In the 1960s, Fleetwood Mac was regarded as a pure blues band, primarily at the behest of guitarist and songwriter Peter Green. In reality, Green was aiming to transcend the label and strived to take the band down a myriad of musical paths. His love for improvisation provided a template to develop any number of ideas, but Green needed help in expanding his vision beyond the simple blues structures that he, second guitarist Jeremy Spencer, bassist John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood had been working within. Enter guitarist Danny Kirwan and the band’s third album, 1969’s Then Play On.
With three guitarists — Green, Spencer, and Kirwan— on board, Fleetwood Mac was equipped to tap into a multi-dimensional, layered sound. Green also encouraged other members to contribute to the songwriting. Much to his chagrin, Spencer’s role Then Play On was minimal, adding only a little piano to “Oh Well,” which didn’t even appear on the original UK pressing of the album. Kirwan, however, seized the opportunity and wrote half the songs. He and Green also handled all the guitars and vocals. The end product is a cavalcade of diversity that not only touches on the blues, but also contains bits of rock, folk, jazz, orchestral, and psychedelic music styles.
While the album moves from mellow, pastoral strains (“Closing My Eyes,” “When You Say,” “Although The Sun Is Shining,” “My Dream”) to various refinements of the blues (“Show-Biz Blues,” “One Sunny Day,” “Without You”)and improvisation (“Fighting For Madge,” “Searching For Madge”), there are some obvious stand-out tracks. “Rattlesnake Shake,” a charismatic exercise in blues and fan favorite during the group’s concerts, failed to light up the charts when it was released as the album’s first single. The follow-up, the two-part epic “Oh Well,” however, would go on to become a perennial staple in the group’s setlist.
Subsequent reissues of Then Play On have included additional songs, including “The Green Manilishi (With The Two Prong Crown),” initially released as a single in 1970. It was the last song Peter Green recorded with Fleetwood Mac. In 2020, BMG released The Celebration Edition, the most recent reissue of Then Play On, as a remastered CD and two-LP set, adding “bonus” tracks “Oh Well,” “The Green Manilishi (With The Two Prong Crown),” and “World In Harmony,” the only Fleetwood Mac song co-written by Peter Green and Danny Kirwan. The Celebration Edition dropped shortly after Green’s passing on July 25, 2020.
~ Shawn Perry
