Fleetwood Mac blues guitarist Peter Green, 73, dies

LONDON >> Peter Green, the dexterous blues guitarist who led the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac in a career shortened by psychedelic drugs and mental illness, has died at 73.

A law firm representing his family, Swan Turton, announced the death in a statement Saturday. It said he died “peacefully in his sleep this weekend. A further statement will be issued in the coming days.

Green, to some listeners, was the best of the British blues guitarists of the 1960s. B.B. King once said Green “has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.”

Green also made a mark as a composer with “Albatross,” and as a songwriter with “Oh Well” and “Black Magic Woman.” He crashed out of the band in 1971. Even so, Mick Fleetwood said in an AP interview in 2017 that Green deserves a huge share of the credit for the band’s success.

“Peter was asked why did he call the band Fleetwood Mac. He said, ‘Well, you know I thought maybe I’d move on at some point and I wanted Mick and John (Mcvie) to have a band.’ End of story, explaining how generous he was,” said Fleetwood, who described Green as a standout in an era of great guitar work.

Indeed, Green was so fundamental to the band that in its early days it was called Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. Green left Fleetwood Mac for good in 1971. In his absence, the band’s new lineup, including Christine Mcvie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, gained enormous success with a more pop-tinged sound. Green returned to performing in the 1990s with the Peter Green Splinter Group.