Mick Green
Encyclopedia
Michael Robert "Mick" Green (February 22, 1944 – January 11, 2010) was an English rock and roll
guitarist who played with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas
.
. Green began his career in 1956, playing in a skiffle trio "The Wayfaring Strangers" with Johnny Spence and Frank Farley, who came second in a bands competition to The Quarrymen
.
The trio then all joined Red-E-Lewis and the Redcaps, who became the Redcaps, backing Cuddly Dudley
, when Reddy Lewis left, before joining Johnny Kidd & The Pirates in 1962 and then joined Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas
in 1964. His ability to play lead
and rhythm guitar simultaneously influenced a number of British guitarists to follow, including Pete Townshend
and Wilko Johnson
, the original guitarist for Dr. Feelgood
. Green's song "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 reformed The Pirates in the mid 1970s (Kidd having died in 1966). Green played the
Fender Telecaster Custom
produced in 1972 as his main guitar.
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.
In the 1980s and 1990s Green played with, amongst others, Bryan Ferry
, Van Morrison
and
Paul McCartney
, as well as playing with The Pirates with whom he continued to gig
well into the 2000s. 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 latter's return to the Cavern Club in support of his Run Devil Run
album in 1999.
In his spare time he taught
guitar privately, as well as at various local school
s.
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 he was on five of the tracks on Van Morrison's 2008 album, Keep It Simple
.
In 1990, Green played guitar with Lemmy and the Upsetters on their 'Blue Suede Shoes' / 'Paradise' single. The A-side was originally recorded for a charity album, and Green wrote the b-side with Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister for this occasional Upsetters project.
In February 2004 whilst on stage with Bryan Ferry in Auckland, Green suffered a cardiac arrest. His life was saved by 2 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.
On 27th November 2010, the Mick Green tribute gig was held at the 100 club and featured The Animals and 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 catalogue to an enthusiastic crowd. Mick's two sons have since formed their own band, The Green Brothers.
Lloyd's wife Alice was in hospital at the time having just given birth to their baby son Ashton the previous day.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
guitarist who played with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...
.
Biography
He was born Michael Robert Green, in Matlock, DerbyshireDerbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. Green began his career in 1956, playing in a skiffle trio "The Wayfaring Strangers" with Johnny Spence and Frank Farley, who came second in a bands competition to The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...
.
The trio then all joined Red-E-Lewis and the Redcaps, who became the Redcaps, backing Cuddly Dudley
Cuddly Dudley (singer)
Cuddly Dudley was an English rock & roll singer, and actor, who came to fame on the Oh Boy! TV series, and is noted for being “Britain's first black rock & roller”.-Early career:...
, when Reddy Lewis left, before joining Johnny Kidd & The Pirates in 1962 and then joined Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...
in 1964. His ability to play lead
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
and rhythm guitar simultaneously influenced a number of British guitarists to follow, including Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
and Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
, the original guitarist for Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
. Green's song "Oyeh!" was on Dr. Feelgood's debut album, Down by the Jetty
Down by the Jetty
Down by the Jetty is the debut album by Dr. Feelgood, released in January 1975.The band's Johnny Kidd & The Pirates influenced originals appear alongside covers material like "Bonie Maronie" and "Tequila"....
; and a song he co-wrote, "Going Back Home" appeared on Dr. Feelgood's 1975 Malpractice
Malpractice (Dr. Feelgood album)
Malpractice was the second Dr. Feelgood album, released in October 1975.The album reached number 17 in the UK Albums Chart in November 1975, and remained in that chart for six weeks...
and the live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Stupidity
Stupidity (Dr. Feelgood album)
Stupidity was the third album by Dr. Feelgood. It was released in September 1976, and was their first live album recording. Their mushrooming popularity was confirmed when Stupidity topped the UK charts....
(1976).
Green reformed The Pirates in the mid 1970s (Kidd having died in 1966). Green played the
Fender Telecaster Custom
Fender Telecaster Custom
Fender Telecaster Custom is a model of electric guitar made by Fender. This model should not be confused with the "Fender Custom Telecaster" model manufactured between 1959 and 1968, which only differs from a standard Telecaster in having a bound body...
produced in 1972 as his main guitar.
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
Blue For You
Blue for You is the ninth studio album by English Rock band Status Quo, released in March 1976.Parfitt's "Rain", the first single from the album, reached #7 in the UK charts after its release in February 1976. Its b-side was the non-album track "You Lost the Love", written by Rossi and Young.The...
tour. Together with Quo member Alan Lancaster
Alan Lancaster
Alan Lancaster is a bassist and a founding ex-member of the English rock band, Status Quo...
he wrote four songs recorded by Status Quo.
In the 1980s and 1990s Green played with, amongst others, Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, as well as playing with The Pirates with whom he continued to gig
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
well into the 2000s. His other notable gigs included playing guitar for Van Morrison on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
in 2005, and with David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
at the latter's return to the Cavern Club in support of his Run Devil Run
Run Devil Run
Run Devil Run is the eleventh solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1999. It features covers of both familiar and obscure 1950s rock and roll songs, along with three new McCartney songs written in the same style...
album in 1999.
In his spare time he taught
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
guitar privately, as well as at various local school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s.
From 1999 to 2008, Green performed regularly with the Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
band. He played guitar on 1999's Back on Top and he appeared on his other studio albums up until he was on five of the tracks on Van Morrison's 2008 album, Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple is the thirty-third solo studio album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on March 17, 2008 by Exile Productions Ltd./Polydor in the U.K.. and on the Lost Highway Records label on April 1, 2008, in the U.S....
.
In 1990, Green played guitar with Lemmy and the Upsetters on their 'Blue Suede Shoes' / 'Paradise' single. The A-side was originally recorded for a charity album, and Green wrote the b-side with Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister for this occasional Upsetters project.
In February 2004 whilst on stage with Bryan Ferry in Auckland, Green suffered a cardiac arrest. His life was saved by 2 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.
On 27th November 2010, the Mick Green tribute gig was held at the 100 club and featured The Animals and 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 catalogue to an enthusiastic crowd. Mick's two sons have since formed their own band, The Green Brothers.
Death
Mick Green died of Heart Failure on 10 January 2010 in King George Hospital, Ilford, Essex. His wife Karen, Sons Lloyd and Brad and daughter-in-law Hannah were at his side.Lloyd's wife Alice was in hospital at the time having just given birth to their baby son Ashton the previous day.
External links
- Green's official website
- The Pirates Official Website
- [ Biography] at Allmusic
- The Green Brothers Website (Mick's Sons)