Customer Reviews

Blues for Greeny

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, you might call this a tribute album to Peter Green. And no, this isn't a half-baked effort to cash in on the fame of an aging guitar god. Well, not much anyway. Gary Moore idolized Green as a kid growing up in Belfast. Moore said he first saw Peter Green in 1967 when he had just replaced Eric Clapton of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He said everyone was standing there at the concert with their arms folded like ok, Clapton's gone, let's see what you got. When he started playing, and the room started resonating with a depth of guitar tone that had never been heard before, Eric Clapton quickly became a distant memory, and Peter Green had a smile on his face like he was thinking "it's my turn now".... Moore never forgot Peter Green, and a year later he formed a band called Skid Row. When Peter Green's new band Fleetwood Mac came to Belfast, this time Skid Row opened for them. After the concert Green asked to meet Moore because he liked his guitar playing. Moore nervously met his idol and they stayed up till the early morning hours talking and playing guitar. After that night they became good friends, and Peter Green got Skid Row signed to their first recording contract.... Gary Moore never forgot that favor, and he pays Green the ultimate respect here. He captures the Peter Green guitar sound so perfectly on this album, that the first time I heard this I was shocked. He duplicates that special guitar tone and that little B.B. King like treble on the end of a note so perfectly, that it feels like the ghost of the young Peter Green was standing behind Moore showing him every blues riff. Everybody knows nobody can take the place of Peter Green. He could draw you in with his string bending, and then burn a hole in your soul with his solos. There's no hole burning here, but you will get singed a little. When you hear the songs like THE SUPERNATURAL, I LOVED ANOTHER WOMAN, LONG GREY MARE, and SHOWBIZ BLUES, you'll feel like your hearing Peter Green circa 1968 all over again. These songs are done with a lot of passion, and are very close to the real deal. Moore says "Blues For Greeny" is not a tribute album, but a big thank you to Peter Green for everything that he's given.....Amen

Many of Moore's "blues" albums are bogged down by his speed and technical brilliance (kinda a left handed compliment). On this release, however, Moore shows patience and restraint in his playing and the results are stunning. Moore is not simply "imitating" Peter Green's playing on this album, but enhancing it with his own unique style. I have yet to hear any other blues guitarist come this close to the magic that was once "The Green God". A must have for any Gary Moore or Peter Green fan.

If I had walked in while this album was playing and didn't already know who the artist is, I'd have bet the farm that it was Peter Green. That did not happen. I am already a Peter Green fan and was impressed with some recent work that Gary Moore had done with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, so I took a chance on Blues For Greeny. What an album! I like it all but if I have to pick, I'd say that If You'll Be My Baby, Long Grey Mare, and Love That Burns rank near the top. My favorite cut is the mournful instrumental "The Supernatural" which has also been competently covered by the great patriarch of White Blues, John Mayall. If you like Peter Green, buying this album is a no-brainer. Enjoy!

Weird but brilliant. This album is dedicated to Peter Green (founder of the original Fleetwood Mac) and is so clever that you really can believe that it is in fact Green himself - his songs, his guitar (really!) and his voice.

Gary Moore has painstakingly produced one of the very best tribute albums possible - not only does it often improve on the originals but it helped stimulate the great UK bluesman out of retirement.

If you're into classic UK R&B then don't miss this.

I really like this CD. I had read of Gary Moore and Peter Green but this is my first Moore CD. I got the best of two this way. Good music, great songs, some fantastic solos. I don't believe you will regret buying this one.

I am entering this after hearing of Gary's passing this week, at the age of 58.

I feel badly that Gary was not more widely recognized for the brilliance of his playing. There were and are very, very few musicians who possess his talent. I also feel badly that so often we reduce ourselves to childish levels by placing value judgments on people, arguing incessantly that our particular guitarist or actor or ballplayer is "better", or, more often, "way better than your guy".

Whenever I hear someone criticize a prominent musician's playing--and GM did receive criticism--I dismiss it as coming from jealousy or ignorance or childishness. Go to YouTube and watch Gary perform Walking By Myself, in a live version, and if you can find fault with his singing, his playing, his commitment, his truth, well, then you are blind as well as deaf and dumb.

Try picking up an electric guitar and copying one of Gary's solos, any one of them, and you will see that this man was one in a million.

On this album, GM has the eminent good sense to play tribute to the man who I consider to be one of the most brilliant blues musicians ever to pick up a guitar. Gary was inspired by Peter Green, one of the trailblazers of Brit blues, and created this album not to outdo Peter, or to show off, but more likely because he simply loved PG's renditions of these songs, and probably because he--GM--wished he could play them half as well as Peter. I suspect PG was/is proud.

I'm guessing there is very little jealousy or animosity among these musicians. It would be interesting to hear what Peter Green has to say about Gary Moore.

As stated in the liner notes, this wasn't a tribute record , but a big Thank You to one of Gary's favorite guitarists. Gary Moore has blazed a trail through the years like very few rock and blues guitarists can claim, but here Gary does a fine job of evoking the spirit of Peter Green's early work with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers as well as his work with his own Fleetwood Mac, music he himself experienced first hand as a teenager and later more closely sharing the bill with the Mac, and even getting the opportunity to purchase Peter Green's prized '59 Les Paul. I would recommend this Import version as it has a better mix.

After listening to this masterpiece,there should be no doubt about the giant stature of Gary Moore as a musician.Paradoxically,while paying tribute to the great Peter Green,he reveals himself as a powerful bluesman in his own right.

I heard this album just once when I knew I had to have it. I consider it to be among my most treasured and often played albums. When I leave this life, just play "I Need your Love So Bad" at the party, and you'll know who I was. When Gary Moore plays the blues, soft and mellow, it's like finally achieving Nirvana.

Kind of ironic that Irishman Moore does a tribute to Englishman Green who was an interpreter of American blues music. Maybe you should just cut out the middlemen and go right to the real deal, namely, Otis Rush, BB, Albert, and so on.

That being said, I have long been a huge admirer of Peter Green, starting back in the 60's. His talent was stupifying. I still think he was the greatest combination (guitar playing AND singing) white blues player ever. Fabulous, tender, heartfelt, subtle and magnificently understated guitar playing and a truly great voice. He played "for keeps." What a shame it was that he became so disenchanted with the music scene and dropped out for so long.

I have heard a bit of his present-day stuff and unfortunately, he seems to be merely a shadow of his former self. Alas, we all get older and lose our chops, to some degree (except for BB, who seems to keep getting better and better all the time!). But it is nice that Pete is back on the scene. If he came to town I'd go see him, that's for sure. A true blues immortal.

Though it's kind of cool to have a lot of [Green's] good Mac-era tunes on one recording, the biggest problem with it is that it's not Peter Green playing, but Gary Moore! Gary is great, don't get me wrong, but you come away thinking Gary, as fine a player as he is, is trying to sound like Pete but not truly succeeding, especially in the voice department. Peter's voice was full and quite mellow, and he could both growl and purr, with equal success. Compare his "Stop Messin' Round" with Gary's. The guitars are quite similar, but that's it. Same thing with pretty much everything on the record. Pete's versions just have more balls, more swing, five-star category throughout. Listen to the "originals". I'd highly recommend the two-disc Jumpin'At Shadows: the Blues Years by the early Mac.

And I still like Gary Moore.