Indie publisher Primary Wave Music has struck a deal with the Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green‘s estate to purchase assets of the English artist’s Green’s Rattlesnake music publishing catalog, in addition to all compositions written by him and certain recordings.
The co-founder of Fleetwood Mac — originally called Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac — was best known for his guitar playing and his contributions to Fleetwood Mac’s charting hits; included in this deal are such songs as “Albatross,” “Black Magic Woman,” and “Oh Well,” among others.
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“When I look at the definition of a musical genius, Peter Green ticks every box,” commented Primary Wave’s Robin Godfrey Cass. “As a musician, songwriter, and founder of Fleetwood Mac, he is an icon. It has been over 60 years ago since he began writing his body of legendary songs which are still in use every day. I am ecstatic that the estate has given Primary Wave the reins to continue his amazing legacy.”
Green met Fleetwood Mac member Mick Fleetwood in 1965. Two years later, the first era of the band began as a quartet, bringing with it a collection of electric blues. However, Green’s disillusionment with the music business, deepening involvement with psychedelic drugs and mental instability led him to exit the band in May 1970.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green’s writing credits include Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown),” and “Man of the Word.”
Green died in his sleep in 2020 at age 73. Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks, who joined the band years after Green’s exit, mourned his death at the time: “My biggest regret is that I never got to share the stage with him,” she said, adding “I always hoped in my heart of hearts that that would happen… It was in the beginning, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and I thank you, Peter Green, for that. You changed our lives.”
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