On Oh Well Part 2 I'm pretty sure Green played the timpani (drum) and bass (it may be his 6 string which sounds doubled by a guitar at some parts).

Part 1 sounds like a live band take and some overdubs. We know Green plays a resonator guitar to open the song, but I'm wondering if Green played his 6 string bass on that and McVie played the normal bass an octave lower. That first electric guitar that comes in has a distinct timbre. I'm no expert on 6 string basses; I'd like to hear what other musicians think.

Yes, so obscure they should have called it "Phyllis" ;).

Buy it Steve. (OK, my first post on here for 5 or 6 years, it's THAT important a purchase) :thumbsup:

When I listen to two songs "Closing My Eyes" and "Before The Beginning" I suppose that Peter plays all the instruments :).
What do you think about this?

I've thought the same about "Closing My Eyes" yeah.

I think Green plays every instrument on Closing My Eyes and I think Kirwan plays all the guitar parts on When You Say, Although the Sun is Shining, and My Dream. I believe Before the Beginning was a live band take a la Blues in Bb Minor, and then Green overdubbed some guitar/6 string bass.

I'll have to listen to Oh Well Part 1 again because if there is six string bass, it would have to be utilizing open strings, putting it in the same octave as McVie. Maybe he used a treble pickup to separate it in the mix?

Critic's pick: Fleetwood Mac, 'Then Play On'

Published: September 6, 2013

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

By Walter Tunis — Contributing Music Writer


The newest edition of Then Play On, the definitive studio recording by the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, ends with a subtle guitar instrumental titled World in Harmony.

The music blooms from sparse, autumnal ambience into a summery, almost country-esque serenade. It's a quiet study in harmony and conflict, opposites that always seem to surface when Fleetwood Mac is at its best.

Named after the oft-quoted opening to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night ("If music be the food of love, play on"), the album is a masterwork that faded from view as the band shot to pop stardom in the mid-'70s with the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. But Then Play On, Fleetwood Mac's third studio work, takes us back to 1969 and remains a portrait of lost rock 'n' roll innocence. It was the first record to feature co-guitarist Danny Kirwan and the last to include band founder Green. The band's third guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, is curiously absent from the recording.

This new version differs from most archival reissues. While there are four bonus tracks, three of them (the slo-mo guitar romp The Green Manalishi and the two-part boogiefest-turned-folk meditation Oh Well) were Green-penned singles that stand as the early Mac's signature tunes. Only World in Harmony (Manalishi's b-side) is evenly remotely obscure.

What this new edition accomplishes, though, is to gather all the material issued on various truncated British and American versions of Then Play On. The basic running order matches the original British release with the singles tacked as a postscript.

Still, it's the nuts-and-bolts design of the music that makes the album so extraordinary — specifically, the giving way of the blues roots foundation that brought Fleetwood Mac to life in favor of looser, more introspective portraits from Green and Kirwan. It rocks quite handsomely at times (on Green's Rattleshake Snake and on the first part of Oh Well) but often eases into leaner, less defined lyricism that propels the instrumental Under Way and the neo-poppish My Dream which suggest the calmer melodic waters to come in the post-Green years. Even more overt blues pieces such as Like Crying present Green and Kirwan in casual sympatico without a full rhythm section. Such songs sound, blissfully, like rehearsals.

Kirwan plays the role of disciple to Green throughout Then Play On. His Although the Sun is Shining is a beautifully weathered shadow of vintage Brit-pop — a bit of folky romanticism laced with a touch of low-fi psychedelia.

But the farewell Green leaves us with is a stunner, Before the Beginning. Its lyrics are as restless, wispy and forlorn as its superbly crafted guitar melodies, all of which are underscored by a disquieting drum rattle from Mick Fleetwood. It is a spellbinding coda to Fleetwood Mac's most underappreciated triumph.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/06/2...#storylink=cpy

Another review of the original
 

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/5...-Then-Play-On/

This was out apparently reviewing the second Then Play On vinyl release..

I'm glad Before The Beginning gets its due in this article. It has no weakness.

Japan, Australia and beyond
 

More demand there I believe. There are lots of titles I want that are only available in Japan and they're not cheap. Even the solo Kirwan CDs are only out there. Lucky that I had found one on UK LP, the only album on DJM Records I have that isn't from Elton John (which stands out as it was basically an indie label in those days).
Since someone bought the new edition, I found two old CD editions of the album at the shop; one from the US and another from Australia. I bought the Oz one which sounds as good to my ears though I'll consider the new one. At least with the remaster which is long overdue all the tracks are finally together at long last. Also from down under I have The Best of the Original Fleetwood Mac which has "One Sunny Day" and "Without You" but I had to order mp3s of "The Green Manalishi", "Oh Well" Parts 1 & 2 separately, and "World in Harmony". The West German reissue LP I also own has even less. This period of the band has a cult following in the States where I am compared to the more commercial later eras. A local blues band here in my area called Mark Doyle and the Maniacs have covered the Green/Spencer era with the songs "Fleetwood Mac" and "Need Your Love So Bad" though they may done other tracks.
The official FM site has no info on the TPO remaster or any old news for that matter so this fan site is the best next thing. At least Buckingham has done"Oh Well" Part 1 like when I saw the band 4.5 years ago out of town as well as the 1987-91 lineups rendition which also touched on "I Loved Another Woman" (Rick Vito is now in Mick Fleetwoods solo band which were misidentified as Fleetwood Mac proper on an awards show not too long ago but we know better). TKO started FMs long tenure at Warners as we all know. Early FM are the only blues band that I like. Makes sense of course!

By Aaron Conn for The Crown September 23, 2013

http://crown.kings.edu/?p=2155

Some might find it hard to believe that before their success with albums such as Rumours and Tusk, Fleetwood Mac was actually a blues rock band formed by guitarist Peter Green in 1967. Fleetwood Mac’s third album, Then Play On, is often considered by many to be their best effort when Green was in the band. The album is also the last the band would make with Green, as he left the band a year after the album’s release in 1970. Now in 2013, the album has been reissued and remastered with the original U.K. tracking list and segues.

Fleetwood Mac was formed in 1967 by guitarist Peter Green. With Green was guitarist Jeremy Spencer, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Green named the band using the surnames of the band’s rhythm section of McVie and Fleetwood. By 1969, the band had released two studio albums: a self-titled debut and Mr. Wonderful. Both efforts were simple blues rock albums and good enough for the band to make a name for themselves. It was also around this time the band added a third guitarist, Danny Kirwin. The band soon achieved success with a hit single in the U.K., the instrumental “Albatross.”

An album like Then Play On was a huge step for the band. Green decided that while sticking to their blues roots, why not dabble in progressive rock? “Coming Your Way” is a great intro and fits with the album cover painted by Maxwell Armfield. Green, Spencer and Kirwin all get to shine on this track. Blues comes in the form of the instrumental “Fighting for Madge,” Kirwin’s 12-bar “One Sunny Day,” the boogie-riddled “Rattlesnake Shake,” and the sorrowful “Like Crying.” Songs such as “Closing My Eyes,” “Without You” and “When You Say” are beautiful ballads while “Underway” and “Searching for Madge” create this a sort of psychedelic atmosphere.

As for the sound, it is fantastic. Then Play On is an album that has been retooled and messed with by the record labels for years. As mentioned before, this reissue is a remaster of the U.K. version. The U.S. version was released twice in 1969. Both versions omitted songs from the U.K. version and rearranged segues. For example, the giggle at the start of “Like Crying” is moved to the end of “Searching for Madge.” When first released on CD in 1990, the album was changed up again. While mostly following the U.S. versions, the segues were put in different places and once again, omitted several songs.

One major criticism of the 1990 issue that had fans complaining was the sound quality of the digital transfer, citing that there was too much hiss and distortion. I have done several sound comparisons of the 1990 issue and the new remaster. The 1990 version sounds much louder but very hissy and perhaps a little too much reverb. The new remaster does not sound distorted nor does it sound hissy. In fact, it sounds perfect. I have never heard the original vinyl but I can believe this is what people heard back in 1969. There is no need to worry about any massive clipping either.

There are a few bonuses with this reissue. Insightful liner notes are written by Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke and there are a few bonus tracks. First, there is the band’s hit single “Oh Well.” Unlike the 1990 issue in which the track as one nine minute track, the song is split into its original two parts like the original 45 single. Also on is another single, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)” and its B-side “World in Harmony.” The former may sound familiar as it was covered by Judas Priest in 1979, while the latter is seeing its debut appearance on CD.

If you were disappointed by the 1990 issue of Then Play On, this is a no brainer: get this remaster immediately. If you are a stranger to Fleetwood Mac’s bluesy beginnings, Then Play On is a pretty good place to start.

Got this today and am currently listening. I hate that Oh Well is separated onto two tracks.

Wow wow wow, am I glad I checked in here yesterday for the first time in forever. I've been so far out the loop I had no idea this reissue was even happening. Now I'm all excited and need to run out and see if I can find a copy immediately.

Every now and then I have an intense desire to listen to this album -- but I rarely do, because the 1990 version is such an unpleasant experience. It just makes me angry and sad that this brilliant piece of work has been treated so shabbily and not given a proper remaster/reissue. But now it has! Happy day!

It's nice to have some exciting Fleetwood Mac news for a change!

I actually like that Oh Well is in two parts as I've never had it on CD in that form before, just on vinyl.

I think if people who are newer to the blues era FM and enjoy Then Play On want to try other things a good starting place for them might be with The Groundhogs (with Tony McPhee), they might find that more accessible than say Savoy Brown or the Bluesbreakers. The Yardbirds and Animals/New Animals also stretched out a bit earlier, best ofs for them are essential, and there's always the mighty Cream (from the ashes of the Graham Bond Organization and original Yardbirds).

Mike Vernon certainly saw the potential in Tony McPhee, as he worked with him quite often when he was a staff producer for Decca and was running his mail-order business on the side (the precursors to Blue Horizon)
McPhee, like Green started as a hard-core bluesman, but after a few years found himself struggling with the (sometimes self-imposed) constraints of that label.
Also like Green, McPhee was the driving force behind the evolution in The Groundhogs’ sound. Their first LP sounds little like the ones that followed. Think of the difference between the “dog & dustbin” LP and ‘Then Play On’.