Like other lauded Brit-blues players (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Mick Taylor), Green cut his teeth as a member of The Bluesbreakers. But it was with two other alumni from that band, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, that he truly made a name for himself.

In the original Fleetwood Mac, Green played a 1959 sunburst Les Paul that became known as his ’magic guitar', so sweet was its vibrato, tone and sustain.

Part of this might be due to a modification to the neck pickup, which had its magnet reversed, rendering the guitar out-of-phase, but all of it is due to Green’s soulful phrasing and swinging shuffle grooves, as heard on tracks like Black Magic Woman and Oh Well.

Green binged on LSD and quit Fleetwood Mac in 1970. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, he spent time in hospital and led a tramp-like existence for many years. In the '90s he made a comeback and still performs. As for that ‘magic guitar’? He sold it to Irish rock-blues player, Gary Moore.