Then Play On

Then Play On
Studio album by Fleetwood Mac
Released	9 September 1969
Recorded	1968–1969
Genre	Blues-rock, progressive rock
Length	53:39
Label	Reprise
Producer	Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac chronology
The Pious Bird of Good Omen (1969 UK) English Rose (1969 USA) Then Play On (1969) Kiln House (1970)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(B+)

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, 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 lineups. The currently-available CD compiles all songs from the two US LP versions, both of which omitted tracks from the original UK version.

Track listing

UK LP/Original US LP, September 1969

The two 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" (Danny Kirwan) – 3:47
2. "Closing My Eyes" (Peter Green) – 4:50
3. "Fighting for Madge" (Mick 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*

Side 2:

1. "Although the Sun Is Shining" (Kirwan) – 2:31
2. "Rattlesnake Shake" (Green) – 3:32
3. "Without You" (Kirwan) – 4:34*
4. (3-US) "Searching for Madge" (John 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

*Missing from the original US LP.

Revised US Song Lineup, post-November 1969

When the double-sided single "Oh Well (pts 1 & 2)" (released November 1969) became a hit it was added to a revised version of the US release and other songs were deleted or moved to side two. The two parts of "Oh Well" differed widely, the first being hard rock, the latter a meditative instrumental, on which Green played 'cello. The first minute or so of "Part 2" was included as a fade-out coda to the A-side and then begun again on the B-side of the single. The album edit of "Oh Well" crudely butt-joined the sides of the single as it stood so that "Part 2"'s beginning is heard twice, otherwise the whole piece would run for only 7:58. "Part 1" of "Oh Well" has remained a regular concert feature to the present day.

Another change was putting the two edits from the "Madge" jam back to back, fading down and up between them. The giggle that previously linked "My Dream" to "Like Crying" was now edited onto the end of "Fighting for Madge". "Madge", the press were told at the time, was a female fan of the group who was immortalised as the dedicatee of two excerpts of a long instrumental jam whose inclusion allowed Fleetwood and McVie a composition credit each.

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

CD track listing

The currently in-print late 1980s–early 1990s re-release sticks mostly to the 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 original 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 three 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.

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

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" (Jeremy Spencer) – 3:34
2. "Every Day I Have the Blues" (Peter Chatman) – 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

Credits

Fleetwood Mac

• Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica, six string bass, violoncello on "Oh Well, Pt. 2"
• Danny Kirwan – vocals, guitar
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
• Jeremy Spencer – piano on "Oh Well" {Pt 2}

Additional Personnel

• Christine Perfect – piano (uncredited)
• Big Walter Horton – harmonica (uncredited)
• Sandra Elsdon – recorders on "Oh Well (Pt 2)" (uncredited)

Production

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

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