Handwritten Fleetwood Mac lyrics sell for £25k

The handwritten composition sheet was purchased by a collector from the Middle-East, Ewbank's said

Handwritten lyrics and chord charts for one of Fleetwood Mac's earliest hits have sold for £24,700 at auction.

The composition sheet for Man of the World was estimated to fetch between £12,000 and £15,000 as part of a film, TV and music memorabilia auction at Ewbank's auction house in Woking, Surrey.

It was purchased by a collector from the Middle East, the auctioneers said.

The song sheet was described as "unique" by Ewbank's.

Man of the World was a UK chart number two in 1969, and was written by the group's co-founder, vocalist and lead guitarist Peter Green, who formed the band with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie in 1967, but left the group in 1970.

Andrew Ewbank, partner and auctioneer at Ewbank's, said: "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 song sheet, handwritten in blue ballpoint pen and corrected in black ink, shows that Green changed three lines of the lyrics – adding a complete line to the last verse – while confirming his choice for others by annotating the end of each finalised line with a tick.

It is considered one of Green's most important compositions and it entered the UK charts in June 1969 at number two.

Green died in 2020 aged 73.