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Fleetwood Mac: Then Play On

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Reprise Records
Released: 1969.09.19
Time:
 53:39, Blues
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Fleetwood Mac
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.fleetwoodmac.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Coming Your Way (D.Kirwan) - 3:47
[2] Closing My Eyes (P.Green) - 4:50
[3] Fighting for Madge (M.Fleetwood) - 2:45
[4] When You Say (D.Kirwan) - 4:22
[5] Showbiz Blues (P.Green) - 3:50
[6] Underway (P.Green) - 3:06
[7] One Sunny Day (D.Kirwan) - 3:12
[8] Although the Sun Is Shining (D.Kirwan) - 2:31
[9] Rattlesnake Shake (P.Green) - 3:32
[10] Without You (D.Kirwan) - 4:34
[11] Searching for Madge (J.McVie) - 6:56
[12] My Dream (D.Kirwan) - 3:30
[13] Like Crying (D.Kirwan) - 2:21
[14] Before the Beginning (P.Green) - 3:28

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Peter Green - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Six String Bass, Percussion, Producer
Danny Kirwan - Vocals, Guitar, Producer
John Mcvie - Bass Guitar, Producer
Mick Fleetwood - Drums, Percussion, Producer

Christine Perfect - Piano
Big Walter Horton - Harmonica

Martin Birch - Engineer
Howard Barrow - Mastering
Dinky Dawson - Sound Consultant
Maxwell Armfield - Painting
Terence Ibbott - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1969 LP Reprise Records - RSLP 9000
1990 CD Reprise Records - 7599-27448-2
2013 CD Rhino Records - 8122-79644-3

The original UK release had 14 tracks and did not include 'Oh Well'. This version was also released in Germany and elsewhere. The original USA release had 12 tracks and did not include 'Oh Well'. The tracks omitted were 'One Sunny Day' and 'Without You'. This 12 track version was issued in France and elsewhere. In 1970, the 12 track version was revised to include the hit single 'Oh Well' (parts 1 and 2 together) which replaced 'When You Say' and 'My Dream', reducing the overall track count to 11, and resequencing the album. This is the most commonly found version on vinyl today.



Nowadays Fleetwood Mac is stepping out on its own. Tired of being another British blues band, the group has said goodbye to Elmore James and is moving into the pop-rock field. On this album, they fall flat on their faces. Most of the music on the album is slow and wandering — instruments in search of an idea. Of the songs in this category, "My Dream," with its pleasant melody, is the only one that works. The eclecticism is excessive here, most of the songs sounding like warmed-over early Fish, with traces of such bands as the Doors. Plus several two-guitar raveups. Peter Green, once such a promising guitarist, is merely competent — nothing more, nothing less. Even the blues material is inferior to their earlier work. To be sure, there are bits and pieces of interesting, spacey music scattered throughout the album, but it's the nondescript ramblings which dominate the set. The best thing Fleetwood Mac has ever done is "Oh Well," a single currently available only in England. On part one, the two guitars work with and against each other in perfect balance, and when the music pauses, there's these fine lyrics, post-Dylan, rock and roll sassy: "I can't help it 'bout the shape I'm in/I'm not pretty, can't sing and my legs are thin/But don't ask me what I think of you/I might not give the answer that you want me to." Part two, an instrumental, gets a bit cumbersome, but still attracts where similar songs on the album repelled. The reason this is available only in England is that the band's manager is positive that "Rattlesnake Shake" (an album cut distinguished from the others only by the fact that it's uptempo) will hit as a single in America and on the European continent. That man is 1969's False Prophet of the Year. I'd trade this whole album straight across for "Oh Well," and would be getting the better deal.

John Morthland - December 13, 1969
RollingStone.com



Then Play On was Fleetwood Mac s 1969 debut on Reprise. This expanded and remastered edition features the original U.K running order and track segues, with "One Sunny Day" and "Without You" making their first appearance on a CD issue of the album, as well as new liner notes by veteran rock journalist David Fricke and four bonus tracks, including the revered single "Oh Well Pt. 1," which boasts one of the great guitar riffs in rock history and has been covered by likes of Billy F Gibbons, Jimmy Page, and Tom Petty. Fleetwood Mac was already a popular blues band in 1969 when they released Then Play On, the group s stellar third studio album. It was the first with guitarist-songwriter Danny Kirwan and ultimately its last with founding member Peter Green. The album s powerful mix of blues and rock includes standout tracks like "Rattlesnake Shake," "Searching For Madge" and "Coming Your Way." Rhino s re-mastered and expanded edition includes four bonus tracks originally released as singles: parts one and two of "Oh Well," "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)" and "World In Harmony," which is available on CD for the first time.

Amazon.com



This Peter Green-led edition of the Mac isn't just an important transition between their initial blues-based incarnation and the mega-pop band they became, it's also their most vital, exciting version. The addition of Danny Kirwan as second guitarist and songwriter foreshadows not only the soft-rock terrain of "Bare Trees" and "Kiln House" with Christine Perfect-McVie, but also predicts Rumours. That only pertains to roughly half of the also excellent material here, though; the rest is quintessential Green. The immortal "Oh Well," with its hard-edged, thickly layered guitars and chamber-like sections, is perhaps the band's most enduring progressive composition. "Rattlesnake Shake" is another familiar number, a down-and-dirty, even-paced funk, with clean, wall-of-sound guitars. Choogling drums and Green's fiery improvisations power "Searching for Madge," perhaps Mac's most inspired work save "Green Manalishi," and leads into an unlikely symphonic interlude and the similar, lighter boogie "Fighting for Madge." A hot Afro-Cuban rhythm with beautiful guitars from Kirwan and Green on "Coming Your Way" not only defines the Mac's sound, but the rock aesthetic of the day. Of the songs with Kirwan's stamp on them, "Closing My Eyes" is a mysterious waltz love song; haunting guitars approach surf music on the instrumental "My Dream"; while "Although the Sun Is Shining" is the ultimate pre-Rumours number someone should revisit. Blues roots still crop up on the spatial, loose, Hendrix-tinged "Underway," the folky "Like Crying," and the final outcry of the ever-poignant "Show Biz Blues," with Green moaning "do you really give a damn for me?" Then Play On is a reminder of how pervasive and powerful Green's influence was on Mac's originality and individual stance beyond his involvement. Still highly recommended and a must-buy after all these years, it remains their magnum opus.

Michael G. Nastos - AllMusic.com



After reissuing Rumours earlier this year, Rhino decided to turn its sights on lesser-known Fleetwood Mac albums (or, in sadder but truer words, any Fleetwood Mac album not named Rumours). The eponymous album that preceded Rumours, and Tusk, the sprawling double album that followed it, seem like more logical choices than Then Play On, an album that barely sounds like Fleetwood Mac to the people who are only familiar with them through radio play. (Despite the fact that single “Oh Well” hit #2 on the UK charts, across the Atlantic, it’s more known under its other name, Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”.) But if you put it into perspective, it’s not hard to wonder why this one is receiving extra consideration: it’s the band’s first album that doesn’t sound like the work of a(nother) British blues band (this is the first to not feature any blues covers), and it does have “Oh Well” on it. The real question is: does it deserve the consideration?

The answer is yes and no. There are good parts, certainly, but they’re buried under Danny Kirwan’s folk numbers that mistake softness for emotion and competent instrumentals that never strive to be more than that. The band devotes nearly ten minutes to Madge, but can’t be bothered to answer questions like who she is and why we should care (it was later revealed that Madge was a female fan of the band).

Thankfully, Peter Green, either threatened by newcomer Danny Kirwan or because he knew that he was going to dive into acid and leave the band right after Then Play On, hands in the band’s strongest numbers at this point in time. “Rattlesnake Shake” is typical of rock music from the late 60s—psychedelic sounds (see the 1:24 mark) and bawdy innuendo (I’m sure you can guess what the song is about based on the title) on a blues rock template—but because Peter Green hasn’t attempted either of those things before, it’s an easy album standout. It flopped as a single, but that only spurred the band to make “Oh Well” as another single. The first part races by, thanks to the howling electric guitar and the dynamic shifts whenever Green takes vocal point. The second part (its own track now, thanks to the Rhino issue) is linked only by key, a six-minute reflection that starts solemnly and builds towards optimism. Because both parts sound completely different, it’s the fact that the band manages to make them sound like a cohesive whole that’s the most stunning part about the track; no surprise that it was a live staple even following complete lineup changes and is one of the few pre-SoCal Fleetwood Mac tracks to find its way onto their best of compilations.

Peter Green is obviously more known for his guitar work than his lyricism, but his lyrics on Then Play On are surprisingly good. On “Oh Well”, in less than six lines (eight, since two are repeated), he manages to touch on self-deprecation (“I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty, and my legs are thin”), ambiguous romance, and mortality (“But [God], don’t ask me what I think of you / I might not give the answer that you want me to”). He’s proud to let his lyrics show too; the electric guitar ascends to a piercing high before completely dying down for his vocals. “Show-Biz Blues” tries for the same method for the repeated “Do you really give a damn about me,” but it delivers far less rewards.

Following the aforementioned standouts, Danny Kirwan comes in with the next best track. Opener “Coming Your Way” throws you into the jungle thanks to Mick Fleetwood’s Latin drumming, but it’s a shame the band decided to end it with an overly normal and overly dramatic guitar reading. Unfortunately, none of Kirwan’s other contributions are noteworthy. “When You Say” devotes most of its energy to “La-la-la”’s, which would be fine if it had a melody to back it up; “Without You” has Kirwan attempting the blues, but he’s not built for it; “Although the Sun is Shining” is a soft rock track, a glimpse of things to come, but Kirwan’s timid vocals prevent anything from sticking (don’t worry, that’ll change in a year’s time with Kiln House). Thankfully, on the other side of things, Peter Green’s “Before the Beginning” ends the album (the original release, anyway) on a solid note; the single repeated guitar chord during the chorus sounds particularly striking, while Mick Fleetwood’s drums sound like they’re coming from down the hallway of an abandoned mansion.

Unlike Rhino’s reissue of Rumours, the reissue of Then Play On doesn’t come with as many tracks as they could find from the era. What it does do, however, is restore the tracklisting to the original issue. Following “Oh Well”’s success, there was a hastily thrown together U.S. issue, dropping four of Kirwan’s tracks either because they had appeared on the U.S.-only compilation English Rose or to make room for the gargantuan track. However, I’d argue that despite all of the cut tracks being weak, they add dimensions to Then Play On that were lacking on previous Fleetwood Mac albums. Not only that, however, but because of the way “Oh Well” worked on its single release, there was a repeated minute. Rhino’s reissue is the first time that that issue has been fixed, and that’s a warm welcome for people who don’t want to hunt down a compilation for the sole purposes of owning a flawless version of “Oh Well”. It also comes with two bonus tracks, neither of which are essential listening.

Regardless, “If music be the food of love, then play on.”

Marshall Gu - 18 October 2013
PopMatters.com



Then Play On is the third studio album by blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac, first released in September 1969. It was the first of their original albums to feature Danny Kirwan and the last with Peter Green. Jeremy Spencer did not feature on the album apart from "a couple of piano things" (according to Mick Fleetwood in Q magazine in 1990). The record, appearing after the group's sudden success in the pop charts, offered a broader stylistic range than the classic blues of the group's first two albums. The title is taken from Duke Orsino's opening line, "If music be the food of love, then play on," from William Shakespeare's comedy play Twelfth night. This was the band's first release with Warner/Reprise after being lured away from Blue Horizon and a one-off with Immediate Records. Forty years on, Fleetwood Mac remain with Warner. The album, which at its original UK release had an unusually long running time, has been released with four different song line-ups. The original CD compiled all songs from the two US LP versions, both of which omitted tracks from the original UK version. In August 2013, a remastered edition of the album was reissued on vinyl and CD, restoring its original 1969 UK track listing. This version reached No. 112 on the UK Albums chart. The painting used for the cover of the album is "Domesticated Mural Painting", by the English artist Maxwell Armfield. It was featured in the February 1917 edition of The Countryside magazine, which states that the mural was originally designed for the dining room of a London mansion.

wikipedia.org



Es gab ein Leben vor dem Supererfolg! Lange bevor FLEETWOOD MAC mit Rumours, Tusk und Tango In The Night weltweit die Toppositionen der Charts knackten, feierten sie bereits seit Jahren große Erfolge in der Blues- und Rockszene. Mit der erweiterten und remasterten Edition des 1969 erstmals veröffentlichten Albums Then Play On und der so liebevoll wie aufwändig gestalteten 4-LP-Box (Vinyl) FLEETWOOD MAC: 1969-1972 lassen Reprise-Records die frühen Tage der unvergleichlichen Band nun wieder aufleben! Den Anfang macht Then Play On, eines der besten britischen Blues- und Rockalben der End-Sechziger und für nicht wenige Fans der Höhepunkt ihres Schaffens. Als ihr drittes Album Then Play On im Oktober 1969 erschien, genossen FLEETWOOD MAC bereits weltweit einen hervorragenden Ruf. Dieses erste bei Reprise erschienene Album lässt zum letzten Mal Gründungsmitglied Peter Green an der Gitarre hören. Mit Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer und Danny Kirwan ging die Besetzung als FLEETWOOD MAC MK I (mit 3 Gitarristen!) in die lange Geschichte der Bandkonstellationen ein.

Die überarbeitete CD-Version des Albums gibt es nun erstmals in der Form des Original-Tracklistings, ein Umstand der die Tracks One Sunny Day und Without You hier zum ersten Mal auf CD erhältlich macht. Die neuen Liner-Notes wurden vom Urgestein des US-Rolling Stone, David Fricke, geschrieben. Außerdem enthält das Album vier Bonustracks, darunter die Kultsingle Oh Well, Pt. 1 & 2. , damals aufgrund großer Charterfolge auf die zweite Version des Albums draufgepackt. On Top gibt es zwei weitere Hammersongs: World Of Harmony und die Single The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown ).

JPC.de



"Erstmals wird dieses wegweisende Album jetzt remastert in der originalen UK-Trackreihenfolge veröffentlicht, neben neuen Liner-Notes von Rockjournalist David Fricke wurden auch noch vier Bonus-Tracks hinzugefügt, darunter mit “Oh Well, Pt. 1 & 2” die Rohfassung jenes legendären Gitarrenriffs, das in den Bearbeitungen von Billy Gibbons, Tom Petty und Jimmy Page später zu Weltruhm kam."

Good Times, Oktober / November 2013



"... das wohl kraftvollste, vielseitigste Statement der schillernden Truppe um Mick Fleetwood und John McVie, die einst aus dem Talente-Pool von John Mayall's Bluesbreakers hervorging."

stereoplay, Oktober 2013



"Die Neuauflage enthält wieder alle Tracks des UK-Originals in korrekter Reihenfolge und Länge und glänzt überdies mit vorzüglichem Klang, profunden Linernotes von David Fricke und Bonustracks ..."

musikexpress, Oktober 2013
 

 L y r i c s


COMING YOUR WAY

I've got things to do
I move everyday
I hope you don't mind
'Cause I'm goin' your way

You've got things to do
You move everyday
I hope you don't mind
'Cause I'm coming your way

You've got things to do
You move everyday
I hope you don't mind
'Cause I'm coming your way

I've got things to do
I move everyday
I hope you don't mind
'Cause I'm coming your way


CLOSING MY EYES

Now it's the same as before
and I'm alone again

With no sorrow for myself
And I'm blaming no one else

And closing my eyes
And seeing you standing there

Now it's the same as before
You've touched me with your love

And though you're in my heart
We're still a world apart
As now I'm back to the time
Where I would search for a dream
But no use to try anymore as before
Someday I'll die, and maybe then I'll be with you

So I'm closing my eyes
To hear the people laugh

For they're all aglow
Not knowing where to go

But is it asking too much
When the question is what to do
With the life I'll have
It seems I know nothing now
Except my love for you
And the strength in my hands
To go on feeding your smile


SHOW-BIZ BLUES

Tell me anybody
Now do you really give a damn for me
I said tell me anybody
Do you really give a damn for me

Oh 'cause I just got to tell you
About a thing that's bothering me
I was a rambling pony
I would roll, I would roll
I would roll from town to town
I was a rambling pony
I would roll from town to town

Yes just looking for a sweet woman
And making my love come on down

If I need anybody
Baby I would take you home with me
If I need anybody
Baby I would take you, Baby I would take you
Baby I would take you home with me
Whoa but I don't need nobody
I don't anybody but him and me

And you're sitting there so green
Believe me man I'm just the same as you
I said you're sitting there so green
Believe me man I'm just the same as you
You want me to make a last cry I'll be satisfied
And that's exactly what I mean to do


MY DREAM

Instrumental.


UNDERWAY

Instrumental.


OH WELL

Can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I aint pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

Now when I talk to God
I know he understands
He said "stick by me and I'll be your guiding hand"
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well


ALTHOUGH THE SUN IS SHINING

Although the sun is shining
high above
There's one thing on my mind
you my love

I see a weeping willow
in the park
Like this there's sadness growing
in my heart

When we're together
We will never part
And if you leave me
It'll break, it'll break my heart

break:

When we're together
We will never part
And if you leave me
It'll break, it'll break my heart

Although the sun is shining
high above
There's one thing on my mind
you my love


RATTLESNAKE SHAKE

Baby, if you got to rock
I got to be your rockin' horse
Baby, think you'd like to roll
Make me your diggin' mole
They're shakin' the world
When it's time to crash
But when I get home tonight
I guess I got to shake myself

You need some love
You must have the blues
Ain't but the one thing
A good man can do
He do the shake
The rattlesnake shake
Man, do the shake
Yes, and jerk away the blues
Now, jerk it

Now, I know this guy
His name is Mick
Now, he don't care when he ain't got no chick
He do the shake
The rattlesnake shake
Yes, he do the shake
And jerks away the blues
Now, jerk it


SEARCHING FOR MADGE

Instrumental.


FIGHTING FOR MADGE

Instrumental.


WHEN YOU SAY

When you say
That you know
Of all the good times to come

When you say
That there'll alway be
You and me

When I say
That I know
Of all the good time to come

When you say
That there'll always be
You and me

La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

La la la la la la
La la la la la la

When you say
That you know
Of all the good times to come

When you say
That there'll alway be
You and me

When I say
That I know
Of all the good time to come

When you say
That there'll always be
You and me

La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

La La La, La La La...


LIKE CRYING

She's got so much blues
Her best friend can't help her
Her best friends a woman
How can a woman help her
Woman's got the blues

She just feels like crying
She just feels like dying
Woman's got the blues

She just feels like dying
She just feels like dying
Woman's got the blues

Womans got the blues


BEFORE THE BEGINNING

So many nights I lay awake
Can't sleep
I lay here thinkin' 'bout a woman
I used to love
Can't sleep but no good to count sheep
I'll just count the worries
That I've got plenty of

And how many times
Must I be the fool
Before I can make it
Oh Make it on home
I've got to find a place to sing my words
Is there nobody listening to my song?

You talk about a life
Been searching for the key
But can't find an answer
To comfort me
I ask myself about love
Can't even find the door
To take me to a place
I've never seen before

But how many times
Must I be the fool
Before I can make it
Oh make it on home
I've got to find a place to sing my words
Is there nobody listening to my song?

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!