Fleetwood Mac “Then Play On”

Fleetwood Mac “Then Play On” 1969. Pre-Buckingham/Nicks days, Then Play On was Fleetwood Mac’s third album and the last with band founder Peter Green who died this past weekend (b. 1946, d. July 25th 2020). He’s considered one of the greatest guitarists of all-time by several magazines, etc. that rank that sort of thing. Then Play On is heavily blues-based, borrowing extensively from classic the American blues style but mixes in a hearty dose of 60′s psychedelia and some traditional English folk music. The LP went to #6 in the UK and a year later hit #109 on the US charts with the success of the Green-penned single “Oh Well” (#2 UK, #55 US). This particular album is the revised US edition from 1969 which dropped the original tracks “When You Say” and “My Dream” and added in “Oh Well” after the single, which was not originally included on the record, became a hit (just the Zeppelin-esque Part 1 portion, the Part 2 of the song is a swirly, folky instrumental).  The other track released as a single (and also by Green) was the country-twinged bluesy “Rattlesnake Shake” – it did not chart. I also like the rockin’ sliding guitar blues song “Show-Biz Blues” and the Madge tracks: “Searching for Madge” and “Fighting for Madge.”