Then Play On (remastered)

[Mr Scarrott]

Another random thought-

From what I had read before (Mick's occasionally reliable autobiography?), I had assumed that Peter played all the guitars, drums and bass on Oh Well or have I imagined that? The essay with the CD suggested otherwise. I would have also liked to have had some closure on who played the piano on Coming your way, too. Jeremy said on the forum he had no idea who played it. Was it Chris? We'll never know, I suspect. Everyone seems to have forgotten by know.

[dansven]

The sound is great!!!

I've never heard the last 15 secs of "Under Way".

Nice to have the studio version of "World In Harmony" - though the Boston Tea Party does have a far better guitar solo, and will always be the definitive version for me. Btw that is one weird (dis-)harmony at the end ... full of echo...

Good to have some info on the cover paiting. Maybe I'm weird, but I've always loved that rider going from autumns to spring. But then I am a fan of art nouveau. Maxwell Armfield is indeed great! I also learned that Mick owns the painting. I would like to have had it on my living room wall!

I still wonder about the classical part in "Searching for Madge" - with a (Peter's, I guess) guitar plucking in the background. Was it composed spesifically for the album? By who? Or is it a fragment of some other classical work?
Btw those two Madge jams do indeed have corny titles. "Under Way" is far better titlewise.

It's ok to include "One Sunny Day" and "Without You", since they appeared on the original UK release. But I dunno... they seem to have more of a Blue Horizon feel... don't quite fit together with the rest. I prefer them on "English Rose" instead...

Nice to have the bonus tracks!
Hope they do the same job with Kiln House etc...

[sharksfan2000]

Originally Posted by dansven

The sound is great!!!

Yes, overall it is really good and a huge improvement over the old CD. I have to admit that my first listen to the remastered CD was on headphones, and not the greatest headphones at that. I'll see what the sound is like through my speakers next time - might sound much better still!

Originally Posted by dansven

It's ok to include "One Sunny Day" and "Without You", since they appeared on the original UK release. But I dunno... they seem to have more of a Blue Horizon feel... don't quite fit together with the rest. I prefer them on "English Rose" instead...

I can understand that point of view, although for me they sound right being on Then Play On. Part of that is because that's actually where I first heard them, on a UK version of Then Play On (the one with the black cover that's mentioned in the booklet of the new CD) that I had before I'd gotten English Rose.

[dansven]

Originally Posted by sharksfan2000

I can understand that point of view, although for me they sound right being on Then Play On. Part of that is because that's actually where I first heard them, on a UK version of Then Play On (the one with the black cover that's mentioned in the booklet of the new CD) that I had before I'd gotten English Rose.

Yes, I guess it depends on where you first hear the songs. I heard those two songs first on English Rose. And by including them, the album represents better how their live sets where, i.e. jamming, pop songs and blues.

Originally Posted by Dogon

It sounds very much Vaughan Williams to me, a british composer whom Peter seems to have been very fond of in the late sixties.

Good point! Yes, Peter was inspired by Vaughan-Williams. He's a marvellous composer. I have his symphonies, so I'll put them on and og looking for Madge inspirations, hahaha.

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by dansven

Yes, I guess it depends on where you first hear the songs. I heard those two songs first on English Rose. And by including them, the album represents better how their live sets where, i.e. jamming, pop songs and blues.


Good point! Yes, Peter was inspired by Vaughan-Williams. He's a marvellous composer. I have his symphonies, so I'll put them on and og looking for Madge inspirations, hahaha.

That must've been sampled, I can't imagine they'd get someone to put together just that snippet. Having said that, I've never heard of anyone saying they've come across it on another record over all these years so who knows. It's that heavy guitar right before it I'd like to find the master tape of. Peter (or Danny?) sounding like Toni Iommi!

John

[doodyhead]

The vibrato on the guitar of the solo phrase before the orchestral interlude , to me sounds like Danny's trademark wrenching tone. Peter's playing is impromptu and fierce but Danny almost seems to calculate what he will play note by note

[dansven]

Originally Posted by doodyhead

The vibrato on the guitar of the solo phrase before the orchestral interlude , to me sounds like Danny's trademark wrenching tone. Peter's playing is impromptu and fierce but Danny almost seems to calculate what he will play note by note

Yeah, that guitar just before the orchestral bit is Danny.

Then there's some guitar plucking in the background during the orchestral part, that I think is Peter.

[Dogon]

Originally Posted by dansven

I still wonder about the classical part in "Searching for Madge" - with a (Peter's, I guess) guitar plucking in the background. Was it composed spesifically for the album? By who? Or is it a fragment of some other classical work?

It sounds very much Vaughan Williams to me, a british composer whom Peter seems to have been very fond of in the late sixties. Very nice harmonies with a slight disharmony feeling to it.

[LesPaul7]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

Another random thought-

From what I had read before (Mick's occasionally reliable autobiography?), I had assumed that Peter played all the guitars, drums and bass on Oh Well or have I imagined that? The essay with the CD suggested otherwise. I would have also liked to have had some closure on who played the piano on Coming your way, too. Jeremy said on the forum he had no idea who played it. Was it Chris? We'll never know, I suspect. Everyone seems to have forgotten by know.

On Oh Well Part 2 I'm pretty sure Green played the timpani (drum) and bass (it may be his 6 string which sounds doubled by a guitar at some parts).

Part 1 sounds like a live band take and some overdubs. We know Green plays a resonator guitar to open the song, but I'm wondering if Green played his 6 string bass on that and McVie played the normal bass an octave lower. That first electric guitar that comes in has a distinct timbre. I'm no expert on 6 string basses; I'd like to hear what other musicians think.

[kowk]

Originally Posted by LesPaul7

On Oh Well Part 2 I'm pretty sure Green played the timpani (drum) and bass (it may be his 6 string which sounds doubled by a guitar at some parts).

Part 1 sounds like a live band take and some overdubs. We know Green plays a resonator guitar to open the song, but I'm wondering if Green played his 6 string bass on that and McVie played the normal bass an octave lower. That first electric guitar that comes in has a distinct timbre. I'm no expert on 6 string basses; I'd like to hear what other musicians think.

When I listen to two songs "Closing My Eyes" and "Before The Beginning" I suppose that Peter plays all the instruments .
What do you think about this?

[dansven]

Originally Posted by kowk

When I listen to two songs "Closing My Eyes" and "Before The Beginning" I suppose that Peter plays all the instruments .
What do you think about this?

I've thought the same about "Closing My Eyes" yeah.

[LesPaul7]

I think Green plays every instrument on Closing My Eyes and I think Kirwan plays all the guitar parts on When You Say, Although the Sun is Shining, and My Dream. I believe Before the Beginning was a live band take a la Blues in Bb Minor, and then Green overdubbed some guitar/6 string bass.

I'll have to listen to Oh Well Part 1 again because if there is six string bass, it would have to be utilizing open strings, putting it in the same octave as McVie. Maybe he used a treble pickup to separate it in the mix?

[michelej1]

Critic's pick: Fleetwood Mac, 'Then Play On'

Published: September 6, 2013

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

By Walter Tunis — Contributing Music Writer


The newest edition of Then Play On, the definitive studio recording by the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, ends with a subtle guitar instrumental titled World in Harmony.

The music blooms from sparse, autumnal ambience into a summery, almost country-esque serenade. It's a quiet study in harmony and conflict, opposites that always seem to surface when Fleetwood Mac is at its best.

Named after the oft-quoted opening to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night ("If music be the food of love, play on"), the album is a masterwork that faded from view as the band shot to pop stardom in the mid-'70s with the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. But Then Play On, Fleetwood Mac's third studio work, takes us back to 1969 and remains a portrait of lost rock 'n' roll innocence. It was the first record to feature co-guitarist Danny Kirwan and the last to include band founder Green. The band's third guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, is curiously absent from the recording.

This new version differs from most archival reissues. While there are four bonus tracks, three of them (the slo-mo guitar romp The Green Manalishi and the two-part boogiefest-turned-folk meditation Oh Well) were Green-penned singles that stand as the early Mac's signature tunes. Only World in Harmony (Manalishi's b-side) is evenly remotely obscure.

What this new edition accomplishes, though, is to gather all the material issued on various truncated British and American versions of Then Play On. The basic running order matches the original British release with the singles tacked as a postscript.

Still, it's the nuts-and-bolts design of the music that makes the album so extraordinary — specifically, the giving way of the blues roots foundation that brought Fleetwood Mac to life in favor of looser, more introspective portraits from Green and Kirwan. It rocks quite handsomely at times (on Green's Rattleshake Snake and on the first part of Oh Well) but often eases into leaner, less defined lyricism that propels the instrumental Under Way and the neo-poppish My Dream which suggest the calmer melodic waters to come in the post-Green years. Even more overt blues pieces such as Like Crying present Green and Kirwan in casual sympatico without a full rhythm section. Such songs sound, blissfully, like rehearsals.

Kirwan plays the role of disciple to Green throughout Then Play On. His Although the Sun is Shining is a beautifully weathered shadow of vintage Brit-pop — a bit of folky romanticism laced with a touch of low-fi psychedelia.

But the farewell Green leaves us with is a stunner, Before the Beginning. Its lyrics are as restless, wispy and forlorn as its superbly crafted guitar melodies, all of which are underscored by a disquieting drum rattle from Mick Fleetwood. It is a spellbinding coda to Fleetwood Mac's most underappreciated triumph.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

[doodyhead]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/5...-Then-Play-On/

This was out apparently reviewing the second Then Play On vinyl release..

[Street_Dreamer]

Originally Posted by michelej1

But the farewell Green leaves us with is a stunner, Before the Beginning. Its lyrics are as restless, wispy and forlorn as its superbly crafted guitar melodies, all of which are underscored by a disquieting drum rattle from Mick Fleetwood. It is a spellbinding coda to Fleetwood Mac's most underappreciated triumph.

I'm glad Before The Beginning gets its due in this article. It has no weakness.