S Poddar
When Fleetwood Mac was initially beginning to become a band, Mick Fleetwood did not envision them making an album like Rumours. With Peter Green leading in the early days of the band, it was hitting and missing – far removed from what it finally evolved into.
Although Mick Fleetwood would go on to achieve success with the band way beyond his wildest dreams, fame was never his true drive. The band’s name may carry Fleetwood’s and bassist John McVie’s, but in the nascent stages, it was Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, a clear acknowledgment of Green’s dominance.
Formed in 1967, Fleetwood Mac had firmly established themselves in the blues circuit by the following year, releasing their debut album, which showcased their considerable technical skill. In a rather bold move they refused to release any singles from the record, further underlining Green’s wishes to avoid fame at all cost.
It is hard, reflecting on those early days, not to wonder what could have been if Green had stayed with the band. Of course, incredible success would soon follow the arrival of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham, but basically, it was a different band. Even Fleetwood has often pondered that “what if” over the years.
The biggest struggle for Green, like many brilliant musicians, was not from the people around him but from his own self. In an era when mental health was not particularly understood, Green did not receive the care he needed, much of which might have kept him playing in Fleetwood Mac well beyond his departure from the band in 1970. His departure marked the end of an era for the band.
Green did record a solo album, The End of the Game, after leaving Fleetwood Mac, but he, then basically disappeared for the following thirty years. By the time he had exited in 1970, Led Zeppelin was already claiming to be the biggest rock group in the world in the wake of The Beatles’ disintegration. Mick Fleetwood feels his band could have done the same had Green been the creative dynamo.
“I think it would have been really profound. I have no doubt what was missed. I think we would have had a place sort of like Led Zeppelin in America,” Fleetwood shared in an interview with Mojo in 2015.
He added that he drew the comparison because, “The creativity was on a par with where they took themselves. That’s what I think would have happened. I think we would have had a really, really elastic musical trip, experimenting with sounds and styles and orchestras.
It was also notable that the band’s music was inspired by the same roots as that of Peter Green and Led Zeppelin’s guitarist, Jimmy Page. They shared these roots, moving in similar circles during the 1960s, and Page had great respect for Green. In fact, Page used Fleetwood Mac’s track ‘Oh Well’ as inspiration for Led Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’.
“The original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green performed the music of people like Elmore James really well,” Page once said of Green in the book Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page. “Peter had such a beautiful touch on things like ‘Stop Messing Around.’ Just fabulous in the vein of B.B. King.”
Page added, “I don’t think you’re going to find a better example of British blues than the original Fleetwood Mac, with Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green.”
Even had Fleetwood Mac sound veered further away from hard-bashing rock and roll-like Led Zeppelin’s-it would have been quite possible for them to gain the same level of success and regard for the musical world. Yet, even with the sad turn their story took, Fleetwood Mac was still able to climb their way right to the top of the business in their own way.
