Then Play On by Fleetwood Mac, 1969, released on Reprise Records, value £80

FOUNDER members Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood began their musical careers with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, writes MICHAEL BROOKS. Fleetwood was sacked by Mayall, Green decided to leave, and they were eventually joined by John McVie, guitarist with Mayall's band; together they became the nucleus of what became known as Fleetwood Mac. This became their third studio album, and took the band in a different direction from the first two albums which contained classic blues recordings. Fleetwood Mac had finally made the pop charts by this time, after Black Magic Woman had charted followed by four more top ten hits, including the instrumental Albatross, that led to them being recognised as a major international recording band. Despite the initial success, it led to Peter Green leaving. He had written their current chart hit Oh Well, provided lead vocals on Man Of The World, including Need Your Love So Bad - all hit records which surprisingly did not feature on this album; they are still recognised as classic recordings even by today's standards.

Newcomer Danny Kirwan replaced Green and did contribute by writing a couple of songs on this album, unfortunately his tenure was short lived as he suffered from chronic stage fright which led to a poor performance level and was eventually sacked by the band.

The title was taken from a line from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: "If music be the food of love, then play on." The art work for the album is called Domesticated Mural Painting by Maxwell Armfield (1881-1972), which was originally designed for the dining room of a London Manor.

It was Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining in 1974 that steered the band away from the music of their earlier albums into a more pop rock/folk rock sound. Success was slow to come by, soon cracks were appearing, relationships fragmented and some broke down completely, yet through it all they remained together as a band. Their stability and cohesion, despite personal feelings, led to songs about the trauma and break ups that the band members were going through. Songs such as Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, Second Hand News and Dreams led to their biggest selling album Rumours, to date selling 40 million copies. Most people will have this album but due to its success only has minimal value.