’s first three blues-heavy albums featured Green on enduring tunes like “Black Magic Woman,” “Oh Well,” “Rattlesnake Shake,” and the instrumental “Albatross.”

“He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats,” B.B. King said, according to Fleetwood Mac’s website.

In 1970, Green abruptly left the band amid drug-induced schizophrenia, renounced commercial interests and basically dropped out of the music business. He spent time in hospitals undergoing electro-convulsive therapy during the mid-70s.

Fleetwood Mac went on to mega-mainstream success later in the 1970s after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band.

Mick Fleetwood issued a statement, calling Green “my dearest friend” and saying Fleetwood Mac under Green’s direction “trailblazed one hell of a musical road for so many to enjoy.”

“Peter was the man who started the band Fleetwood Mac along with myself, John McVie, and Jeremy Spencer. No one has ever stepped into the ranks of Fleetwood Mac without a reverence for Peter Green and his talent, and to the fact that music should shine bright and always be delivered with uncompromising passion.

“Peter, I will miss you, but rest easy – your music lives on. I thank you for asking me to be your drummer all those years ago.”

Green was one of the eight members of Fleetwood Mac to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

GUITARIST PETER GREEN in a rare performance, following the induction of Santana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.(Reuters)