Peter Green – In The Skies

I like to post on the weekends because I get to expand my musical palette so to speak. I love finding new/old music that I missed in real time. Peter Green’s solo work is new to me. I will continue to go through his albums. I listened to this album this week, but not like I usually do because of time or the lack of. I listened and took the two that stood out. The instrumental Slabo Day and the title cut of the album In The Skies. His guitar tone is beautiful and clear on these songs. 

This is not the Peter Green of Oh Well or The Green Manalishi here. No unhinged guitar howls or walls of feedback. In the Skies is mellow, reflective, and fluid. Peter released 6 solo albums from 1970 to 1983. In The Skies was released in 1979. After what he went through, it’s a miracle we have anything from him. When I listen to it, I get the feeling he wasn’t trying to make a hit; he just wanted to play and record again after 9 years. 

Green had all but disappeared from the public eye after the early ’70s, battling mental health issues and withdrawing from rock and roll entirely. So when In the Skies was released in 79, his first studio album in nearly a decade, it was a re-introduction of him, if anything.

I liked the title cut because there’s an almost spiritual quality there, something you’d expect from someone who went through what he did. I did listen to his next album Little Dreamer. It’s a bit more focused to me and not as free flowing as this one, but I like this one as well. He was getting back into the game with this one and was loose. 

The album peaked at #32 in the UK and #12 in New Zealand in 1979. 

In The Skies

Oh, there’s a way to keep the dark from the lightAnd there’s a way to take the cold out of the nightAnd when I see its glowThe sun and moon are shadowedBy the everlasting day

When I reach up my handTo the loving son of manThe bread of life will keep my soul alive

There’s a place where rivers flow in the streetWhere fruit and healing leaves are seen on a treeWhere emerald walls shine clearAnd golden streets run far and nearBehind the gates where his angels names appear

When I reach up my handTo the loving son of manThe bread of life will keep my soul alive

And he will wipe away the tears from our eyesAs we watch this old world fade when it diesAnd a new one shall comeAnd it will be heavenAnd it’s waiting for us there in the skies

In the skiesIn the skiesIn the skiesIn the skies

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “Peter Green – In The Skies”

  3. Pingback: Peter Green – In The Skies – MobsterTiger

  4. I don’t know a lot about Peter Green’s solo work but have listened to this album some five years ago. Based on my recollection, it’s fantastic. The two tracks you featured are a great illustration. This makes me want to go back and revisit!

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    1. Thanks Christian…it surprised me…I was expecting howls of guitar but it’s so clean and fluid. Knopfler came to mind because of the tone.

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    1. Thank you Dana….I think it has a spiritual feeling to it…I’m going to start going through his albums…it’s a big difference than what he was doing with Fleetwood Mac

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  9. ‘in the skies’, quite nice. Sounds like he was trying to make sense out of the meaning of life. You could put together a pretty great compilation of songs done solo by people who at one time were in Fleetwood Mac, couldn’t you?

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    1. Yes you could Dave…a quality one. I love the tone of this…different than his Fleetwood Mac….although I like that as well.

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      2. BB is a great example. What I liked about this album is the free form he had…he would go anywhere. Yea I don’t blame your music friend…I can see it.

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      3. Like we talked about before, lots of Green gems in his output but also I think because of his illness released some stuff that certainly wasnt up to his pay grade. Amazing how people will maneuver in and place themselves with great talent that shows their lack of.

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  15. Even after his dropping out of lucidity (so to speak) he retained much of such a pure talent. Hard drugs and a fragile mind just don’t mix well. Max, these are the two tracks that stood out to me when I first heard the album too.

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    1. No they don’t mix at all. A lot of what might have beens.
      Glad these two spoke to you. This is not what I expected when I listened to him.

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      1. Not what I expected either when I heard the album either. But hey, he had changed, and we got what he had. And still a lot better than many other pickers best offerings.

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      2. Obbverse what is your favorite solo album by him? I listened to some of his next one…it was more focused…but I haven’t heard anything else.

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      3. I sorta pick and choose in a ‘making my playlist/best of’ style rather than sit through whole albums now- no time, so if I like what I hear I add it. I’ve got the first two from In The Skies’ and ‘Baby When The Sun Goes Down’ ‘One Woman Love’ and ‘Falling Apart.’ Haven’t listened to his Splinter Group album for a while. You’re right though though, ‘Little Dreamer’ is more focused, more balanced towards a ‘group’ feel?

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      4. Yes that is what I meant by focused. In The Skies is a bit rambling…not in a bad way really…but Little Dreamer is more song based I believe…they played more for the song.

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