Photo: Pictorial Press Ltd
Chicken Shack’s Stan Webb emphasises Peter Green’s unique taste: ‘Peter always acknowledged where he came from, but what happened in the end is that Peter’s style came from himself. He’s the only white player I’ve ever heard that has come from himself. He first did everything and everyone, like we all did with Robert Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Mama Thornton, Buddy Guy, BB King and Freddie King; but then Peter developed into the only white player that ended up totally original.
That’s not praise; it’s a fact. Eric Clapton’s another matter: back in the early days, Eric was far more selfish and self-centred. A few years ago, me and Eric bumped into each other at some cricket do and started talking about the old days. He said to me, “Do you know, I’m really selfish?” I said, “Yeah, Eric, I know. You never acknowledged Matt Murphy [Memphis Slim’s regular guitarist], did you?” And there was nothing Eric could say because he knew I was right. I’ve got old 1950s records in my collection of Matt Murphy which has stuff that is note for note what Eric played on John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers’ “Beano” album.’
This point illustrates well the hand-me-down nature of blues. One of Peter’s early inspirations for ‘Albatross’ was ‘a group of notes from an Eric Clapton solo played slower’. So who knows? perhaps Matt Murphy should get some remote credit for the hit instrumental.
Source: Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac by Martin Celmis
