1944-2010
Mick Green
1944-2010
Mick Green
Mick Green was an English rock and roll guitarist and songwriter who played a pivotal role in the development of British rock. He is best known for his work with English rock group The Pirates, pop group Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and blues/soul group Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. He was born Michael Robert Green, in Matlock, Derbyshire on February 22, 1944. Green grew up in the same block of flats in Wimbledon, southwest London, as the future Pirates. His father was a cabbie. He began his career in 1956, playing in a skiffle trio "The Wayfaring Strangers" with childhood friends Johnny Spence and Frank Farley. The group came in second in a battle of the bands' competition to The Quarrymen, a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon and eventually evolved into the Beatles in 1960. In 1962 Green along with his fellow bandmates joined the Pirates, an English rock and roll group led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd who had just released the hits "Shakin' All Over" and "Please Don't Touch". Johnny Kidd & the Pirates were popular among other musicians and made a living playing clubs and smaller concert venues, but they were unable to sustain their recording success past the early '60s.
Green eventually left The Pirates in 1964 to join the pop group Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas, who were placing records very high on the charts and playing around the world. Green became known for his ability to play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously, and has been an inspiration to three generations of musicians, his playing influenced English rock guitarists like Pete Townshend of The Who, Wilko Johnson, of Dr. Feelgood, and the Beatles' George Harrison. Wilko Johnson – whose rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood took their name from the Pirates' snarling cover of that song and was hugely influenced by Green's aggressive, slashing style – remembers the guitarist as "the absolute master". Green's distinctive, staccato style and searing solos made him one of rock's first guitar heroes. In addition to his guitar playing Green was also a songwriter and his work "Oyeh!" was on Dr. Feelgood's debut album, Down by the Jetty; and a song he co-wrote, "Going Back Home" appeared on Dr. Feelgood's 1975 Malpractice and the live album, Stupidity (1976). Green was also a member of the band Shanghai, which released two albums, in 1974 and 1976, and supported Status Quo on their Blue for You tour. Together with Quo member Alan Lancaster, he wrote four songs recorded by Status Quo.
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Green eventually reformed the Pirates with his former bandmates Farley and Spence in 1976, after The Pirates Johnny Kidd died in 1966. The Pirates signed to Warner Brothers and released four albums over the course of five years, and were constantly gigging and touring including "Out of Their Skulls" (1977), "Skull Wars" (1978), "Happy Birthday Rock'n'Roll" (1979) and the ten-inch "A Fistful of Dubloons" (1981). The Pirates trio became a cult band with a wide reputation, their sound during the 1970s and beyond embraced punk, rockabilly, blues, and classic rock & roll. The group played in a line-up alongside Wilko Johnson, the Only Ones, the Saints, the Stranglers, X-Ray Spex, and XTC at the 'Front Row Festival', a three-week event at the Hope and Anchor, Islington in late 1977. The Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival compilation LP (1978) reached number 28 on the UK Albums Chart. The group completed their final gig in 1983 (until reforming for the third time in 1999, releasing Live In Japan 2000 (2002)). After 1983 The Pirates kept going on every now and then with many various lines-up, always including Mick Green into the 2000s.
In addition to his work with the Pirates, in the 1980s and 1990s, Green played with Bryan Ferry, Van Morrison, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Lemmy, and Fleetwood Mac's own legendary guitarist, Peter Green. In later years he was the guitarist of choice for rock's biggest names, including Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, and Bryan Ferry, who remembers him as "a brilliant guitarist with his roots firmly based in the traditions of American rock'n'roll. He had enormous talent and was a man of great humor, sharp wit, and generosity of spirit." According to McCartney, "Mick was one of the original rock heroes. He was a classic rock guitarist with a simple but fabulous style and sound." His other notable gigs included playing guitar for Van Morrison on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005, and with David Gilmour and Paul McCartney at the Cavern Club in support of McCartney’s Run Devil Run album in 1999. In 1990, Green played guitar with Lemmy and the Upsetters on their "Blue Suede Shoes" / "Paradise" single, and from 1999 to 2008, Green performed regularly with the Van Morrison band. He played guitar on 1999's Back on Top and he appeared on his other studio albums up until Van Morrison's 2008 album, Keep It Simple.
In February 2004, while on stage with Bryan Ferry in New Zealand, Green suffered a cardiac arrest. His life was saved by two doctors in the crowd and following his return to England and recovery he carried on playing. He suffered kidney problems in February 2009, partly connected with his earlier heart problem. Mick Green died of heart failure on January 11, 2010, in King George Hospital, Ilford, Essex at the age of 65. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and two sons, Bradley and Lloyd. On November 27, 2010, the Mick Green tribute gig was held at the 100 Club and featured the Animals and the Wilko Johnson Band. Fellow Pirate shipmate and close friend Johnny Spence closed the evening together with Mick's two sons (Brad on guitar and Lloyd on bass) performing several of the Pirates' back catalog. His son Lloyd Green now plays bass guitar in the critically acclaimed blues rock band The Milk Men.
