The Byrds' Greatest Hits

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The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the fifth album, and first compilation release, by the American rock and roll band, The Byrds. It is the top-selling album in the Byrds catalogue, reaching #6 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in 1967, certified a platinum-seller by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 21, 1986.

A summary of the Byrds' history during the stays of Gene Clark and David Crosby in the band, this compilation also serves as the survey of the group's hit singles from 1965 to 1967 inclusive, the time when they were a force on the singles chart. Every A-side from this time period appears, with the exceptions of "Set You Free This Time," "Have You Seen Her Face", and "Lady Friend," none of which cracked the Top 40. The set includes three favored album tracks, with the remaining eight singles tracks peaking at the following positions on the Billboard Hot 100: "5D (Fifth Dimension)" #44; "All I Really Want to Do" #40; "Mr. Spaceman" #36; "My Back Pages" #30; "So You Want to Be A Rock and Roll Star" #29; "Eight Miles High" #14; "Turn! Turn! Turn!" #1; and "Mr. Tambourine Man" also #1. The last three records were among the most innovative and influential of the entire decade, at a time when singles, at least in rock and roll, were as important entities in their own right as albums, and generally more so. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" summed up sixties countercultural values as much as "Blowin' in the Wind," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," or "All You Need Is Love," while "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High" helped to introduce the sub-genres of folk-rock and psychedelia respectively into the popular music of the day.

Greatest Hits was remixed and remastered at 20-bit resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy Byrds series, reissued in an expanded form on March 30, 1999. The three bonus tracks included two of the remaining singles from this period, plus "It Won't Be Wrong." It was reissued again in the SACD format, with the same expanded track listing as on the 20-bit remaster, on January 30, 2001. All of the songs on this set appeared as well on the band's first four albums proper.

Contents

1 Track listing

1.1 1999 Reissue Bonus Tracks

2 Personnel

2.1 Additional Personnel
2.2 Sources

Track listing

"Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) - 2:29
"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (Clark) - 2:32
"The Bells of Rhymney" (Idris Davies/Pete Seeger) - 3:30
"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is A Season)" (Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8/Seeger) - 3:49
"All I Really Want to Do" (Dylan) - 2:04
"Chimes of Freedom" (Dylan) - 3:51
"Eight Miles High" (Clark/Jim McGuinn/Crosby) - 3:34
"Mr. Spaceman" (McGuinn) - 2:09
"5D (Fifth Dimension)" (McGuinn) - 2:33
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star" (McGuinn/Chris Hillman) - 1:50
"My Back Pages" (Dylan) - 3:08

1999 Reissue Bonus Tracks

"It Won't Be Wrong" (McGuinn/Gerst) - 1:58
"Set You Free This Time" (Clark) - 2:49
"Have You Seen Her Face" (Hillman) - 2:40

Personnel

Jim McGuinn, vocals, guitars
Gene Clark, vocals, tambourine, harmonica
David Crosby, vocals, guitars
Chris Hillman, vocals, bass
Michael Clarke, drums

Additional Personnel

Van Dyke Parks, keyboards on "5D (Fifth Dimension)"
Hugh Masekela, trumpet on "So You Want to Be A Rock and Roll Star"
Jerry Cole, rhythm guitar on "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Larry Knechtel, bass on "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Hal Blaine, drums on "Mr. Tambourine Man"

Sources

Rogan, Johnny. Liner Notes, The Byrds' Greatest Hits, Columbia/Legacy CK 66230 1999.
AllMusicGuide.com
RIAA.com [Byrds' Greatest Hits search item], retrieved 17 June, 2006.
Whitburn, Joel. "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001," ISBN 0-898-20147-0

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