The Green Manalishi
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| “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)” | ||
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| Single by Fleetwood Mac | ||
| B-side | World in Harmony | |
| Released | May 15, 1970 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | Hollywood, April 1970 | |
| Length | 4:36 | |
| Label | Reprise Reprise RS27007 |
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| “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)” | |||||
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| Song by Judas Priest | |||||
| Album | Killing Machine | ||||
| Released | November 1978 (UK) March 1979 (USA) |
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| Recorded | 1978 at Utopia, Basing Street and CBS Studios in London | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock | ||||
| Length | 3:23 | ||||
| Label | Columbia Records | ||||
| Writer | Peter Green | ||||
| Producer | James Guthrie Judas Priest |
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| Killing Machine track listing | |||||
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"The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)" is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached #10 on the British charts. The song was written during Green's final months with the band, at a time when he was struggling with LSD and had withdrawn from other members of the band. "Faced with the band's refusal to give away all monetary gains, Peter Green decided to leave Fleetwood Mac, but not before writing the haunting 'Green Manalishi,' which seems to document his struggle to stop his descent into madness." While there are several rumours about the meaning of the title "Green Manalishi", one referencing a mysterious LSD drug called "Green Manalishi" associated with the drug scene of the 1970s, Green has always maintained that the song is about money, as represented by the devil.
Green has explained that he wrote the song after experiencing a drug-induced dream, in which he was visited by a green dog which barked at him. He understood that the dog represented money. "It scared me because I knew the dog had been dead a long time. It was a stray and I was looking after it. But I was dead and had to fight to get back into my body, which I eventually did. When I woke up, the room was really black and I found myself writing the song." He also said that he wrote the lyrics the following day, in Richmond Park. Supposedly, he was unable to record Robert Johnson's 'Hellhound On My Trail' following the incident; having conflated Johnson's hellhound with Green's demon. This is supported by his discography, in which Green's sole post-Manalishi cover of 'Hellhound' was sung by band mate Nigel Watson.
The B-side of the single was an instrumental written by Green and Danny Kirwan, titled "World In Harmony". The two tracks were recorded at the same session in Warner/Reprise Studios, in Hollywood, California.
[edit] Personnel
The other member of the band, guitarist Jeremy Spencer, is thought not to have been present at the recording sessions.
[edit] Cover versions
The song later became a standby for heavy metal band Judas Priest, beginning in the late 1970s. The song has become so identified with Judas Priest that many fans mistakenly assume it to be a Priest original. Their first release of the song was a studio recording on the U.S. edition of Hell Bent for Leather in 1979. The first worldwide release was on the band's live album, Unleashed in the East, released later that year. A re-recording of the song was also added as a bonus track on the German version of the album Demolition in 2001
The song was covered by Corrosion of Conformity on their 1984 album An Eye for an Eye.
The song was covered by The Melvins on their 1999 album The Maggot.
The song was covered by Steel on their 1998 Heavy Metal Machine EP.
The song was covered by Arthur Brown on the 1997 tribute album, "Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green."
The song was covered live by Nirvana on a few occasions.
The song was covered by Therion, though they were actually covering Judas Priest's version.
The song was covered by Ian Parker on his 2005 live album ...Whilst the Wind.
The song was covered by Manowar on their 1993 performance in Germany.
[edit] References
- ^ Martin and Lisa Adelson, Peter Green, The Penguin: Everything that is Fleetwood Mac.
- "Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac", Martin Celmins, Castle Communications, 1995.
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