Creating a playlist for Peter Green
By Narendra Kusnur
Album: A special playlist for former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green (Spotify link below)
On hearing of the death of Fleetwood Mac co-founder and guitarist Peter Green on July 25, my natural instinct as a journalist was to write an obituary. However, over the next few hours, so many British and American publications and websites had carried one, and there was nothing new left to write.
Considering his enormous contribution, and the fact that iconic guitarists like Peter Frampton, Gary Moore and Slash were fans, a simple Facebook post with a YouTube link wasn't enough. This is where the idea of creating a playlist germinated.
Now, it would have been great to just create a playlist and share it – the link is at the end of the file. But I thought I'd go a step further and explain the thought process and methodology that went into creating this one.
First things first. A playlist on an audio streaming platform isn’t just a random list of haphazardly structured songs. From a choice of 100 or 150 tunes, the challenge is to boil down to a fixed number. In some ways, this is like those listicles that have become so popular in newspapers and magazines – top 50 guitar solos, 20 best jazz bassists, etc. In other ways, it’s like a radio show where the jockey has to include the best songs in a limited time frame. It should satisfy old fans on the one hand, and educate those less familiar on.the other.
Before one comes up with the playlist, one must consider who the listeners are. In the case of Peter Green, there will be a sizeable section who like blues-rock, music of the 1960s or the songs of Fleetwood Mac. Some would be closely familiar with Green’s music and others would be Fleetwood Mac fans who haven't followed the earlier albums but know post-Green records like ‘Rumours’, ‘Tusk’ and ‘Tango In The Night’. There will also be those who haven’t heard either Green or Fleetwood Mac, but have become curious after following the news of his death. Keeping this in mind, the playlist should try and cater to all these listener categories, without disappointing too many.
The next job is to think of an appropriate title. ‘The Best Of Peter Green’ and ‘Peter Green’s Greatest Hits’ may not be accurate as readers can always point out that this song isn’t his best or among his hits. ‘Green Gems’ is a good alliteration but is too vague. So I settled for ‘Peter Green Gems’.
Next, I had to decide the actual songs. A size of 20 seemed perfect – neither too short, not too long. Then came the order of the songs. Playlists could be chronological or theme-based or just personal. Chronological lists are safe in the case of newspapers and magazines, as individual choice doesn’t come in. In the case of a platform playlist, a theme-based order works better, even though they are often personal. But for that, one must have a broad idea of the flow, be aware of the artiste’s style and discography, and be able to justify his choice. It's actually serious business, even if done for fun.
With these broad conditions in mind, I went about with my task. The main consideration was that Green’s career has had three distinct parts – his early days with blues legend John Mayall and his group Bluesbreakers, the time he spent with Fleetwood Mac and his later career, mostly comprising solo work in the 1980s and his association with the Peter Green Splinter Group.
Here again, one found some blues standards and some non-blues songs, some instrumental songs and some vocal numbers. The tempo and feel of the songs also varied. So the playlist would have to be a good mix of all that.
The actual process of creating a playlist is simple. One searches for the song on the platform (Spotify in this case) and clicks on an icon which asks you whether you want to add to the playlist. It's the sequence of songs that matters.
Where to begin? An ideal opening song would be Green's composition ‘Black Magic Woman’, which was hugely popularised by Santana. But that would be a very predictable start. So I used a mood-builder in the form of the instrumental ‘Albatross’ with ‘Black Magic Woman’ coming in next.
Though Green had done some great work with Mayall early in his career, I preferred to keep them for later, just so that the compilation ended with some classics. So I took three songs by Fleetwood Mac next, including the group's rendition of Elmore James’ seminal blues favourite ‘Dust My Broom’. Only those familiar with the Green days would know these songs, but the hope is that fans of later Fleetwood Mac would like them too.
The solo numbers would be a mix of styles, with the primary intention of showcasing his versatility. Bang in the middle is the very distinct and foot-tapping eight-minute gem ‘White Skies’, with more listener-friendly tracks like ‘In The Skies’ and ‘Baby When The Sun Goes Down’ placed at regular intervals. There were also instrumentals displaying Green’s guitaring skills – ‘Slabo Day’, ‘Funky Jam’ and ‘Proud Pinto’.
There were blues classics like Albert King’s ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ and Otis Rush’s ‘Double Trouble’ with Mayall. Also with Mayall and the Bluesbreakers is Green’s composition ‘The Super-natural’.
For the last two tracks, I wanted something different. So for the second last song, instead of playing a song featuring Green on guitar, I chose a cut from ‘Blues For Greeny’, a tribute album by Gary Moore. For those who like their trivia, Moore plays Green songs on a guitar he first borrowed and then bought from Green. Though the entire album is brilliant, I chose my personal favourite ‘Driftin’. And to end it, I put Santana’s rendition of ‘Black Magic Woman’, perhaps to reiterate that it was actually composed by Green.
So that was the final outcome. It may not be the ideal playlist – another fan of Green would probably not include half these songs, or not included the Santana version. There would also be that old-timer from Birmingham who saw Fleetwood Mac in 1968 and dismiss this playlist as a load of rubbish. Which is perfectly fair.
Now over to the songs.
PETER GREEN GEMS
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3X2GS9tNW4xo0LMkLxDLhY?si=7QTwhwjDTdWz543AI8ahvg
Album: A special playlist for former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green (Spotify link below)
On hearing of the death of Fleetwood Mac co-founder and guitarist Peter Green on July 25, my natural instinct as a journalist was to write an obituary. However, over the next few hours, so many British and American publications and websites had carried one, and there was nothing new left to write.
Considering his enormous contribution, and the fact that iconic guitarists like Peter Frampton, Gary Moore and Slash were fans, a simple Facebook post with a YouTube link wasn't enough. This is where the idea of creating a playlist germinated.
Now, it would have been great to just create a playlist and share it – the link is at the end of the file. But I thought I'd go a step further and explain the thought process and methodology that went into creating this one.
First things first. A playlist on an audio streaming platform isn’t just a random list of haphazardly structured songs. From a choice of 100 or 150 tunes, the challenge is to boil down to a fixed number. In some ways, this is like those listicles that have become so popular in newspapers and magazines – top 50 guitar solos, 20 best jazz bassists, etc. In other ways, it’s like a radio show where the jockey has to include the best songs in a limited time frame. It should satisfy old fans on the one hand, and educate those less familiar on.the other.
Before one comes up with the playlist, one must consider who the listeners are. In the case of Peter Green, there will be a sizeable section who like blues-rock, music of the 1960s or the songs of Fleetwood Mac. Some would be closely familiar with Green’s music and others would be Fleetwood Mac fans who haven't followed the earlier albums but know post-Green records like ‘Rumours’, ‘Tusk’ and ‘Tango In The Night’. There will also be those who haven’t heard either Green or Fleetwood Mac, but have become curious after following the news of his death. Keeping this in mind, the playlist should try and cater to all these listener categories, without disappointing too many.
The next job is to think of an appropriate title. ‘The Best Of Peter Green’ and ‘Peter Green’s Greatest Hits’ may not be accurate as readers can always point out that this song isn’t his best or among his hits. ‘Green Gems’ is a good alliteration but is too vague. So I settled for ‘Peter Green Gems’.
Next, I had to decide the actual songs. A size of 20 seemed perfect – neither too short, not too long. Then came the order of the songs. Playlists could be chronological or theme-based or just personal. Chronological lists are safe in the case of newspapers and magazines, as individual choice doesn’t come in. In the case of a platform playlist, a theme-based order works better, even though they are often personal. But for that, one must have a broad idea of the flow, be aware of the artiste’s style and discography, and be able to justify his choice. It's actually serious business, even if done for fun.
With these broad conditions in mind, I went about with my task. The main consideration was that Green’s career has had three distinct parts – his early days with blues legend John Mayall and his group Bluesbreakers, the time he spent with Fleetwood Mac and his later career, mostly comprising solo work in the 1980s and his association with the Peter Green Splinter Group.
Here again, one found some blues standards and some non-blues songs, some instrumental songs and some vocal numbers. The tempo and feel of the songs also varied. So the playlist would have to be a good mix of all that.
The actual process of creating a playlist is simple. One searches for the song on the platform (Spotify in this case) and clicks on an icon which asks you whether you want to add to the playlist. It's the sequence of songs that matters.
Where to begin? An ideal opening song would be Green's composition ‘Black Magic Woman’, which was hugely popularised by Santana. But that would be a very predictable start. So I used a mood-builder in the form of the instrumental ‘Albatross’ with ‘Black Magic Woman’ coming in next.
Though Green had done some great work with Mayall early in his career, I preferred to keep them for later, just so that the compilation ended with some classics. So I took three songs by Fleetwood Mac next, including the group's rendition of Elmore James’ seminal blues favourite ‘Dust My Broom’. Only those familiar with the Green days would know these songs, but the hope is that fans of later Fleetwood Mac would like them too.
The solo numbers would be a mix of styles, with the primary intention of showcasing his versatility. Bang in the middle is the very distinct and foot-tapping eight-minute gem ‘White Skies’, with more listener-friendly tracks like ‘In The Skies’ and ‘Baby When The Sun Goes Down’ placed at regular intervals. There were also instrumentals displaying Green’s guitaring skills – ‘Slabo Day’, ‘Funky Jam’ and ‘Proud Pinto’.
There were blues classics like Albert King’s ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ and Otis Rush’s ‘Double Trouble’ with Mayall. Also with Mayall and the Bluesbreakers is Green’s composition ‘The Super-natural’.
For the last two tracks, I wanted something different. So for the second last song, instead of playing a song featuring Green on guitar, I chose a cut from ‘Blues For Greeny’, a tribute album by Gary Moore. For those who like their trivia, Moore plays Green songs on a guitar he first borrowed and then bought from Green. Though the entire album is brilliant, I chose my personal favourite ‘Driftin’. And to end it, I put Santana’s rendition of ‘Black Magic Woman’, perhaps to reiterate that it was actually composed by Green.
So that was the final outcome. It may not be the ideal playlist – another fan of Green would probably not include half these songs, or not included the Santana version. There would also be that old-timer from Birmingham who saw Fleetwood Mac in 1968 and dismiss this playlist as a load of rubbish. Which is perfectly fair.
Now over to the songs.
PETER GREEN GEMS
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3X2GS9tNW4xo0LMkLxDLhY?si=7QTwhwjDTdWz543AI8ahvg
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