Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits is a 1967 compilation album of songs by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Released on March 27, 1967 by Columbia Records, in the non-productive period after Dylan's motorcycle accident in 1966, it was the first compilation album of material by Dylan. It contains every Top 40 single Dylan had up to 1967, plus additional tracks, including songs not released as singles by Dylan. It peaked at No. 10 on the pop album chart in the United States, and went to No. 3 on the album chart in the United Kingdom. Certified five times platinum by the RIAA, it is his best-selling album in the U.S.[3]

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
Bob Dylan
ReleasedMarch 27, 1967 (1967-03-27)
RecordedJuly 9, 1962– March 10, 1966
GenreFolk rock, folk
Length40:44
LabelColumbia
ProducerJohn H. Hammond, Tom Wilson, Bob Johnston
Bob Dylan chronology
Blonde on Blonde
(1966)		 Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
(1967)		 John Wesley Harding
(1967)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Content

Greatest Hits presented Dylan's first appearance on records after his praised Blonde on Blonde double-LP of May 1966 and his motorcycle accident of that summer. With no activity by Dylan since the end of his recent world tour, and no new recordings on the immediate horizon (the sessions that would in part be released in June 1975 as The Basement Tapes were still months away), Columbia wanted new product to continue to capitalize on Dylan's commercial appeal, so released Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, the label's first Dylan compilation.

Greatest Hits serves as Dylan's de facto singles collection for the 1960s. With the exception of "The Times They Are a-Changin'", "It Ain't Me Babe", and "Mr. Tambourine Man", all tracks on this album were released as 45 rpm singles in the United States during that decade. It is worth noting that in 1963 "Blowin' in the Wind" became a No. 2 hit single for Peter, Paul and Mary, and that in 1965 "Times" made it to No. 9 as a single release in the United Kingdom. In 1965 a truncated rock and roll version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" had been a No. 1 hit for The Byrds in the summer, and the Turtles took a folk-rock version of "It Ain't Me Babe" to No. 8. The remaining six tracks all made the Billboard Top 40 in 1965 and 1966. "Positively 4th Street" was the only single of the collection not either later released on or taken off a long-playing album, having been recorded during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited.

When this album was remastered for its 1999 issue on compact disc 30 years later, a slightly longer alternative mix of "Positively 4th Street" was substituted for the original single version. In 2003, this album was released along with Dylan's two other greatest hits compilations in one four-disc boxed set, as Greatest Hits Volumes I–III.

An audiophile version of the album was released in August 2012, mastered by Steve Hoffman for the Audio Fidelity label as a 24-kt gold-plated CD. This disc is a limited edition of 5,000 individually numbered copies.[4] Like the 1999 remaster, this CD contains a longer version of "Positively 4th Street.

Artwork

The cover photograph used on the cover of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits was taken by Rowland Scherman at Dylan's November 28, 1965, concert in Washington, D.C. Bob Cato was the designer of the album cover, which won the 1967 Grammy award for "Best Album Cover, Photography". The original album package also included Milton Glaser's now-familiar "psychedelic" poster[5] depicting Dylan. A similar image taken at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 was selected for Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II, a compilation Dylan had much more control over. John Berg, senior art director at Columbia Records, recognized that a backlit image such as Scherman's would work because of Dylan's distinctive profile and hairstyle. It was his design, as well as Scherman's photo, that won the Grammy.

Track listing

All tracks were written by Bob Dylan and all releases were by Columbia Records. Chart positions are from Billboard Hot 100. In most cases the LP featured album versions in place of singles if such were not identical to single mixes.

Side one
No.TitleSingle releaseLength
1."Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35" (album Blonde on Blonde, June 1966)single released March 1966; chart peak #24:40
2."Blowin' in the Wind" (album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, May 1963)single released August 1963; did not chart2:51
3."The Times They Are a-Changin'" (album The Times They Are A-Changin', Jan 1964)not released by Dylan as a single (in the U.S.)3:16
4."It Ain't Me Babe" (album Another Side of Bob Dylan, Aug 1964)not released by Dylan as a single3:38
5."Like a Rolling Stone" (album Highway 61 Revisited, Aug 1965)single released June 1965; chart peak #26:12
Side two
No.TitleSingle releaseLength
1."Mr. Tambourine Man" (album, Bringing It All Back Home, March 1965)not released by Dylan as a single5:31
2."Subterranean Homesick Blues" (album, Bringing It All Back Home, March 1965)single released March 1965; chart peak #392:22
3."I Want You" (album Blonde on Blonde, June 1966)single released June 1966; chart peak #203:09
4."Positively 4th Street" (non-album single)single released September 1965; chart peak #74:12
5."Just Like a Woman" (album Blonde on Blonde, June 1966)single released August 1966; chart peak #334:53

Export editions

Great Britain and Ireland

The UK release of the album had a slightly different track listing. "Positively 4th Street" was omitted, but "She Belongs to Me", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" were added.[6] In the UK, this album was followed up by Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits 2, which repeated the Blonde on Blonde songs from the first Greatest Hits and also added "Absolutely Sweet Marie", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "Gates of Eden", "Chimes of Freedom", and several others.[7] This album was different from the album called Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II in the US, which was released in 1971 and called More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits in the UK.

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits 2

Europe

Subtitled "Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan", this version was compiled in 1966. Only half of the 12 songs are also on the U.S. release. Songs from Blonde on Blonde are missing altogether.

Charts
Year Chart Position
1967 Billboard 200[8] 10
UK Top 75[9] 6

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[11] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] 2× Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[13] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. "RollingStoneAlbumGuide's music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  3. RIAA Gold and Platinum database retrieved 4 June 2012
  4. Steve Hoffman Music Forums discussion thread
  5. "Dylan Reproduction". Milton Glaser, Inc.
  6. Strong, M.C. & Peel, J. (2002). The Great Rock Discography. The National Academies. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-84195-312-0.
  7. Humphries, P. (1995). Bob Dylan. p. 145. ISBN 0-7119-4868-2.
  8. "Bob Dylan – Chart history". www.billboard.com. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  9. "Official Chart History". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  10. "Canadian album certifications – Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits". Music Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  11. "Dutch album certifications – Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved November 13, 2019. Enter Greatest Hits in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  12. "British album certifications – Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 13, 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Greatest Hits in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  13. "American album certifications – Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 13, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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