Then Play On

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Then Play On
Then Play On cover
Studio album by Fleetwood Mac
Released September/November 1969
Recorded 1968-1969
Genre Blues Rock
Length 53:39
Label Reprise
Producer(s) Fleetwood Mac
Professional reviews
Fleetwood Mac chronology
English Rose
(1969)		 Then Play On
(1969)		 Kiln House
(1970)


Then Play On is the fourth album by blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, first released in September 1969 (see 1969 in music). It is often considered the best album by the Peter Green lineup of the band, and one of the best rock albums of the late 1960s. 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" Mick Fleetwood told 'Q magazine in 1990.

The album has been released with four different song lineups. The current CD lineup compiles all songs from the two US LP lineups, both of which were deviations from the original UK song order.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] UK LP/Original US LP, September 1969

The 2 songs deleted from the US lineup had already appeared on the US compilation English Rose. They are also not included on the CD release of the album.

Side 1:

  1. "Coming Your Way" (Kirwan) – 3:47
  2. "Closing My Eyes" (Green) – 4:50
  3. "Fighting for Madge" (Fleetwood) – 2:45
  4. "When You Say" (Kirwan) – 4:22
  5. "Showbiz Blues" (Green) – 3:50
  6. "Underway" (Green) – 2:51 (US timing, fades out), 3:06 (UK timing, no fade, cuts to next song)
  7. "One Sunny Day" (Kirwan) – 3:12 [missing from original US LP]

Side 2:

  1. "Although The Sun Is Shining" (Kirwan) – 2:31
  2. "Rattlesnake Shake" (Green) – 3:32
  3. "Without You" (Kirwan) – 4:34 [missing on original US LP]
  4. (3-US) "Searching For Madge" (McVie) – 6:56
  5. (4-US) "My Dream" (Kirwan) – 3:30 (a long giggle links this to next song)
  6. (5-US) "Like Crying" (Kirwan) – 2:21
  7. (6-US) "Before The Beginning" (Green) – 3:28

[edit] Revised US Song Lineup, post-November 1969

After "Oh Well (pts 1 & 2)" (released November 1969) became a hit single, it was added to the US lineup, and some of the other songs were either deleted or moved to side two. The edit of "Oh Well" actually contains an error: The first minute or so of "Part 2" is heard twice, as this section of the song was heard on both the A-side and B-side of the single. (The B-side was a clean mix of the complete part 2 with no crossfade.) If the error were corrected, the song would run 7:58.

Another arguably strange choice was putting the two edits from the "Madge" jam back to back, with part 2 preceding part 1, fading down and up between them. The giggle that previously linked "My Dream" to "Like Crying" was now butt-edited onto the end of "Fighting for Madge."

Side 1:

  1. "Coming Your Way" (Kirwan) – 3:47
  2. "Closing My Eyes" (Green) – 4:50
  3. "Showbiz Blues" (Green) – 3:50
  4. "Underway" (Green) – 2:51
  5. "Oh Well" (Green) – 8:56

Side 2:

  1. "Although The Sun Is Shining" (Kirwan) – 2:31
  2. "Rattlesnake Shake" (Green) – 3:32
  3. "Searching For Madge" (McVie) – 6:56
  4. "Fighting for Madge" (Fleetwood) – 2:45 (a long giggle links this to next song)
  5. "Like Crying" (Kirwan) – 2:21
  6. "Before the Beginning" (Green) – 3:28

[edit] CD Track listing

The currently in-print late 1980s-early 1990s re-release sticks mostly to the strange order of the revised US track listing, but reinserts two of the deleted songs in new locations. The giggle which originally preceded "Like Crying" is separated from its intended location by the reinsertion of "When You Say" after "Fighting For Madge" (which "When You Say" followed when "Fighting for Madge" was in its original "Track 3" location.) The mix of "Oh Well" still contains the repeated minute. The two songs which appeared only on the UK LP are still missing here.

The strangest part of all this is that the disordered sequence arguably works, and has an edgy illogic of its own.

Chat groups and online music stores feature many consumer complaints that the current issue of the CD uses poor copies of the tapes, several generations removed from the original master. Dropouts, distortion and excessive hiss are evident, some of it missing from the original UK pressing.

  1. "Coming Your Way" (Kirwan) – 3:47
  2. "Closing My Eyes" (Green) – 4:50
  3. "Showbiz Blues" (Green) – 3:50
  4. '"My Dream" (Kirwan) – 3:30
  5. "Underway" (Green) – 2:51
  6. "Oh Well" (Green) – 8:56
  7. "Although the Sun Is Shining" (Kirwan) – 2:31
  8. "Rattlesnake Shake" (Green) – 3:32
  9. "Searching for Madge" (McVie) – 6:56
  10. "Fighting for Madge" (Fleetwood) – 2:45 ("Like Crying" giggle still left here)
  11. '"When You Say" (Kirwan) – 4:22
  12. "Like Crying" (Kirwan) – 2:21
  13. "Before the Beginning" (Green) – 3:28

[edit] Unreleased Bonus EP: The Milton Schlitz Show

The original intention was to include a bonus EP in the "Then Play On" album. The EP was to be compensation for the fact that Jeremy Spencer barely appeared on the album. The EP consisted of Spencer's parodies of doo wop ("Ricky Dee and the Angels"), Alexis Korner, country blues ("Texas Slim"), acid rock ("The Orange Electric Squares"), and John Mayall. It was finally released on Fleetwood Mac's "The Vaudeville Years" compilation in the 1990s.

  1. "Jeremy's Contribution to Doo Wop" (Spencer) – 3:34
  2. "Every Day I Have the Blues" (Spencer) – 4:23
  3. "Death Bells" (Spencer) – 5:05
  4. "(Watch Out For Yourself) Mr. Jones" (Spencer) – 3:35
  5. "Man of Action" (Spencer) – 5:21

[edit] Credits

with

[edit] Production

  • Producer: Fleetwood Mac
  • Engineer: Martin Birch
  • Sound consultant: Dinky Dawson

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1970 Pop Albums 109

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1970 "Oh Well - Pt. I" Pop Singles 55
Fleetwood Mac
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Members
John McVie - Mick Fleetwood - Stevie Nicks - Lindsey Buckingham
Former members: Christine McVie - Peter Green - Jeremy Spencer - Bob Brunning - Danny Kirwan
Bob Welch - Bob Weston - Dave Walker - Billy Burnette - Rick Vito - Dave Mason - Bekka Bramlett
Discography

Studio albums: Fleetwood Mac (1968) - Mr. Wonderful - English Rose - Then Play On - Kiln House - Future Games - Bare Trees - Penguin - Mystery to Me - Heroes Are Hard to Find - Fleetwood Mac (1975) - Rumours - Tusk - Mirage - Tango in the Night - Behind the Mask - Time - Say You Will

Compilations: Black Magic Woman (The Original Fleetwood Mac) - The Pious Bird Of Good Omen - Greatest Hits - Greatest Hits - 25 Years - The Chain - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac -

Live albums: Live - Live In Boston
Related articles
Fleetwood Mac single chart positions
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