Which of Fleetwood Mac "Then Play On" is better?

Okay, just sent an email to AF suggesting the title...and extolling the relevance to guitar players everywhere as well as Mac afficiannados.

 

The US albums ahve no redeeming value in light of the UK album - none. They doesn't flow. Neither the first US LP or second one. Plus... they had to be copy tape(s), based on the duller sound.

Really all that's needed is the UK album released properly and maybe as a bonus track 'Oh Well', but not the rest of the period Mac/Green singles. Those would be best done as a separate set; maybe live versions and the studio versions or something.

 

There is a value in putting out the original US LP sequence as it was an artistic decision by the band for the US market. If that wouldn't happen for a Deluxe Edition, then the Jeremy Spencer EP "The Milton Schlitz Show" that was done at the same time should be the second CD (even though it's on the Vaudeville Years box).

 

I don't think so. The original Reprise US sequence merely dropped two Danny Kirwan tracks which had appeared already on the Epic records US comp English Rose. ("One Sunny Day" and "Without You") It was either to avoid redundancy or because Epic had the rights!

 

Rhino ThenPlay On prototype

When I worked at Rhino in the late 90s I was asked to create a prototype for a deluxe type package. I found an Ex- copy of the English version and made that disc 1

Then I added all the singles cut around that time including Oh Well. It was knocked around for a while and then the Rhino people lost interest.

Neil

 

I tend to believe Steve E's theory on why it was changed. If it was an artistic decision, then why would they have allowed it to be changed again within a year.

That Milton Schlitz Show is a tough listen for me. Even though it was recorded at around the same time, I do not think it fits musically with TPO at all.

 

I can understand the Epic issue, the two Kirwan penned songs were originally under a CBS UK affiliate IIRC. But the final recordings were part of the Reprise UK album.

The UK album was the original album, not the US. And there was more than a loss of two songs on the first US LP, (two great songs I might add) - its a complete re-edit with clipped songs and standard silence bands added between all tracks. If Sgt. Pepper merely dropped two tracks, added bands between the tracks, and re-edited other tracks -- people (those unfamiliar with the original UK album) would better understand why the US album pales in comparison.

 

It was to avoid redundancy. Those tracks were already in the US market as you say, but not in the UK. Everything before TPO was owned by Blue Horizon, not CBS UK - Epic licensed the tracks for those earlier US albums from them.

 

What a butchering was done to TPO! There's no comparison between the UK and US issues- the UK is absolutely indispensable for fans of Fleetwood Mac or Peter Green.

I would really love to see a reissue done right; until then, it's a needledrop of the UK vinyl......

 

I checked, Blue Horizon was apparently under CBS UK. Or rather, CBS made and distributed the Blue Horizon label records. Anyway, Epic would have licensed from them.

 

Very interesting!

 

That makes sense. Because Lord knows we need yet more Monkees reissues.

 

Marshall replied to my email that he had been trying to license it for some time now, but the label had (to this point) basically refused, although they failed to rule it out in the future.

I talked to my friend that works in WMG licensing in the New York office, she said that she couldn't see why it hadn't been allowed - but your reply pieces it together.

 

I would love to see a Danny Kirwan era remaster series of all of them or a two disc set with the best tracks from this, Kiln House, Future Games and Bare Trees and maybe some post Boston Tea Party (which is fantastic but issued several times now) live stuff with Kirwan would be welcomed also.

 

I don't find it that hard to understand. The "Oh, Well" single is what put the group on the map at the time, at least in the U.S., and for better or worse, the altered U.S. Then Play On album is what put them on the map as far as albums go. "Oh, Well" was a fairly big hit on AM radio in late 1969, at least in Seattle. I've always believed that putting that single on the album not only boosted the sales of Then Play On, but of their other early Reprise albums as well.

 

Then Play On was FM's first Reprise release. Prior to that there were 2 albums on Epic, Fleetwood Mac and English Rose.

 

There really, really needs to be decent deluxe version offered to the public containing the original UK lineup with World In Harmony, Manalishi and Oh Well added. Also, all the versions of Oh Well Pt's 1 & 2 have that redundant bit where the beginning of the instrumental is repeated. That would be an easy fix to excise.

 

You would have been MY hero if this had come out. For about 3-4 years after the 1997 Fleetwood Mac tour, I completed my Mac collection with all of the band's albums and picked up every scrap I could find from the Green years. Then Play On was a CD I'd had since college, and I was always disappointed by the hiss on that CD and the messed up edit on "Oh Well". I can't believe that this album has never received its due on CD.

The other thing Fleetwood Mac needs is a proper A-side/B-side singles collection covering their whole career. It's crazy that the studio version of "The Purple Dancer" has never appeared on CD. I picked that up on vinyl ages ago, and it is my favorite post-Green, pre-Buckingham/Nicks song.

For that matter, the fact that the Buckingham Nicks album has never received a proper CD release borders on criminal neglect.

 

Bump. Maybe if people keep posting about this, like a mantra, it will magically happen.

The UK album, with the corrected, overlap-minute-fixed "Oh Well" added, is 61:17 minutes long. "Green Manalishi" and "World in Harmony" would fit on the same single CD with no problem, too.

Even though I am usually not a fan of putting bonus tracks in the middle of a running order, I might make an exception in the case of "Oh Well." Doing so would be a tip of the hat to the US running order, and it simply works well before "Although the Sun Is Shining."

Even though I feel that "Purple Dancer" doesn't really fit the project, if adding it would be the most expedient way to get it into the digital realm, I'm all for it. (just as I wish "Vegetable Man" and "Scream" had been snuck onto Pink Floyd's "Piper" Deluxe set.)

 

"Dragonfly" and "Purple Dancer" should be bonus tracks on an expanded edition of Kiln House, or it should appear as an A/B on a singles compilation, or at the very least it should just be put for sale on iTunes, but it would be out of place on an expanded edition of Then Play On.

 

Yeah, I suppose I agree.

 

That seems to defeat the whole concept discussed in this thread. The US running order is available now on CD.

 

I bought the album originally in very late December 1969 before they added Oh Well. It's one of my top three favorite albums of all time. I have a nearly mint UK 3 color pressing but I agree the low level surface noise comes through especially on the quitier songs. When I did my needle drop, I used a early seventies "K" series copy, yes it's a bit thinner (although still much better than any US copy) but much quietier. I used all the UK singles to round it out.

Anyone know the background on Green's End of the Game. I bought that LP when it came out and only played it once never liked it. Recently I picked up a German CD of it and still find it just an endless jam with nothing going for it.

 

+1

From Allmusic.com

Review by Mark Allan
The directionless jamming on The End of the Game, the first solo release by Peter Green, is just what you'd expect from someone as psychologically messed up as he was when he cut it. He still plays wicked guitar, and sounds much like Jimi Hendrix in spots, but without Hendrix's vision. In fact, there's no coherent vision at all on this record. None of the musicians could have enjoyed themselves in spite of the opportunity to play with Green. It's drivel, from an immensely talented guitarist. Sad.

 

I suggested this to Rhino Handmade ages ago as a two CD set with any outtakes, the original album and the US version which superceded it worldwide and never got a response beyond thanks for the suggestion.

The problem is that in the UK the rights are held by Sony while in the US they are held by Warner and I think the same issue that has held up a U.S. remaster of the Kinks "Something Else" and "Village Green" impacts this release as well (although I could be wrong).

The original mastertapes for the mono version of "Oh Well" (which wasn't on the original album but it does give hope that somewhere the original mastertapes for the original line up are still there) still exist because John McVie went back and played with them for the boxed set.

I could never figure out why they kept the pair of "Marge" tunes on there (they aren't bad just aren't as good as the Kirwan tune) at the expense of better material.

It would have made sense to do this for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (since Green's version of the band was inducted at the same time IIRC) even though it wasn't what most folks think of as "Fleetwood Mac".

I'm a bit disappointed that given all the attention that the Blue Horizon label gave to their remasters/reissues that Warner didn't follow suit (Particularly since Sire was a division of that label at the time and they did the U.S. issue of that boxed set).

Now I fear it might be a bit too late what with CD sales continuing to slide for a physical copy of it but continue to hit Rhino Handmade with the suggestion and maybe we'll eventually see it.