Via Ultimate Classic rock: More than a dozen musicians took to the stage of the London Palladium on Tuesday night to pay homage to founding Fleetwood Mac guitarist and singer Peter Green. The night was organized by Mick Fleetwood and featured the contributions of such luminaries as Pete Townshend, Billy Gibbons, Steven Tyler, David Gilmour, Bill Wyman formerly on the Rolling Stones, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, and Noel Gallagher. John Mayall, British blues legend who gave Green his big break when Eric Clapton left the Bluesbeakers, was also on-hand, as were John and Christine McVie -- who joined Fleetwood Mac after Green left in 1970. Neil Finn, who plays in the current lineup of Fleetwood Mac also sang.
The concert is a celebration of those early blues days where we all began," Fleetwood said. "And it’s important to recognize the profound impact Peter and the early Fleetwood Mac had on the world of music. Peter was my greatest mentor and it gives me such joy to pay tribute to his incredible talent. I am honored to be sharing the stage with some of the many artists Peter has inspired over the years and who share my great respect for this remarkable musician."
The evening’s set began with “Rollin’ Man,” a track penned by Green for Fleetwood Mac’s sophomore LP, Mr. Wonderful. The all-star group of musicians then rolled into “Homework,” a blues classic originally written by Dave Clark and Al Perkins, which Fleetwood Mac included on their 1969 album Fleetwood Mac in Chicago.
From there, a cavalcade of special guests stepped into the spotlight. ZZ Top's Gibbons fronted renditions of "Dr. Brown" and "All Your Love," followed by McVie leading the way on “Stop Messin' Around” and “Looking for Somebody.” Later, Gallagher joined for a handful of tunes.
Townshend joined for a rendition of “Station Man,” the Who guitarist notably playing Green’s Lemon Burst Les Paul. Aerosmith's Tyler delivered “Oh Well, Part 1,” while Gilmour contributed “Oh Well, Part 2.” The Pink Floyd guitarist also performed a soaring version of Fleetwood Mac's 1968 instrumental track “Albatross.”
Metallica axe-wielder Hammett appeared on several tunes, including “The Green Manalishi.” The final song of the night featured all of the performers collaborating on the classic rock/blues standard, “Shake Your Moneymaker.”
Last month, Hammett revealed that he and Fleetwood had recorded "Man of the World," a 1969 Fleetwood Mac single, for an upcoming tribute to Green, with a rare vocal track performed by the Metallica guitarist. "It’s an easy song to sing," Hammett said. "It’s got that talk-singing kind of thing; I can handle that. That’s about the length of my singing abilities, but I’m into it. I just modernized the whole song, modernized it with modern tones, kind of like a more modern arrangement. I’ve made the uppity part heavy and dynamic.”
A deluxe box set of the concert, consisting of four LPs, two CDs and a Blu-ray, is currently available for pre-order, with an anticipated release date of Oct. 16.