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Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
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Features Disc of the day
Peter Green
The End Of The Game
(Reprise, 1970)
Is it time to reappraise the Fleetwood Mac man's freeform guitar burnout?
In the most recent MOJO profile of Peter Green, in November 2008, his debut solo album was dismissed in passing as "a mainly instrumental solo album that nobody bought." Look for more information on the All Music Guide and you'll find The End Of The Game described as "incoherent drivel from an immensely talented guitarist. Sad." I beg to differ. Released in June 1970, The End Of The Game arrived barely a month after Green's farewell to Fleetwood Mac, the LSD-infused 7" riff attack of The Green Manalishi, had hit the top ten. The album was, however, born in the trauma of the Mac's European tour earlier that year.
Arriving in Munich that March, the Mac were invited to a private LSD party with Rainer Langhans, Uschi Oberthe and members of the infamous High-Fish communards. Something happened to Green at the party that involved spiked drinks and an epic jam session in an underground studio/cellar, that "allowed me to go deeper into myself" and led to his formulation of a new kind of music. The dark, frayed rags of that new guise are what can be heard on The End Of The Game.
With Zoot Money on piano, Godfrey Maclean on percussion, Nick Buck on organ and Alex Dmochowski (aka Zappa sideman, Erroneous) on bass, Green can he heard either shredding his past (the faded white ghost of Albatross can be heard on the shimmering Timeless Time) or pushing ahead to a percussive, near-free jazz rock. Stand-outs include the hypnotic, nine-minute wah-wah jam of Bottoms Up and the deep, bassy riffs of Burnt Foot but the more elusive tracks like the powdery, crystalline Descending Scale, the ever-fading electric Miles jazz of Hidden Depth and the gloriously schizophrenic End Of The Game possess an elegiac mystery that's still impossible to fathom after multiple, late-night listens. Reviewed by Melody Maker as "certainly the most disturbing album release this year", The End Of The Game may not be an easy listen but it's certainly a rewarding one. Now someone just needs to reissue it, along with Green's two lost Reprise singles, Heavy Heart/No Way Out and Beasts Of Burden/Uganda Woman, recorded just before he jacked it all in and went to work at Mortlake cemetery, alongside the tomb of Sir Richard Burton.
Andrew Male
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 09/06/2010
Further Listening
Fleetwood Mac – Then Play On (Reprise, 1969)
Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs (Harvest, 1970)
Leigh Stephens – Red Weather (Philips, 1969)
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Comments
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A classic of Burn Out Rock
Posted by Leggy Mountbatten at 12:03 PM GMT 09/06/2010 Report Abuse
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A classic of Burn Out Rock
Posted by Leggy Mountbatten at 12:06 PM GMT 09/06/2010 Report Abuse
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Too often vision is dismissed as incomprehensible to the witnesses of those who receive it. Peter's music and sense of openness was as great as any at that time. The End of The Game stands up very well against Miles Davis's Bitches Brew sessions. Incredible stuff, but it was not expected from Peter Green at that time so it never got the listen that it deserved back then
Oh Well
We can certainly here it now
Posted by doodyhead, mel and vinnie at 2:44 PM GMT 10/06/2010 Report Abuse
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Very underated album. Great late night listening.
Posted by Richard L at 10:35 PM GMT 14/06/2010 Report Abuse
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