In the meantime, they released two albums, Penguin and Mystery to Me and descended into a drug and alcohol haze that seemed to bear a fair resemblance to Peyton Place. In between the toing and froing, drugging, drinking and bed-swapping a lawsuit to sort out who actually owned the name "Fleetwood Mac" put the band on a lengthy hiatus, during which everyone moved to Los Angeles. Bill Graham helped sort out the legal wrangle to the point where they were able to record again as Fleetwood Mac, which resulted in a new album, Heroes Are Hard to Find in September 1974.
Worn out by the personal, professional and legal battles, Welch departed at the end of 1974, which brought Lindsey Buckingham and his girlfriend, Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks, onto the scene.
That didn't end the soap opera, but the whole thing had persuaded Yours Truly that there were other, more interesting outfits out there, not that I'd been paying a great deal of attention in the meantime.
So, as far as Hughesy's investigations of the Fleetwood Mac phenomenon are concerned, at this stage, with the five disc Original Album Series covering five-sixths of the releases between Then Play On and Mystery to Me (Penguin is the one that's missing) that's as far as the investigation is going at the moment.
I have, however, listed the rest of the discography. Purely, you understand, for reference purposes.
Studio albums Live albums; Compilations 1969-1998 Compilations 2002-Present; Archival releases