The Green Manalishi with a two prong crown

March 28, 2009 11:48 AM

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, formed with some former members of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers played some amazing blues-rock from 1967-1970 (long before Fleetwood Mac's descent into '70s wuss-rock). "Like it this way", "Oh well", "Rattlesnake Shake", "Shake your moneymaker" and the original version of "Black Magic Woman". Peter Green struggled with drugs and mental problems, penning "The Green Manilishi with the two prong crown" shortly before leaving the band.

From the wiki entry on "Green Manalishi":
Green has explained that he wrote the song after experiencing a drug-induced dream, in which he was visited by a green dog which barked at him. He understood that the dog represented money. "It scared me because I knew the dog had been dead a long time. It was a stray and I was looking after it. But I was dead and had to fight to get back into my body, which I eventually did. When I woke up, the room was really black and I found myself writing the song." He also said that he wrote the lyrics the following day, in Richmond Park. Supposedly, he was unable to record Robert Johnson's 'Hellhound On My Trail' following the incident; having conflated Johnson's hellhound with Green's demon. This is supported by his discography, in which Green's sole post-Manalishi cover of 'Hellhound' was sung by band mate Nigel Watson.

Tragically, Peter Green's fellow Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan also suffered from alcohol and health problems, leaving him homeless in the '80s and '90's.

"The Green Manalishi" was famously covered by Judas Priest (many Priest fans probably have no idea it's a Fleetwood Mac song), but also the Melvins.

If you haven't had enough blues, here's Peter Green and the Bluesbreakers, "World keep on turning", Danny Kirvan with Tramp.

posted by 445supermag (42 comments total)

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posted by maggieb at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2009

Fleetwood Mac 70's wuss rock = superior to white blues
posted by dydecker at 11:59 AM on March 28, 2009 [6 favorites]

Footage from the 1990 documentary called FM at 21.

BBC Rock Family Trees
posted by netbros at 12:16 PM on March 28, 2009

From Wikipedia's entry. "Sacked" and "hitherto" in the same sentence? Is this an account of a rock musicians' decline, or a History Channel online page connected to yet another show about the fall of the Roman Empire? I should enter a neutrality challenge, just for the fun of it.

Kirwan had to be sacked by Fleetwood, who had hitherto been the only other member still speaking to him.
posted by raysmj at 12:25 PM on March 28, 2009

Footage from the 1990 documentary called FM at 21.

BBC Rock Family Trees
posted by netbros at 12:16 PM on March 28 [+] [!]

Thanks for those links, I had forgotten that Jeremy Spencer (playing slide in most of the links), disapeared while on tour, having joined "The Children of God".
posted by 445supermag at 12:42 PM on March 28, 2009

Don't forget Albatross which was used to great effect in Man On Wire
posted by Catblack at 12:45 PM on March 28, 2009

Fleetwood Mac 70's wuss rock = superior to white blues

Officially nominated for worst comment of the day.
posted by jckll at 12:49 PM on March 28, 2009 [9 favorites]

What? No Love that Burns? or Man of the World?, or even Need Your Love So Bad?

...and your Oh Well is missing the second part.


(Secret early era Fleetwood Mac fan, who'ld have thunk it?)
posted by Sova at 12:56 PM on March 28, 2009

Fleetwood Mac 70's wuss rock = superior to white blues

Officially nominated for worst comment of the day.

I think it's spot on.
posted by paddbear at 12:57 PM on March 28, 2009

Careful or you'll get nominated too...
posted by jckll at 1:06 PM on March 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

When I grew up in S CA in the 70's, Rumors was on every coffee table. I guess you had to be there. I like the green dog dream. Money is a dead stray dog that you take care of and it makes you dead. Far out man.
posted by lovethebomb at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2009

I didn't know that Green Manalishi was a Fleetwood Mac original. Grew up on 70s metal. Now I feel dumb. The JP version I think captured and amplified much of the essence of the original, but lost the nuances. What a cool experience to be able to enjoy that.

Thank you.

Oh, and Fleetwood Mac is, in general, just totally completely awesome. And I I am not a FM fan. Punk is much more my style, but I can sure appreciate talented composition. Rumours, such a great album.
posted by Xoebe at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Weird, I just finished wathching The Peter Green Story on Youtube early this morning, all 12 parts.
"The End of the Game" is one of the best albums of all time.
Also, don't miss Jeremy Spencer's Children of God album "Jeremy and the Children" for weirdness.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2009

long before Fleetwood Mac's descent into '70s wuss-rock

I don't think the latter incarnation of Fleetwood Mac ever claimed to be hard-core, so why throw the unnecessary snark into your own FPP?
posted by amyms at 1:17 PM on March 28, 2009

long before Fleetwood Mac's descent into '70s wuss-rock

I don't think the latter incarnation of Fleetwood Mac ever claimed to be hard-core, so why throw the unnecessary snark into your own FPP?
posted by amyms at 1:17 PM on March 28 [+] [!]

It wasn't meant as snark, it's just another example of one of my most shameful vices, the inability to say anything without a Simpsons reference.

Lisa: What kind of music is it?
Bart: Soft rock?
Marge: Nope.
Homer: Wuss rock?
Marge: Yeah that's it.
posted by 445supermag at 1:26 PM on March 28, 2009

D'oh, 445supermag! I just thought you were being unecessarily dismissive. I don't get the whole tendency in rock fans to be so staunchly either/or with the "this is good, this is bad" or "this is real, this is wussy" thing. But, no biggie, I think the latter version of Fleetwood Mac can stand on their own merits without me coming to their rescue.
posted by amyms at 1:49 PM on March 28, 2009

Thanks for explaining that, but you would have done better to either leave it out or make the reference clearer in your post. Sneering at Rumours-era FM is one of the more tiresome music-geek affectations. Yeah, I love their early blues stuff too, and the later band with Buckingham and Nicks is completely different, but so what? It's wonderful in its own right, and the fact that it was stupendously successful does not detract from that. Anyway, thanks for the post—it's great to see the videos, especially for the amazing Peter Green (what a loss).
posted by languagehat at 1:54 PM on March 28, 2009

The greatest band in the Chapel Hill.
posted by 3.2.3 at 2:22 PM on March 28, 2009

Don't forget Albatross which was used to great effect in Man On Wire

Beat me to it -- that's my fave besides Oh Well of the Peter Green years. But all Haters-of-Lindsey-Buckingham can go stuff it, as far as I'm concerned. They were two entirely different bands, albeit with the sme (KICK ASS) rhythm section, but Buckingham is an amazing guitarist and songwriter as well, so slag him off at your peril!
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:31 PM on March 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

I like Tusk.

That is all.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:10 PM on March 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

This could be the MeFi anthem:

I can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:45 PM on March 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

According to numerous interviews he (Gary Moore) has given to guitar magazines, he was the protégé of British blues pioneer Peter Green, whom he had always admired ever since the Bluesbreakers days. When Green quit Fleetwood Mac and the entire music scene, he sold his famous nasal-sounding 1959 Gibson Les Paul to Moore, for the same price that Moore had managed to sell his then guitar, a Gibson SG. In an interview in Classic Rock Magazine, Moore claims that when he and Green met for a photo-shoot with the guitar to promote Blues For Greeny, the latter picked up the guitar and commented that he'd sold his own Les Paul. Moore had to point out that this was the guitar Green had sold him since he hadn't recognised it and forgotten he'd sold it to Moore.
posted by 445supermag at 3:51 PM on March 28, 2009

I like Tusk. That is all.

I actually saw Sigfried and Roy's show when I was on a vacation in Vegas (it was a road trip, and the whole point was to deliberately do all the tacky roadside attraction things and that seemed a good way to cap it off), and the show orchestra actually played "Tusk" when they made the elephant disappear and reappear. At the end of the trick, Roy rode the elephant offstage clapping his hands along to "Tusk" over his head while Sigfried urged the audience to clap as well.

...Arguably, that moment was something that was even worse than "wuss rock".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:07 PM on March 28, 2009

I didn't know that Green Manalishi was a Fleetwood Mac original. Grew up on 70s metal. Now I feel dumb.

You may want to sit down for this one, Judas Priest isn't the original artist of Diamonds and Rust either, it's a Joan Baez song.
posted by 445supermag at 4:18 PM on March 28, 2009

Did you post this after this morning's NPR interview? Anyway, good post.
posted by GuyZero at 4:19 PM on March 28, 2009

Acutally, yes, you can hear the interview here, Mick Fleetwood talks to Scott Simon about Blue Again, about half of which are Peter Green era songs.
posted by 445supermag at 4:39 PM on March 28, 2009

Oh Well is very similar structurally to Led Zeppelin's Black Dog. It's definitely not plagiarism, but that back-and-forth between the vocal and the guitar riffing is similar enough to be an homage.
posted by jonp72 at 5:15 PM on March 28, 2009

It's definitely not plagiarism

Probably because it predates Black Dog by a few years.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:25 PM on March 28, 2009

Always loved that weird pre-Rumors song "Hypnotized."
posted by Ironmouth at 6:02 PM on March 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Your favorite version of Fleetwood Mac sucks.
posted by punkfloyd at 6:06 PM on March 28, 2009

Didn't Jeremy Spencer also write "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight"?
posted by jtron at 6:07 PM on March 28, 2009

"Sneering at Rumours-era FM is one of the more tiresome music-geek affectations. Yeah, I love their early blues stuff too, and the later band with Buckingham and Nicks is completely different, but so what? It's wonderful in its own right, and the fact that it was stupendously successful does not detract from that."

Well, I prefer the early stuff, but that's just a matter of taste. The later stuff is pretty accomplished pop music, but it's very different, in the sort of way Gabriel-era Genesis was different from Phil Collins-era. Also, you can practically taste the cocaine dripping off Rumors. Peter Green was more the psychedelic type. After his departure, a different drug dominated the band.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:18 PM on March 28, 2009

Interesting post, I've enjoyed trawling around here more than I thought I would. I'd always known the cool kids were into the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac but I never knew that much about that era of the band, this was very educational.

netbros, thanks for the BBC link. That looks like a cool show, I wish there were more of them. Man, Pete Frame's Rock Family Trees are great, I treasure my copies of those books. If those were online that would be a FPP in a heartbeat.

Oh my God, Rumours. At one point in my life I thought I'd be happy if I never heard that album again. I graduated from high school in 1981, and when that album came out, everybody, I mean everybody. Like...all the people, had that album. It was played at every single party for years it seemed like (until I started going to different parties.) But it was nice hearing the cuts from it on the documentary, there's some damn good songs on that album.
posted by marxchivist at 7:36 PM on March 28, 2009

Always loved that weird pre-Rumors song "Hypnotized."

Bob Welch
posted by netbros at 8:27 PM on March 28, 2009

I gather it's cool to like English Rose and Mystery to Me, uncool to like Fleetwood Mac and Rumours.

I love them all, sue me.
posted by blucevalo at 8:48 PM on March 28, 2009

I like all of the versions of Fleetwood Mac, but Bob Welch's Hypnotized is my favorite individual song. While following netbros Youtube link I found this oddity, Lindsey Buckingham singing it as the soundtrack to some Buckingham/Nicks era home movies.
posted by rfs at 8:54 PM on March 28, 2009

It's much easier with Jefferson Airplane. "So you like Jefferson Starship?". "No, Jefferson Airplane".

Try it with this band. "So you like Fleetwood Mac?". "No, Fleetwood Mac".

It doesn't really work as well. Hence the inclination to start bagging "wuss rock", peppering the conversation with references to Alex Corner or Sun House, etc. (Largely of course because deep down we all like half the Stevie Nicks era stuff anyway).
posted by GeckoDundee at 11:57 PM on March 28, 2009

Man, Pete Frame's Rock Family Trees are great, I treasure my copies of those books. If those were online that would be a FPP in a heartbeat.

Damn straight! Every time I pull out my (1979) edition, I get lost in it, and marvel at the amount of work that went into it. (At the end of the FM page, from 1976: "...their last album [Fleetwood Mac] was one of the biggest sellers in the entire history of the phonograph record. They reckon that the new one [Rumours] is even better! The mind reels & boggles!" and (at the bottom of the right-hand column, following a long account of how Buckingham and Nicks joined the band) "I do love a happy ending .... don't you?" Heh.)
posted by languagehat at 7:47 AM on March 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Supernatural one of Peter Green's contributions to John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers A Hard Road recorded in 1966.
Do you get the feeling that this was a lightbulb moment when Carlos Santana first heard this?
My apologies, I dislike these YT slide shows.
posted by Dr.Pill at 8:45 AM on March 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's much easier with Jefferson Airplane. "So you like Jefferson Starship?". "No, Jefferson Airplane".

Try it with this band. "So you like Fleetwood Mac?". "No, Fleetwood Mac".

The difference here is the constancy of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, the band's namesake. They're understated monsters who get nowhere near enough credit for their fucking rock-solid ensemble work across the spectrum of songwriters they've worked with. They're not flashy -- they lay it down hard, and they lay down exactly what the song needs to stand on its feet. My respect for them as a bass and drum combo has grown slowly but surely with each passing year. They're the sort of minor gods that just slip by unnoticed, because they're not ego players.

The same really can't be said of Starship, which was such a revolving door that Paul Kantner sued over their use of the name, causing them to drop the "Jefferson," at some point. I think the best thing they ever did as an ensemble was to shut up long enough for Jorma to record Embryonic Journey solo. The thing that I see as the line between the two (F.M & J.S.) is this thing called integrity -- a thing which "Starship" lacked, utterly.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:36 AM on March 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Supernatural one of Peter Green's contributions to John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers A Hard Road recorded in 1966.
Do you get the feeling that this was a lightbulb moment when Carlos Santana first heard this?


Most definitely. Peter Green wrote Black Magic Woman, right? Santana's biggest hit up until Supernatural, 30-something years later.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:39 AM on March 29, 2009

Man, I had no idea that Judas Priest had such eclectic musical tastes.
posted by QIbHom at 10:23 AM on March 30, 2009