A set of handwritten lyrics from the early Fleetwood Mac hit Man of the World, by its writer, Peter Green, has sold for £24,700 at an English auction.
Ewbank’s in Woking, Surrey sold the papers, accepting a closing bid of £19,000 that rose to nearly £25,000 with extras.
The lyrics have been sold to a collector from the Middle East.
Andrew Ewbank, partner and auctioneer at Ewbank’s, told the BBC: “The Peter Green song sheet is unique. Consigned by his estate, it shows the moment of creation of one of his most famous songs – written at the point of crisis that led to his eventual departure.
“Don’t forget, he was the founder of Fleetwood Mac, outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined at the end of the 1960s, and is considered the guitarist’s guitarist by many of the music legends.”
The lyrics for the song, along with chords and arrangement – and some doodles – are written across three sheets of lined paper (12.7cm by 20.5cm) largely in blue ballpoint pen, with some parts in black felt-tip pen.
The song as written is very close to the version that was released as a single by Fleetwood Mac in 1969 and shows evidence of the writing process.
Peter Silke of Ewbank’s auctioneers holding the first page of the lyric sheets to one of Peter Green’s most personal songs. Image courtesy of Ewbank’s auctioneers.
Man of the World was the band’s second big hit after the instrumental Albatros hit number 1 in 1968. It entered the UK charts at number 2.
Green described the lyrics as extremely personal, saying: “It was how I felt at the time. It’s me at my saddest.”
In it, Green, a highly rated blues guitarist and the band’s vocalist, sings: “I guess I’ve got everything I need, I wouldn’t ask for more, And there’s no one I’d rather be, But I just wish that I’d never been born.”
Shortly after the song became a huge success Green left Fleetwood Mac. His fellow band members recall him becoming increasingly upset with the amount of money the band was making, more interested in spirituality, and taking LSD.
By the mid-1970s he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had withdrawn from professional music.
Green started playing professionally again in the late 1970s, and went on to enjoy a successful career as a blues player. He appeared on recordings by Fleetwood Mac and on solo records by its members.
The band he left went on to reinvent themselves a number of times and enjoy enormous success in America.
Green is still a much-revered guitarist and writer. He died in 2020 aged 73.
Auctions of Fleetwood Mac-related items made big sums in 2022, with a bass guitar played by John McVie played on the band’s most celebrated album, Rumours, going for over $100,000 in Los Angeles. In 2024 a sale of Christine McVie’s estate (she died in 2022) included an organ that sold for $52,000.
