Then Play on

Fleetwood Mac | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KOO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,523 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #56 in Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion

Track Listings

1. Coming Your Way

2. Closing My Eyes

3. Show-Biz Blues

4. My Dream

5. Underway

6. Oh Well

7. Although The Sun Is Shining

8. Rattlesnake Shake

9. Searching For Madge

10. Fighting For Madge

11. When You Say

12. LIke Crying

13. Before The Beginning

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Before they set sail for California and a new life as consummate pop songsmiths, Fleetwood Mac were pedigreed British blues rockers with roots in Britain's seminal John Mayall's Blues Breakers and their hearts orbiting Chicago and the Mississippi Delta. One of the few surviving albums from that ill-fated, earlier Mac, Then Play On captures them at a potent turning point: the original two-guitar quartet, with founder Peter Green's sinuous leads complemented by Jeremy Spencer's shimmering slide guitar, had been augmented by third guitarist Danny Kirwan, a Green protégé. Buttressed by Mick Fleetwood's muscular yet restrained drumming and John McVie's steady-as-a-heartbeat bass lines, this edition of the band reveled in moody, compelling guitar showpieces that savor texture and line over sheer speed or volume. Accordingly, the lyrics don't benefit from close study, but the guitars surely do--and when the quintet launches into the best-remembered track here, the classic "Oh, Well" (which reunites the separate electric and acoustic sections originally released as two sides of a single), it's understandable that Green, in his day, was mentioned comfortably in the same breath with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. --Sam Sutherland

Product Description

The roots of the pop juggernaut Mac became lay here! You'll still hear lots of the Peter Green bluesy stuff, too; their first hit Oh Well joins Rattlesnake Shake; Coming Your Way , and the rest of this 1969 turning point.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars HORRENDOUS CORPORATE DISRESPECT FOR A CLASSIC RECORDING!, March 18, 2002

By 

BOB (LOS ANGELES, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Then Play on (Audio CD)

Yes, Warner Brothers, I mean you.

With all of the advances in remastering technology over the life of the CD format, you should be ashamed to offer such a classic recording that sounds this bad. And that is why I'm giving a one-star rating to a five-star album.

Imagine my dismay when I slipped this great album into my CD player, cued up "Oh, Well", and was greeting with the tinniest, noisiest (hiss), most distorted and worst sounding presentation of this song I've ever heard. Whatever master this travesty was spawned from sounds many times removed from the original recording.

Granted, the original recording has inherent noise and distortion, but even the LP I had back in the 70's sounded better than this. And the technology certainly exists, and has existed for years, to bring this wonderful recording properly into the digital domain.

To properly judge how bad this CD sounds, all one has to do is A/B "Oh, Well" from "Then" against the remastered single version on the now-defunct "The Chain" box set.

This is a textbook example of why consumers have complained about the CD format for so long. In this case, this is horrible neglect of a classic recording, and a pathetic corporate culture at Warner's in refusing to utilize modern technology to improve the listening experience for the consumer for almost 30 years.

WB, where is your soul? When exactly did you lose it (maybe that black day 25+ years ago when you fired Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison and a host of talented others in the same day?). Haven't you sold enough copies of "Rumors" alone to afford to properly re-master this classic?

But then again, I am speaking to the company who has steadfastedly refused to bring its catalog into the digital age until the late 90's - over two decades since the introduction of the CD format.

As I said before, Warner Brothers, you should be ashamed. You dishonor your company, the artists whose true genius cannot be fully (audibly) appreciated, and the legacy of the pioneers of your company who found and nurtured those artists, all for the sake of the allmighty buck.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most underrated masterpieces of the 60's..despite production, November 26, 2005

By 

P. Alemparte "AMorningCosmic" (Toronto,ON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Then Play on (Audio CD)

First and foremost, Jeremy Spencer does not play on this album. Although a great player, (Kiln House is his best contribution to the band) the sounds you hear were created by Kirwan and Green.
I cant begin to say how fresh this album sounds, every time I put it on. While still able to bring you back to that warm 60's sound, it never sounds dated. This is FM's first serious departure from the straight blues which appeared on previous efforts thanks to, IMHO, Kirwan's presence.
Just a young lad of 20 his maturity as a song writer is brilliantly evidenced in the first track "coming your way". The song changes from a groovy little number to a heavy ending, reminiscent of I want You (Shes so heavy). Only heavier and louder. From here Kirwan flawlessly moves from said number to the dreamy instrumental "my dream" and other beautifully sad songs like "When you say' and "Although the sun is shining".
How is it possible for him to get no recognition in the annals of music history? To me its simply an indication that people simply dont know their music, and are too willing to accept the Claptons, Santanas and (insert other overrated player) as "the" guitar players.
Kirwan constantly gets labelled as "Green's protege" when in fact Kirwan could keep up with Green's masterful playing as demonstrated on Fighting/Searching for Madge. As a songwriter, Kirwan tapped into music in a way that only the most talented musicians could do. He looked to the past for influece, while still incredibly ahead of his time, writing songs the likes of Cobain would write 20 years later. To write songs like he did, and play as he did, at such a young age, is a testament to his brilliance.
Speaking of brilliance, enough cant be said of Green's guitar playing either; not to mention his singing. If he had to leave after an album, Im glad it was this one. "Before the beginning" is one of my favourite album closers and "Oh well" has to be one of the greatest rock riffs ever written. Listen closely to Green and Kirwan interplay; these guys were meant to jam together. Page(not overrated)was hugely influenced by Green; just compare "Showbiz blues" to Zep III.
Green's playing had a raw power, a really special quality that no other guitarist, save Kirwan, could harness. This album demonstrates this ability all too well.
This of course could not be so without one of the best rhythm sections in music history. They are the rare breed of musician who knows when to shut up and when to speak up. Every note, every beat is exactly as it should be. Transitions are flawless, (F/S for Madge, ending of "coming your way") and this album makes them sound full, heavy and just plain ol' great!
Come to think of it, I believe I may have already reviewed this album(or was it Kiln House, Future Games or Bare Trees?...cant remember, but you should get these anyway) Either way, listening to this album does just that; it makes you want to tell people about it over and over again. I hope that this lineup, which is shrouded by that monster "Stindsay Buckinnicks", will earn their rightful place as the lineup representing this band's creative peak. That is to say, once Danny Kirwan left the band, they lost that sound that made this band so special, and gained two members who were so generic, so bland, so very "easy listening". Please enjoy!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Holds Up, October 1, 2000

By 

Polysyllabite "RBlythe" (Birmingham, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Then Play on (Audio CD)

I can't say exactly why I was so fascinated by this record 31 years ago when I bought it (the earliest American release, sans "Oh Well") at a Woolworth's for somewhere around $3.50. I was probably drawn to the cover, which was certainly colorful and mysterious. (In those days, I could afford to buy interesting-looking music just because of the album cover.) After a couple of puzzled listens, I decided this would be my favorite rock album of all time. Again, I can't say exactly why. Perhaps it was the blues at the heart of it or the enthusiasm in the music. Except for Green, the musicians possessed no more than the talent you'd expect from a rock record, but there was something different about it, something genuine, even heartfelt. Later, much later, after delving into these guys' lives and subsequent extremely checkered careers, I came to understand that it was their sheer good fortune at the time to be thrown together during a period of extreme (and often acid-fueled) ferment in music (as well as everything else). They came out of the blues, but they listened to the Dead, the Doors, and any number of other innovative bands, and they put that extensive, authentic, dangerous, diverse experience to good use. This is still my favorite rock album, and for more than sentimental reasons. It holds up.