Fred Chapellier - Fred Chapellier Plays Peter Green (2018)

In a dozen albums under his name (some in collaboration with the Americans Neal Black, Tom Principato and Billy Price), Fred CHAPELLIER has emerged in recent years as the new French guitar-slinger. One of the few to federate, among his faithful, blues purists, nostalgic blues-rock from the 70s to 80s, and a certain fringe of the general public. His homage to the immense Peter Green (captured in public in Charleville-Mézières) resonates like a true passage of witness. Because, supreme injustice, who remembers nowadays the decisive contribution of the latter, in the second half of the sixties? Whether it was in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, or at the head of Fleetwood Mac (who was his band, before becoming the cash drawer of rock FM that we know), Peter Green had a major impact on at least two generations of apprentice bluesmen, from Carlos Santana to Allman Brothers, Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy and The Hoax. Guitarist with a touch and tremolo immediately recognizable, and feeling as lyrical as burning, Greeny sank into mental illness at the turn of the seventies, and despite a relative comeback in the 90s, never found either the flame or the recognition he enjoyed at his peak. Now (and probably definitely) recluse in his inner world, the one that nicknamed "the Syd Barrett of British blues" continues to obsess fans of a certain feeling on the skin. As proof, Gary Moore himself did not record the first full album in his tribute ("Blues For Greeny" in 1995) ...? It is with the reinforcement of guests of taste (Ahmed Mouici and Leadfoot Rivet, who share the vocals on half of these 14 beaches, and especially the great Pascal Mikaélian on the harmonica) that Fred CHAPELLIER pays here his tribute to Master of blues angliche boom. The selected repertoire testifies to the deep knowledge that its protagonists attest: "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman" and "Oh Well", certainly, but also the transcendants "Looking For Somebody", "A Fool No More", " Love That Burns "and" Fleetwood Mac Theme ". The unfortunate dolphin Green, Danny Kirwan (died in poverty and insanity on June 8), is not left behind, with an incandescent version of his "Like It This Way" (which appeared half a century ago on the famous "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago").

It takes at least two conditions to tackle such repertoire: first not to be cold in the eyes (or fingers, of course), but also to touch the heart of what is blues. Clearly, Fred CHAPELLIER meets these criteria with emotion and brio: a salutary slap! ~Patrick Dallongeville (Online translation)