The guitarist David Gilmour thought he could never match: “I can’t do that”
It’s always uncomfortable for any artist to play in front of their heroes. Even though many guitarists might claim to worship at the alter of Jimi Hendrix, they are more than likely to dissolve into a pile of goo on the floor if the man himself greeted them in the flesh. The power of icon intimidation is often too powerful, and even a guitar god like David Gilmour admitted that he had paused before paying tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green.
Despite their status as rock legends now, the Green-led version of Fleetwood Mac feels like a completely different beast than the band that made Rumours. Sure, they still had John McVie and Mick Fleetwood holding down the rhythm section, but the music was much more in tune with what was happening in the blues scene then.
Once Green left, though, that left the door open for new sounds to come in, with Bob Welch and Christine McVie joining before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham entered the fold. While Green would seem like a footnote for years, he was still one of the greatest guitarists that anyone had ever seen at the time.
Considering his background in blues, Green could squeeze every bit of emotion out of the guitar as he could, usually making his instrument sound like it was crying. Even when the band were looked at as on the fringes of success, you don’t necessarily get high praise from a band like The Beatles by accident, with George Harrison saying that they started off writing the song ‘Sun King’ based on their track ‘Albatross’.
Although Green eventually passed away in 2020, many British acolytes were more than happy to praise his talent. Even though Gilmour claimed to be a huge fan, Fleetwood remembered that he was hesitant to even touch what Green had done out of fear.
When speaking with Rolling Stone, Fleetwood remembered Gilmour being mortified, saying, “He had so much reverence for Peter Green’s playing and who Peter was and the songs. He initially got cold feet. He was like, ‘I don’t know if I can interpret Peter’s work. It’s so amazing. Maybe I can’t do that’”.
While Gilmour eventually acquiesced and performed the song ‘Albatross’, there might be more than nerves getting in the way. Since Green fell victim to various mental issues after leaving the group, there were some dark parallels between him and what founding Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett had been going through in the 1960s.
Gilmour may have had another reason to pay respects, though…because half of his sound feels like it’s taken from Green. There’s no replacing what Gilmour does on guitar, but when you listen to his sustain and the way that he phrases his licks, it often sounds like he took the makings of Green’s playing, deconstructed it, and repurposed it for albums like The Dark Side of the Moon.
Even though Green is no longer with us to share his magic with the world anymore, his legacy still exists in every bluesy guitarist who came after him. Gilmour may have taken his fair share of lessons from him, but it’s only a matter of time before your eclectic mix of influences starts sounding original.