Man of the World – Reflections on Peter Green (SACD)

 

Music: B+   PCM CD: B+   DSD Stereo: A-   DSD Multi-Channel: N/A   Extras: C-

 

 

It might be somewhat fair to label Peter Green as the bastard child of the rock/blues movement.  While his influence was great, his name never lived on like his songs.  Even when you see modern ‘greatest guitar players of all time’ lists, Green’s name is seldom listed, even though some regard him as the greatest white blues guitar player of all time.  Perhaps to some that may be true, even though I would put Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimmy Page a mark above him. 

 

Green’s career started out playing in bands with drummers such as Mick Fleetwood and they would eventually be called Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, which had a three-guitarist front.  Green was a fan of Clapton, who at the time was forming his supergroup known as Cream, so Britain was being supplied with many groups that were forming and reforming with material coming about from all over.  The 1960’s gave birth to so much dimension in Rock, even incorporating a lot of blues material.  It was during the later portion of the 60’s that Green recorded Black Magic Woman, which of course became a bigger hit when Carlos Santana released his rendition a few years later.  

 

Eventually Fleetwood Mac went a different direction adding Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to the lineup.  Green only recorded two records in the 70’s those being The End of the Game (1970) and In the Skies (1979).  The 80’s showed more promise as the guitarist was putting out more blues-fueled material, but nothing that really stuck.  He would also do some material from other guitarists including his 1998 release The Robert Johnson Songbook.  There is no doubt about Peter Green’s ability as a player, but his life was plagued by drug abuse and even paranoia. 

 

Brought to the SACD format from Audio Fidelity, Man of the World Reflections on Peter Green makes for an interesting sit through.  Since friends and/or musicians influenced by Peter Green perform the material this particular recording acts like a tribute.  The problem with this is similar to wearing designer imposter cologne, when you have the real stuff too.  While the songs sound good, they are not quite like the original and while the thought was nice, it might be a better idea to get more familiar with Green’s material by hearing him, not those who emulate him. 

 

Track Listing

 

Oh Well – Billy Sheehan

Showbiz Blues – Rory Gallagher

The Green Manalishi – Arthur Brown

Looking For Somebody – Snowy White

Love that Burns – “Lonesome” Dave Peverett

Rattlesnake Shake – Vince Converse

Ramblin’ Pony – Harvey Mandel

If You Be My Baby –“Lonesome” Dave Peverett

Baby When the Sun Goes down – Southside Johnny

Black Magic Woman – Larry McCray

Crying Won’t Bring You Back – Luther Grosvenor

Stop Messin’ Roud – Savoy Brown

Albatross – Paul Jones

Leaving Town Blues – Rory Gallagher

Man Of The World – Ian Anderson

 

Certain tracks stand out more than others such as Billy Sheehan on Oh Well, which is a nice rendition.  It’s a powerful bluesy song strongly held by its repeating main riff and even Kenny Wayne Shephard did a version for his third album.  Then there is Vince Converse (virtually an unknown) doing Rattlesnake Shake, one of Green’s most known pieces.  It’s an average version, but fails to impress.  Then Larry McCray doing Black Magic Woman is another nice highlight, despite not having the energy of the original and certainly not like Santana’s version.  Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull finishes this release up quite well with Man of the World.  Anderson is a delightful addition for this; unfortunately the best musicians only contributed one song each. 

 

Available as a Hybrid SACD, Man of the World plays on both regular CD players and SACD players.  It functions in DSD Stereo, and even the CD tracks sound nice and defined.  A notch above is the DSD track, which is strong, but lacks some creativity.  The sound is certainly solid, but has no imagination that would have made this release somewhat more enjoyable since the selections and performers are average on a whole.  The liner notes are brief making this entire package sought after, even if its target audience is minuscule.

 

 

-   Nate Goss