Then Play On (remastered)

[GJK]

Today, I received my copy. I comes with a 12 page booklet, written by David Frocke (of Rolling Stone). There are a few nice pictures of vinyl singles.

Both parts of 'Oh well' are in mono and sound just as good as the version on 'The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac' does.
It's nice to finally hear the original version of 'World in harmony' without scratches!

I haven't compared the sound quality of the remastered songs to the original CD I already had, but during this first-time-listening I think the quality has improved.

There's some expected Fleetwood Mac sloppyness: there aren't any composer credits and some titles are spelled with capitals and some are not (it's 'One Sunny Day' and 'My Dream' but at the same time 'Closing my eyes' and 'Without you').
'Under Way' is spelled this way, like it did on the original LP, my old CD says 'Underway'.

GJK

[sharksfan2000]

Thanks for the report, GJK. According to Amazon, the remastered CD is supposed to be released in the US next Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it.

[SpyNote]

Exciting! Thanks for sharing.

I'm looking forward to hearing the other CDs in the early 1970s catalog too. I wonder why they're getting released in Japan first.

[becca]

David Fricke likes Then Play On? This helps redeem Rolling Stone a little I suppose. :D

I will get this eventually, I hope they still have some left later.

My father grew up in Arnhem and we still have family there! They used to send us Pussycat and BZN records...

[GJK]

My father grew up in Arnhem and we still have family there! They used to send us Pussycat and BZN records...

If he grew up in Arnhem, he probably learned how to swim in the building opposite my apartment.

The lead singer of Pussycat had a great voice but I never cared for BZN...

GJK

[Murrow]

Today, I received my copy. I comes with a 12 page booklet, written by David Frocke (of Rolling Stone). There are a few nice pictures of vinyl singles.

Both parts of 'Oh well' are in mono and sound just as good as the version on 'The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac' does.
It's nice to finally hear the original version of 'World in harmony' without scratches!

I haven't compared the sound quality of the remastered songs to the original CD I already had, but during this first-time-listening I think the quality has improved.

There's some expected Fleetwood Mac sloppyness: some titles are spelled with capitals and some are not (it's 'One Sunny Day' and 'My Dream' but also 'Closing my eyes' and 'Without you').
'Under Way' is spelled this way, like it did on the original LP, my old CD says 'Underway'.

GJK

Thanks for that GJK. Hits UK shores on Monday apparently. I'm in London all day so I shall head to HMV Oxford Circus as soon as 16.30 comes around.

[becca]

If he grew up in Arnhem, he probably learned how to swim in the building opposite my apartment.

The lead singer of Pussycat had a great voice but I never cared for BZN...

GJK

I liked BZN's Rockin' The Trolls for some reason. :D

[doodyhead]

Thanks for the report, GJK. According to Amazon, the remastered CD is supposed to be released in the US next Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it.

Hopefully they will send them out right on time!

with great anticipation

vinnie

[iamnotafraid]

According to Amazon, the remastered CD is supposed to be released in the US next Tuesday...


And currently, it's in their top 100 chart.

[SpyNote]

The CD arrived in the mail on Tuesday. The sound is great. :thumbsup: World in Harmony is quite a treat, wow!

I can't wait to hear how the rest of the CDs in the pre-75 sound. The reissues coming from Warner Japan come in cardboard slipcases. Hopefully there will be an accompanying booklet.

[doodyhead]

I am listening to the recording in my studio monitors. The sound is good. They did a good remastering job
Closing my Eyes and Although the Sun is shining are especially good.

[becca]

Great to read good reports on the CD sound quality! I am thinking I am in for this one for sure now too, though I have to save up for the 2CD edition of Gene Clark's Two Sides as well...

[sharksfan2000]

Still waiting for my CD to arrive, so I thought I'd ask a question for those of you who have already received yours. Is "Underway" slightly longer than on the earlier CD release? It ran a little bit longer on the original UK vinyl of Then Play On and I always enjoyed those few extra seconds - thought they added something significant to the end of the piece before the fade-out. Hoping that longer version of "Underway" is on the new CD.

[doodyhead]

Dear Ken,

I remember you asking about my version of the Vinyl and now I know why
I had the earlier version (US) and then in college the vinyl got switched to the version with Oh Well. Underway as shorter. I guess because Oh Well was so long due to the limitations of vinyl.
It is mentioned in the liner notes
the new remaster comes in at 3:04 which is 15 seconds longer than the second US release and the original crappy CD

I love the uncut studio version on "The Vaudville Years. ( October Jam #1 and #2) There you get the studio versions of both Underway and the two madges. Still though the spliced Then Play On versions are what hooked me onto jamming. It was like "The Greatful Dead "only with better players (my apologies to dead fans of which I am also one)

vinnie

[GJK]

Dear Ken,

I remember you asking about my version of the Vinyl and now I know why: I had the earlier version (US) and then in college the vinyl got switched to the version with Oh Well. Underway is shorter; I guess because Oh Well was so long due to the limitations of vinyl.
It is mentioned in the liner notes that the new remaster comes in at 3:04 which is 15 seconds longer than the second US release and the original crappy CD.

I love the uncut studio version on "The Vaudeville Years" ( October Jam #1 and #2). There you get the studio versions of both Underway and the two Madges. Still though the spliced Then Play On versions are what hooked me onto jamming. It was like "The Greatful Dead "only with better players (my apologies to dead fans of which I am also one).

Vinnie

'Underway', now spelled 'Under Way', is indeed a bit longer but ends rather abruptly, in the middle of a drum roll by Mick...

'October Jam #1 & 2' are completely other jams than the Madge jams but maybe I am misunderstanding you.

The dead fans obviously won't bother, but Dead fans might.

GJK

[sharksfan2000]

Thanks for the info, Vinnie and GJK! Good to hear that those 15 seconds have been restored.

I do like the full jams from The Vaudeville Years, but the final version of "Underway" (or "Under Way" ;) ) features such a different mix from what's on the full jam that it changes the piece a lot IMHO. Most notably to me, Danny's guitar is mixed lower in the final version.

[doodyhead]

'Underway', now spelled 'Under Way', is indeed a bit longer but ends rather abruptly, in the middle of a drum roll by Mick...

'October Jam #1 & 2' are completely other jams than the Madge jams but maybe I am misunderstanding you.

The dead fans obviously won't bother, but Dead fans might.

GJK

I think that #2 is the one that searching for madge and fighting for madge are derived.
My impression was that someone had a mixing field day.
I could argue for #1 and underway too. Is martin Birch still alive? or did peter do it?

[wetcamelfood]

'Underway', now spelled 'Under Way', is indeed a bit longer but ends rather abruptly, in the middle of a drum roll by Mick...

Agreed. It almost sounds like they didn't fade it. I guess I just expected more of a fade like what we got on the shorter Underway.

John

[KarmaContestant]

A question... Bear in mind, the entire pre-Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac is pretty much foreign to me, although I'm familiar with a few songs, and know some of the history.

I'm listening to this new reissue of Then Play On, and in the booklet there is a write-up by David Fricke of Rolling Stone in it, and he says in the third paragraph "Then Play On was Fleetwood Mac's third studio album - and the only LP made in that lineup's supernova lifetime."

Who was new to this lineup, and thus I presume, only appeared on this album before departing?

Or was something else meant by that statement?

This is a great album so far. I'm only to Underway/Under Way (whichever is correct), and each track has been great except for When You Say, which I really didn't care for.

[Johnny Stew]

A question...

I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's one of my favorite Mac albums. Funny that you didn't care for "When You Say" either, as that seems to be many fans' least favorite from 'TPO.'

To answer your question -- it was the first studio album that Danny Kirwan appeared on, and the last with Peter Green.

Rhino did a fantastic job with the remastering. I'm really thrilled with how much better it sounds than the original CD.

[doodyhead]

the two singles which preceded this also had this lineup

Man of the World
and Albatross

[Murrow]

Yeah it's fab. You do feel the live rawness of the tracks more - especially on Coming Your Way and some of the more depressive Greenie songs.

[TheGreenBlues]

I defiantly need to pick this up soon after reading the positive reviews of it.

[LesPaul7]

This is my favorite album so I feel obliged to post my thoughts about the new re-master. The sound is much more full and the EQ sounds great. There is still hiss, which to me means the master tapes have been neglected (obviously). There is definitely sonic improvement and I am very happy with the definitive version of this classic album.

This album flows like a storybook in this form.

[LesPaul7]

Agreed. It almost sounds like they didn't fade it. I guess I just expected more of a fade like what we got on the shorter Underway.

John

On the original record it goes straight into One Sunny Day without skipping a beat.

I think that #2 is the one that searching for madge and fighting for madge are derived.
My impression was that someone had a mixing field day.
I could argue for #1 and underway too. Is martin Birch still alive? or did peter do it?

Birch and Green did a lot of live panning/mixing on the original album, which is still preserved.

The October Jams were recordings done after Then Play On was released. Underway was one jam, Madge was another. Both are on The Vaudeville Years without the Then Play On mix down.

[doodyhead]

If this is true, then there maybe yet more audio in someones vault out there from then play on.

[Wouter Vuijk]

My father grew up in Arnhem and we still have family there! They used to send us Pussycat and BZN records...

My cousin was producer of Pusssycat, including their hitsingle "Mississippi" :cool:

[GJK]

My cousin was producer of Pussycat, including their hitsingle "Mississippi" :cool:

Dat hest mie noeit verteld!

GJK

[Wouter Vuijk]

Dat hest mie noeit verteld!

GJK

Check your e-mail!;)

[becca]

My cousin was producer of Pusssycat, including their hitsingle "Mississippi" :cool:

Eddy Hilberts? Those 1970s LPs sound good, while they had a full band. Eddy also wrote and arranged 'Nothing To Hide' from Souvenirs.

My old Pussycat web page: http://www.oocities.org/rebjan_ca/pussycat.html

:wavey:

[LesPaul7]

If this is true, then there maybe yet more audio in someones vault out there from then play on.

Liner notes to Vaudeville Years where I got the info: http://discog.fleetwoodmac.net/discog.php?pid=645

I think FM recorded and released most everything they had that they thought was decent, apart from a few anomalies like Like It This Way. I hope you're right though. I have read Green did some recordings for a more commercial solo album before scrapping the idea in favor of End of the Game. If true, I'd love to hear those.

[Mr Scarrott]

Finally got my copy of the remastered Then Play On today! I'm really pleased with the sound quality- I was a bit worried about some of the comments re this but maybe my ears aren't the best!

Just a couple or three random thoughts:

I wish they had left a longer run-off from Before the Beginning to the start of the bonus tracks, just to leave a bit longer to let the original album sink in (solvable, I know, just not on my ancient player).

Danny , we love you and worry about you, but nothing can really be done to make When you say any better, can it? I suppose it's the only real flaw in the diamond...

I found myself actually enjoying the Madge jams for the first time! I've always wondered what that bit of classical music is that interlopes into Searching for Madge. Can anyone enlighten me?

[sharksfan2000]

My copy finally arrived today too. Wonderful to have the album back in its intended form, with the correct song sequence. It's like listening to an entirely different album than the earlier CD version. And nice to have the single version of "World In Harmony" - though I found all the echo on that track a bit disconcerting.

"When You Say" does stand out as easily the weakest track on the album, though I can't help but thinking how much it might have been improved by leaving out all the "la-la" vocals and just letting Danny's guitar do the talking. That's the main reason I prefer the Christine Perfect version, even though I'm not crazy about the strings on it.

Overall I thought the sound quality was certainly improved but perhaps not as much as I'd hoped. It would be interesting to hear how everything was remastered - what the source material was and who was involved in the process, for example.

The essay in the booklet was very nice, and I learned a thing or two in there. But even though we've all seen plenty of photos of the band from that period, it would have been nice to have included some in the booklet. Surely there must be other photos that have either not been published before or have not been widely circulated.

Reading through the booklet made me realize again how odd it is that for a band with as long and interesting a history as Fleetwood Mac, there really has not been a good in-depth book written about them. Peter Green deserves a better biography than the Celmins one, too.

Anyway, great to finally be able to listen to this, and I'm sure it will take a few more listens for it all to sink in.

[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". :D

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... :p

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! :nod:

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? :shrug:
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... :sorry:

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

[sharksfan2000]

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!

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... :sorry:
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.

[Dogon]

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? :shrug:



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.

[dansven]

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.

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! :nod: 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]

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! :nod: 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]

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.

[becca]

Mine must be on the slow train west. Really looking forward to hearing/reading this now... :blob2:

[michelej1]

September 6, 2013 Lexington Herald, Kentucky

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html

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/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html#storylink=cpy

[kowk]

Finally got my copy :)
The sound is great, better than on 1996 CD edition.
This CD is simply a masterpiece !!
Some interesting things in the liner notes:
Mick Fleetwood mentions about Green's influence on Jimi Page and J. Hetfield, K. Hammmet from Metallica.
There is also a comfirmation, that on Oh Well Part Two Sandra Eldson plays recorder.

[chiliD]

Finally got my copy :)
The sound is great, better than on 1996 CD edition.
This CD is simply a masterpiece !!
Some interesting things in the liner notes:
Mick Fleetwood mentions about Green's influence on Jimi Page and J. Hetfield, K. Hammmet from Metallica.
There is also a comfirmation, that on Oh Well Part Two Sandra Eldson* plays recorder.

Robert Plant has publicly acknowledged that the Led Zeppelin song "Black Dog" was directly influenced by "Oh Well". (which comes full circle when Jimmy Page played "Oh Well" with the Black Crowes on their live album together, amongst a bunch of LZ covers). I'd even go as far as to name a 2nd song that Jimmy knicked from Peter...on Physical Graffitti there's a middle section of the song "Ten Years Gone" that sounds a little bit too close to "Green Manalishi" to be coincidence.

And, of course, there's the well-known confession of both Lennon & Harrison admitting they pretty much stole "Albatross" for Abbey Road's "Sun King".

I always wondered why Clapton never mentioned Peter Green much in interviews through the years, but lately, he's name-dropped Peter in a few recent interviews. Maybe Eric's finally giving credit where it's due? :shrug: Maybe he's finally wanting to SHARE the "White English Blues God" label that he's pretty much worn alone for so long.

* = "Sandy Mary"?? ;)

Ok, ok, ok...you've all convinced me that I need (not just "want", but "need") to get this new reissue. I was just happy as a clam with my copy of TPO on my iPod, adding the two English Rose tracks & "Green Manalishi" & even stealing a version of "World In Harmony" from either Vaudeville Years or Show Biz Blues (don't remember which); and unceremoniously omitting "When You Say" altogether. {sigh!} Ok, I order mine tomorrow. :nod:

[LesPaul7]

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.

[Wouter Vuijk]

Only World in Harmony (Manalishi's b-side) is evenly remotely obscure.


Yes, so obscure they should have called it "Phyllis" ;).

[madformac]

Ok, ok, ok...you've all convinced me that I need (not just "want", but "need") to get this new reissue. I was just happy as a clam with my copy of TPO on my iPod, adding the two English Rose tracks & "Green Manalishi" & even stealing a version of "World In Harmony" from either Vaudeville Years or Show Biz Blues (don't remember which); and unceremoniously omitting "When You Say" altogether. {sigh!} Ok, I order mine tomorrow. :nod:

Buy it Steve. (OK, my first post on here for 5 or 6 years, it's THAT important a purchase) :thumbsup:

[kowk]

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]

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/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html#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/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2806888/critics-pick-fleetwood-mac-then.html#storylink=cpy

[doodyhead]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/57619/Fleetwood-Mac-Then-Play-On/

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

[Street_Dreamer]

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.

[goodun]

Exciting! Thanks for sharing.

I'm looking forward to hearing the other CDs in the early 1970s catalog too. I wonder why they're getting released in Japan first.

More demand there I believe. There are lots of titles I want that are only available in Japan and they're not cheap. Even the solo Kirwan CDs are only out there. Lucky that I had found one on UK LP, the only album on DJM Records I have that isn't from Elton John (which stands out as it was basically an indie label in those days).
Since someone bought the new edition, I found two old CD editions of the album at the shop; one from the US and another from Australia. I bought the Oz one which sounds as good to my ears though I'll consider the new one. At least with the remaster which is long overdue all the tracks are finally together at long last. Also from down under I have The Best of the Original Fleetwood Mac which has "One Sunny Day" and "Without You" but I had to order mp3s of "The Green Manalishi", "Oh Well" Parts 1 & 2 separately, and "World in Harmony". The West German reissue LP I also own has even less. This period of the band has a cult following in the States where I am compared to the more commercial later eras. A local blues band here in my area called Mark Doyle and the Maniacs have covered the Green/Spencer era with the songs "Fleetwood Mac" and "Need Your Love So Bad" though they may done other tracks.
The official FM site has no info on the TPO remaster or any old news for that matter so this fan site is the best next thing. At least Buckingham has done"Oh Well" Part 1 like when I saw the band 4.5 years ago out of town as well as the 1987-91 lineups rendition which also touched on "I Loved Another Woman" (Rick Vito is now in Mick Fleetwoods solo band which were misidentified as Fleetwood Mac proper on an awards show not too long ago but we know better). TKO started FMs long tenure at Warners as we all know. Early FM are the only blues band that I like. Makes sense of course!

[michelej1]

By Aaron Conn for The Crown September 23, 2013

http://crown.kings.edu/?p=2155

Some might find it hard to believe that before their success with albums such as Rumours and Tusk, Fleetwood Mac was actually a blues rock band formed by guitarist Peter Green in 1967. Fleetwood Mac’s third album, Then Play On, is often considered by many to be their best effort when Green was in the band. The album is also the last the band would make with Green, as he left the band a year after the album’s release in 1970. Now in 2013, the album has been reissued and remastered with the original U.K. tracking list and segues.

Fleetwood Mac was formed in 1967 by guitarist Peter Green. With Green was guitarist Jeremy Spencer, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Green named the band using the surnames of the band’s rhythm section of McVie and Fleetwood. By 1969, the band had released two studio albums: a self-titled debut and Mr. Wonderful. Both efforts were simple blues rock albums and good enough for the band to make a name for themselves. It was also around this time the band added a third guitarist, Danny Kirwin. The band soon achieved success with a hit single in the U.K., the instrumental “Albatross.”

An album like Then Play On was a huge step for the band. Green decided that while sticking to their blues roots, why not dabble in progressive rock? “Coming Your Way” is a great intro and fits with the album cover painted by Maxwell Armfield. Green, Spencer and Kirwin all get to shine on this track. Blues comes in the form of the instrumental “Fighting for Madge,” Kirwin’s 12-bar “One Sunny Day,” the boogie-riddled “Rattlesnake Shake,” and the sorrowful “Like Crying.” Songs such as “Closing My Eyes,” “Without You” and “When You Say” are beautiful ballads while “Underway” and “Searching for Madge” create this a sort of psychedelic atmosphere.

As for the sound, it is fantastic. Then Play On is an album that has been retooled and messed with by the record labels for years. As mentioned before, this reissue is a remaster of the U.K. version. The U.S. version was released twice in 1969. Both versions omitted songs from the U.K. version and rearranged segues. For example, the giggle at the start of “Like Crying” is moved to the end of “Searching for Madge.” When first released on CD in 1990, the album was changed up again. While mostly following the U.S. versions, the segues were put in different places and once again, omitted several songs.

One major criticism of the 1990 issue that had fans complaining was the sound quality of the digital transfer, citing that there was too much hiss and distortion. I have done several sound comparisons of the 1990 issue and the new remaster. The 1990 version sounds much louder but very hissy and perhaps a little too much reverb. The new remaster does not sound distorted nor does it sound hissy. In fact, it sounds perfect. I have never heard the original vinyl but I can believe this is what people heard back in 1969. There is no need to worry about any massive clipping either.

There are a few bonuses with this reissue. Insightful liner notes are written by Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke and there are a few bonus tracks. First, there is the band’s hit single “Oh Well.” Unlike the 1990 issue in which the track as one nine minute track, the song is split into its original two parts like the original 45 single. Also on is another single, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)” and its B-side “World in Harmony.” The former may sound familiar as it was covered by Judas Priest in 1979, while the latter is seeing its debut appearance on CD.

If you were disappointed by the 1990 issue of Then Play On, this is a no brainer: get this remaster immediately. If you are a stranger to Fleetwood Mac’s bluesy beginnings, Then Play On is a pretty good place to start.

[Street_Dreamer]

Got this today and am currently listening. I hate that Oh Well is separated onto two tracks.

[Jyqm]

Wow wow wow, am I glad I checked in here yesterday for the first time in forever. I've been so far out the loop I had no idea this reissue was even happening. Now I'm all excited and need to run out and see if I can find a copy immediately.

Every now and then I have an intense desire to listen to this album -- but I rarely do, because the 1990 version is such an unpleasant experience. It just makes me angry and sad that this brilliant piece of work has been treated so shabbily and not given a proper remaster/reissue. But now it has! Happy day!

It's nice to have some exciting Fleetwood Mac news for a change!

[becca]

I actually like that Oh Well is in two parts as I've never had it on CD in that form before, just on vinyl.

I think if people who are newer to the blues era FM and enjoy Then Play On want to try other things a good starting place for them might be with The Groundhogs (with Tony McPhee), they might find that more accessible than say Savoy Brown or the Bluesbreakers. The Yardbirds and Animals/New Animals also stretched out a bit earlier, best ofs for them are essential, and there's always the mighty Cream (from the ashes of the Graham Bond Organization and original Yardbirds).

[BklynBlue]

Mike Vernon certainly saw the potential in Tony McPhee, as he worked with him quite often when he was a staff producer for Decca and was running his mail-order business on the side (the precursors to Blue Horizon)
McPhee, like Green started as a hard-core bluesman, but after a few years found himself struggling with the (sometimes self-imposed) constraints of that label.
Also like Green, McPhee was the driving force behind the evolution in The Groundhogs’ sound. Their first LP sounds little like the ones that followed. Think of the difference between the “dog & dustbin” LP and ‘Then Play On’.

[sharksfan2000]

I actually like that Oh Well is in two parts as I've never had it on CD in that form before, just on vinyl.
Agree, becca. "Oh Well" was originally released in two parts and it makes perfect sense that the original single version was reproduced. It would be nice to create a proper "one-part" track that omits the repeated portion of "Part 2" - all of the single-track versions of the song include that repeated portion. Doesn't seem like it would be hard to digitally edit it though.

[Rubber Duck]

It would be nice to create a proper "one-part" track that omits the repeated portion of "Part 2" - all of the single-track versions of the song include that repeated portion. Doesn't seem like it would be hard to digitally edit it though.

The 1998 CD release of the 1971 Greatest Hits actually has Oh Well without the repeated part.
It is indexed as 2 tracks, but plays like one, with a total time of 7.58.

[sharksfan2000]

The 1998 CD release of the 1971 Greatest Hits actually has Oh Well without the repeated part.
It is indexed as 2 tracks, but plays like one, with a total time of 7.58.
Thanks for the tip, Rubber Duck! I have an earlier CD release of Greatest Hits, from 1989. The combined time for the two tracks on that release is 9.05, with the repeated part of "Part 2". And of course my old vinyl version has the repeated portion too, since it's just replicating the original "Part 1" and "Part 2" single format, same as the new remastered Then Play On. I'll have to look around for a copy of that later CD release of Greatest Hits.

[Rubber Duck]

Thanks for the tip, Rubber Duck! I have an earlier CD release of Greatest Hits, from 1989. The combined time for the two tracks on that release is 9.05, with the repeated part of "Part 2". And of course my old vinyl version has the repeated portion too, since it's just replicating the original "Part 1" and "Part 2" single format, same as the new remastered Then Play On. I'll have to look around for a copy of that later CD release of Greatest Hits.

You´re welcome!
My copy is a digi-pack (I think they all were) - Columbia 460704 9.
The timing on the cover is wrong, judging by that Oh Well pt 1 would include the acoustic intro part -
cover says 3.28, actual time is 2.21.
(and Rattle Snake Shake gets a time of 2.05 on the cover...)
Superb record it is, too!:thumbsup:
My first FM LP bought back in 1971.

[sharksfan2000]

You´re welcome!
My copy is a digi-pack (I think they all were) - Columbia 460704 9.
The timing on the cover is wrong, judging by that Oh Well pt 1 would include the acoustic intro part -
cover says 3.28, actual time is 2.21.
(and Rattle Snake Shake gets a time of 2.05 on the cover...)
Superb record it is, too!:thumbsup:
My first FM LP bought back in 1971.
Yes, the CD cover on mine also has that 2.05 error for "Rattlesnake Shake" - I just checked and it's actually 3.32. And I also checked to make sure that my copy does include that acoustic portion at the end of "Oh Well Part 1" and it indeed does include it. The release number for my copy is CBS 460704 2. Thanks again - I'll see if I can track down that more recent release.

[face of glass]

Hi guys!

Are we now to assume that the original UK vinyl, the new CD reissue and the vinyl in the 1969-1972 boxset are the only versions that have the original UK tracklisting of TPO?

Discogs shows an old vinyl reissue (http://www.discogs.com/Fleetwood-Mac-Then-Play-On/release/2132573) with the black cover which is supposed to have the original tracklisting but the actual vinyl contents may differ according to one collector I've talked to.

Apart from that, only old German vinyl issues seem to have the first UK tracklisting.

It's very nice to listen to TPO as it was intended on CD, but I wouldn't want to shell out loads of money for the 1969-72 boxset so the used market is my only option for the real vinyl copy right now...

[michelej1]

Rockasteria Blog, October 25, 2013:

http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2013/10/fleetwood-mac-then-play-on-1969-uk.html

Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On (1969 uk, blues rock masterpiece, deluxe expanded 2013 edition)

A peculiar news bulletin appeared in the July 12th, 1969, edition of Rolling Stone: Two members of the British blues band Fleetwood Mac were going to "put Christ on wax," as the headline put it. Singer-guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer planned to write and produce an "orchestral-choral LP" about the life of Jesus. "The record will be in addition to an album by the full band and a solo LP by Spencer," the report said, then quoted Spencer: "We believe in God, and this is a serious venture."

The Jesus LP was never made. But those few lines in Rolling Stone caught, in eerie miniature, the searching energies and mounting crisis — musical, spiritual, psychological — that soon shattered the classic bluespower Fleetwood Mac that created this record and the vital singles included in this reissue: Green, Spencer, singer-guitarist Danny Kirwan, bassist John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Then Play On was Fleetwood Mac's third studio album — and the only LP made in that lineup's supernova lifetime. Recorded in the late spring and summer of 1969, Then Play On was released in Britain and America that fall. A few months later, in May 1970, Green — Fleetwood Mac's founder and leader — left the band, citing religious convictions. "I want to lead a freer and more selfless life along Christian principles," he told Rolling Stone at the time.

The guitarist, who was born Jewish, had also suffered traumatic experiences with LSD and was showing ominous signs of an illness eventually diagnosed as schizophrenia. Spencer and Kirwan were soon gone as well, the former to a Christian commune in Los Angeles in February, 1971. Kirwan, who was only 18 when he joined Fleetwood Mac in mid-1968, was fired in August, 1972, when his drinking and manic behavior became too much to bear.

Fleetwood and McVie survived the chaos and ensuing personnel changes, carrying the band that Green named after them to a spectacular, multi-platinum rebirth, still going today. "But the outcome of this album is not what we dreamed of," Fleetwood says now concerning the devastation that followed Then Play On. "I had no idea at the time of the hidden textures, the indicators that Peter was reaching out in songs like 'Before The Beginning' — that he was questioning what and who he was."

Born Peter Greenbaum in East London in 1946, Green was only 20 when he became Eric Clapton's successor in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He quickly earned acclaim for his dynamic, melodically incisive approach to Chicago blues guitar, showcased on Mayall's 1967 album, A Hard Road. Green started Fleetwood Mac that summer. McVie also came from the Bluesbreakers. Fleetwood had played in white R’n’B groups, such as The Cheynes and Shotgun Express. And Spencer was a hot, teenaged slide guitarist with a special passion for Mississippi bluesman Elmore James.

By late 1968, Fleetwood Mac had two British hit albums, Fleetwood Mac and Mr. Wonderful, made before Kirwan joined. An early '69 single, Green's dreamy instrumental, "Albatross," went to Number One there. "You're going, 'How on earth did this happen?'" Fleetwood marvels. "We were having hits playing Elmore James. People are drinking their tea in the suburbs of Manchester, watching us on these pop TV shows, and they didn't know we were just doing the same music we played in the pubs."

Still just 23, Green quit Fleetwood Mac in the wake of astonishing work — arguably his best on record, given the troubles looming around the bend. Then Play On, the '69 two-part hit single "Oh Well," and the thrilling, tormented 1970 45 "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)" all capture the first-era Fleetwood Mac at their exploratory peak: blessed with protean guitar talent and inventing a highly personal, matured psychedelia while still grounded in Chicago and Mississippi blues.

The album is also marked by a striking, whispered majesty — part day-glo country, part anguished prayer — in Green and Kirwan's delicately triggered ballads. Then Play On, issued in different, confusing U.K. and U.S. track sequences. The cover and title of Then Play On now come with more pathos than Green and Fleetwood intended. They named the record after the opening line in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, a prescription for healing, joy, and amorous comfort: "If music be the food of love, play on." The image spread across the gatefold sleeve — a naked young man riding a white horse — was an Art Nouveau mural by the English painter Maxwell Armfield, originally commissioned for the dining room of a London mansion.

The sessions for Then Play On began that April in London. Fleetwood Mac — an early pillar of the British blues revival imprint Blue Horizon — had a new major-label deal with Warner Bros., and were producing themselves. The engineer was Martin Birch, who continued to work with the band through the early '70s. (Birch was also about to start a long studio relationship with Deep Purple.) But the evolution out of the purism on Fleetwood Mac and Mr. Wonderful had been going on — and moving fast — since the summer of 1968, when the four-piece Mac toured the U.S. for the first time, appearing in psychedelic dancehalls like San Francisco's Carousel Ballroom and mixing with fellow travellers, in blues and roots, such as the Grateful Dead, The Byrds, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Fleetwood Mac that made this album did not survive its creation. But the dreams, drive, and truths in these songs, in the guitars — they play on, as Green intended. "Truly, as a musician, he was ready to move on," Fleetwood says. "The sad part is he didn't feel he could take us. But even when he formed Fleetwood Mac, there was this incredible focus, like making sure it was not his name on there: 'No, I want this to be your band.' I'm not so sure that Peter didn't have a vision that one day, when he left, he didn't want this thing to collapse.

"This was a man," Fleetwood says of his old friend, "who saw things that we could not imagine." And this was his gift, before saying goodbye.

by David Fricke, R. S. June, 2013

[estranged4life]

to check out the new 2013 SHM-CD Japan import set, which consists of mini-lp vinyl cd versions of the following:

1969 Then Play On
1970 Kiln House
1971 Future Game
1972 Bare Trees
1973 Mystery To Me
1973 Penguin
1974 Heroes Are Hard To Find

I like that they do not include extra material/bonus tracks, just the tracks that appeared on the original vinyl and the artwork within contains what was featured on the sleeves of the original vinyl.

[michelej1]

Jambands.com Published: 2013/11/08 by Jeff Tamarkin

http://www.jambands.com/reviews/cds/2013/11/08/fleetwood-mac-then-play-on-expanded-edition

If you were to ask most of the fans that paid a bundle to see Fleetwood Mac this year who Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan were, then you might just get a lot of blank stares in return—even today, the pre-Stevie Nicks incarnations of the venerable British-born institution remain largely unknown to way too many. But for others, those were the most exciting years, and the triple-guitar lineup that came together to cut the band’s third album, Then Play On, in 1969, was quite possibly the most daring and diverse Mac configuration. Kirwan’s first full album and Green’s last with the band, Then Play On featured a near-even mix of compositions by the two co-frontmen at the time, Green’s leaning toward the bluesier side (the tough-as-hide “Rattlesnake Shake”), Kirwan’s undeniably blues-rooted while flirting with a more mainstream rock/pop direction that would be honed over the course of
the ‘70s.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie each contributed a single tune but this one’s really about the guitars—and the guitarists, although Spencer didn’t offer new song material this time around and only played sporadically. Of Kirwan’s songs, the spare, tender “When You Say” and the instrumental showcase “My Dream” are highlights, but there really isn’t a song on the album that doesn’t make one ponder what might have been if this particular quintet didn’t fall apart right after. The expanded edition appends the original record with two period singles: the Green favorites “Oh Well” (both parts) and “The Green Manalishi (with the Two Pronged Crown),” along with the latter’s B-side, another Kirwan guitar feast, “World In Harmony.”

[michelej1]

Mon., December 30, 2013 2:00pm (EST) GPB News

http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/12/30/another-fleetwood-mac-album-thats-worth-a-damn

Another Fleetwood Mac Album That's 'Worth A Damn'

By Tom Cole

This year saw the reissue of two vintage albums by Fleetwood Mac: the hugely popular Rumours,and the last album to feature the band's founder, Peter Green, called Then Play On.

"I think it's one of the most beautiful records and exciting records ever made," Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke says. He wrote the liner notes for the reissue.

"I think as a statement of searching within blues, within rock, within the possibilities of the electric guitar like I said, I think it's one of the best records ever made," Fricke says. "I've got three copies of it I wouldn't be caught with anything less."

Then Play On was recorded in the spring and summer of 1969, and the story of the album is the story of a band at a turning point. The previous fall, Fleetwood Mac added 17-year-old guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan, giving the band a powerful three-man front.

"You had Peter Green playing the B.B. King-style Chicago blues, mainly; Danny Kirwan with his more melodic rock, as it turned into; and then Jeremy Spencer doing these remarkable Elmore James impersonations is what they were, really," says Peter Green's biographer, Martin Celmins. "And for all that package to be in one band was a huge draw. And the response they got from the audience was wild. You know, they were just the top live band."

Fed Up With Stardom

Fleetwood Mac was also on top of the British charts. Its members were pop stars, and they'd only been together a little more than two years. But when it came time to make their third studio album, Green was fed up with stardom. He'd grown up poor in a tough neighborhood in London's East End, and the piles of money the band was making started to make him uncomfortable. Green was determined to escape the music-industry treadmill, and he wanted his band to follow him.

"Peter Green was all about making an album that was going to be different and pushing the other members to say, 'Hey, wake up! We gotta do something special here,' " drummer Mick Fleetwood says. "And we as a band especially myself and John as a rhythm section were all about following our friend and our musical mentor into the fire, which became the Then Play On album."

Guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer co-founded Fleetwood Mac with Green but says he had no idea how he could contribute to this new direction the band was taking.

"He would want me to play rhythm licks like Hubert Sumlin. [Demonstrates.] That sort of thing," Spencer says. "He very much liked that. But at that time, I wasn't really I didn't feel proficient enough to do that, and so I would sort of back off. And so that pretty much opened the door for Danny Kirwan to move in."

Spencer chose not to play on the sessions, though he is pictured with the band inside the album cover and remained a member. Kirwan composed half of the songs on Then Play On, including the album opener, "Coming Your Way."

On A Quest

During the sessions, Green became increasingly withdrawn, composing material on his own and sometimes playing many of the parts himself. He was searching for something both in the free-form improvisations that punctuate the album and in his personal life.

"He found himself in a band where the rest of them were a bunch of lads who were having a great time, you know, playing music live and making records," biographer Martin Celmins says. "And I think that Peter kind of went on a spiritual journey, the beginnings of which are very evident in Then Play On."

The 23-year-old Jewish kid from London's East End went from an interest in Buddhism to Christianity. It was a journey influenced to some degree by Green's experimentation with LSD. But Celmins says Green was not an acid casualty.

"The influence of drugs didn't help, but I think it's been exaggerated," Celmins says. "I think there were far more musical lifestyle reasons why he no longer wanted to be a member of a world-beating rock 'n' roll band."

Drummer Fleetwood says Green's bandmates couldn't keep up with their leader's vision.

"Part of his frustration was thinking he couldn't move forward with the existing band," Fleetwood says.

A Remarkable Accomplishment

Green left Fleetwood Mac just months after Then Play On was released. He made several albums trying to integrate his spiritual search with music that would express it, until he abandoned music under the weight of what was eventually diagnosed as schizophrenia, as he said in a 2009 BBC documentary.

"We saw a doctor," Green says. "He said, 'Do you hear voices?' I said, 'Yeah, I do. I am having a lot of kind of strange experiences inside of my head.' But I didn't think I was schizophrenic. To them, it's schizophrenic, but to you it's hellishly single-minded."

Green underwent electroshock therapy and took powerful medications that left him unable to play. He was institutionalized. Mick Fleetwood says the members of Fleetwood Mac had no idea going into the sessions for Then Play On that Green was suffering so much. It makes the album's accomplishment all the more remarkable.

"When people ask me in interviews to this day what's the most favorite album, I say, 'Well, I can't pick one album but I'll pick two. And one is Then Play On, and two is the Tusk album because they were really pushing the envelope," Fleetwood says. "And that is part and parcel of why bands keep going. And certainly can look back on their work and say, 'We did something that was worth a damn.' And Then Play On was worth a damn."

The instigator of Then Play On, Peter Green, eventually returned to music. He continues to perform and record today.

[librax2]

Another Fleetwood Mac Album That's 'Worth A Damn'

This story is also on the NPR website
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/30/258376132/another-fleetwood-mac-album-thats-worth-a-damn?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20140102&utm_source=Music

[dontlookdown]

Anyone know why this hasn't been released on iTunes yet?

[slipkid]

Dear Ken,
I love the uncut studio version on "The Vaudville Years. ( October Jam #1 and #2) There you get the studio versions of both Underway and the two madges. Still though the spliced Then Play On versions are what hooked me onto jamming. It was like "The Greatful Dead "only with better players (my apologies to dead fans of which I am also one)

vinnie

I just ordered TPO deluxe, I've been off my game. I just found a great documentary on Big Star, and whiffed for two years.

Don't apologize for overrated jam band music. Had Peter Green stayed with FM, there is no way the Grateful Dead would've invited them back after that "Busted down in New Orleans" weekend months, and years later. FM made the Dead look amateur. It's an honor that FM with Green in early 1970 spooked the GD, yet GD still felt comfortable with the Allmans. 1970 Fleetwood Mac, and Allman Brothers were in a higher class of Jam Band, than the Grateful Dead. Even though FM came back later in 2/70 Fillmore East, Bear's mix turned down Peter Green's guitar during The Spanish Jam.

What's great about "Vaudeville Years", is the complete "Underway" studio jam. The "October Jam's" are unlrelated to TPO, as the album was released the previous month. The 10/69 jams were a foundation for a new album that never happened.

[becca]

FM made the Dead look amateur. It's an honor that FM with Green in early 1970 spooked the GD, yet GD still felt comfortable with the Allmans. 1970 Fleetwood Mac, and Allman Brothers were in a higher class of Jam Band, than the Grateful Dead. Even though FM came back later in 2/70 Fillmore East, Bear's mix turned down Peter Green's guitar during The Spanish Jam.

I dunno, Green and Kirwan might have picked up something from the Dead (besides some acid)... the GD were heavily into Miles Davis and were incorporating some ideas about spaces into their jams as early as Clementine Jam (although very cautiously). Peter was way ahead in that regard though it's true. :)

[slipkid]

I dunno, Green and Kirwan might have picked up something from the Dead (besides some acid)... the GD were heavily into Miles Davis and were incorporating some ideas about spaces into their jams as early as Clementine Jam (although very cautiously). Peter was way ahead in that regard though it's true. :)

Munich 3/1970 was not an accident. Peter Green was experimenting with free-form German progressive rock (Krautrock). To Jeremy Spencer's ears' at the time, it was noise. That's where "The End of the Game" was born. Peter Green was on a higher plane than everyone else, and they thought he was insane. Mick Fleetwood couldn't grasp that Peter Green wanted to leave potential fame, and fortune, for artistic freedom. It wasn't until he left FM for good after the 1971 US spring tour, that he began to show signs. Yet I believe a lot of his problem was depression, no one wanted to follow his goal. Yet fifteen years later, Bob Geldolf pulled off an UK/USA one day Live Aid concert to help the famine in Ethiopia. That's all Peter Green wanted to do in 1970. The rest of the band said, "no".

[becca]

Thought this might be a good place for a couple vintage virtual clippings about Peter... :)

Rolling Stone Apr 16, 1970

Peter Green to Emulate Christ?

     LONDON - Peter Green, guitarist with Fleetwood Mac, may or may not give away all his money except enough for an occasional handful of rice. "Why should I have any more money than anyone else?" Peter asks rhetorically.
     Peter made the announcement that he was going to give it all away shortly before Fleetwood Mac left on a European tour. But no sooner was he out of town than his manager's office began changing his mind for him.
     Said a spokesman: "If Peter does give money away, it will be done quietly. We do know that he plans to do a charity show in April." And it is suspected that Green will continue to give the odd penny to the sidewalk beggars as well.
     Added the spokesman huffily: "Whether Peter will or not give his money is up to him. This is not the kind of publicity we want."
     One of the persons most surprised to hear about Green's planned beneficence was his father. "He could do a lot better by buying us a new house," the practical Mr. Green senior told the Daily Mirror.

Rolling Stone May 14, 1970

Peter Green Is On the Loose

     LONDON - Fleetwood Mac loses leader Peter Green. Singer, songwriter, and one of the best rock guitarists in the country, Green is quitting the group after three years and giving a large part of his money to charity: "I want to lead a freer and more selfless life along Christian principles."
     He is going ahead with plans for solo albums and free concerts, "with friends I like jamming with."
     "I've got to do what God would have me do, start some kind of positive action, despite newspaper distortion or whatever," says Green of his decision. "I'm not worried if it means I'll fade from public view - it's better to set a good example."
     Since his decision became public property, Green has received upwards of 500 begging letters. But he intends donating the money (just how much he won't say) to a major international charity.
     "Money is not important. We should love one another, care for one another. One of the most common attitudes in pop today is that you've got to make it while you can and stash it away for the future. That's rubbish. I know I'll always be able to play, always be able to work."
     He leaves the group, he says, with no hard feelings on either side.

[slipkid]

Thought this might be a good place for a couple vintage virtual clippings about Peter... :)

Rolling Stone Apr 16, 1970

Peter Green to Emulate Christ?

     LONDON - Peter Green, guitarist with Fleetwood Mac, may or may not give away all his money except enough for an occasional handful of rice. "Why should I have any more money than anyone else?" Peter asks rhetorically.
     Peter made the announcement that he was going to give it all away shortly before Fleetwood Mac left on a European tour. But no sooner was he out of town than his manager's office began changing his mind for him.
     Said a spokesman: "If Peter does give money away, it will be done quietly. We do know that he plans to do a charity show in April." And it is suspected that Green will continue to give the odd penny to the sidewalk beggars as well.
     Added the spokesman huffily: "Whether Peter will or not give his money is up to him. This is not the kind of publicity we want."
     One of the persons most surprised to hear about Green's planned beneficence was his father. "He could do a lot better by buying us a new house," the practical Mr. Green senior told the Daily Mirror.

Rolling Stone May 14, 1970

Peter Green Is On the Loose

     LONDON - Fleetwood Mac loses leader Peter Green. Singer, songwriter, and one of the best rock guitarists in the country, Green is quitting the group after three years and giving a large part of his money to charity: "I want to lead a freer and more selfless life along Christian principles."
     He is going ahead with plans for solo albums and free concerts, "with friends I like jamming with."
     "I've got to do what God would have me do, start some kind of positive action, despite newspaper distortion or whatever," says Green of his decision. "I'm not worried if it means I'll fade from public view - it's better to set a good example."
     Since his decision became public property, Green has received upwards of 500 begging letters. But he intends donating the money (just how much he won't say) to a major international charity.
     "Money is not important. We should love one another, care for one another. One of the most common attitudes in pop today is that you've got to make it while you can and stash it away for the future. That's rubbish. I know I'll always be able to play, always be able to work."
     He leaves the group, he says, with no hard feelings on either side.

EUREKA! Thanks Becca! Acid casualties usually don't articulate their terms for leaving rock bands. Mick Fleetwood has been trying to hide that for years, because it means that Peter Green left, and crushed his ego of what FM could've been. Personally I'm with Mick Fleetwood, FM could've been a jam band force with a crossover to hard rock bands of the early 1970's. Peter Green's FM inspired Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry to form Aerosmith. I bet Perry was there at all 2/70 Boston Tea Party concerts.

[doodyhead]

They were better than the Dead in early 70 and the Allman Brothers were not really there yet. While the sentiment is right, the truth is Peter did what he felt he had to do. He did not want to be a millionaire rock star. Mick Fleetwood did. If Peter left, ultamately it enabled Mick to have "his Dream". as always "Be careful what you wish for"

[slipkid]

[QUOTE=doodyhead;1117009]They were better than the Dead in early 70 and the Allman Brothers were not really there yet. While the sentiment is right, the truth is Peter did what he felt he had to do. He did not want to be a millionaire rock star. Mick Fleetwood did. If Peter left, ultamately it enabled Mick to have "his Dream". as always "Be careful what you wish for". [QUOTE=doodyhead;1117009]

That is HIGH praise for FM. The typical deadhead loyalist of the time today (not you) would remember Peter Green's FM, but they would not admit it. They want to talk about Pigpen, and Jerry. In their memory FM with Peter Green was just a blip in the road. What makes this important is that the best the Grateful Dead ever offerred was 1970-fall 71. By 1972, the Dead went laid back/american country blues. By 1973, they were near comatose.

The recordings prove that Fleetwood Mac was the better Jam Band than the Grateful Dead by early 1970.


As for Mick Fleetwood, during the years had made tons of money, he would play old Peter Green FM to his pop star band under cocaine hangovers. Mick is holding a lot of guilt. Mick admitted that for the BBC 2007 Peter Green documentary.

Mick felt guilty for Danny Kirwan, and he found him in the early-mid 90's. He was living in a London homeless shelter with a UK government paycheck enough to buy beer.