The Byrds Greatest Hits

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The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the fifth album by the American rock band The Byrds and their first album with a greatest hits collection. It was released by Columbia Records in August 1967 , peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs in the US , making it the band's most successful album. In the UK , it failed to make it into the top 100. It contains the most successful single A-sides between 1965 and 1967 as well as three tracks from the first album Mr. Tambourine Man .

Within the first year of its release, the LP received gold and 1986 platinum status. It was first released on CD in 1985. It was remastered again on CD in 1991 and released with a modified record cover (in Europe under the title Greatest Hits: 18 Classics Remastered ). It contained seven bonus tracks. The album was remastered again in 1999 with 20-bit resolution and released as part of a Byrds series by Columbia / Legacy . The newly mixed songs were supplemented by three additional bonus tracks.

The album was last released in 2001 in SACD format with the same tracks as in 1999. A CD released by Sony Music in 2009 entitled Greatest Hits is not the original Greatest Hits album.

The songs from the original LP are also on the albums Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn! , Fifth Dimension and Younger Than Yesterday . In 2003 the album reached number 178 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list .

Track list

Original album

page 1

  1. Mr. Tambourine Man ( Bob Dylan ) - 2:29
  2. I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( Gene Clark ) - 2:32
  3. The Bells of Rhymney ( Idris Davies , Pete Seeger ) - 3:30
  4. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season) (Book of Ecclesiastes / Pete Seeger) - 3:49
  5. All I Really Want to Do (Bob Dylan) - 2:04
  6. Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan) - 3:51

Page 2

  1. Eight Miles High (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn , David Crosby ) - 3:34
  2. Mr. Spaceman (Jim McGuinn) - 2:09
  3. 5D ( Fifth Dimension ) (Jim McGuinn) - 2:33
  4. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman ) - 1:50
  5. My Back Pages (Bob Dylan) - 3:08

1991 CD bonus tracks

  1. Jesus Is Just Alright (Arthur Reynolds) - 2:08
  2. Chestnut Mare ( Roger McGuinn , Jacques Levy ) - 5:07
  3. I Trust (Roger McGuinn) - 3:17
  4. Lady Friend (David Crosby) - 2:35
  5. Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan) - 3:16
  6. Ballad of Easy Rider (Roger McGuinn) - 2:02
  7. Glory, Glory (Arthur Reynolds) - 4:03

1999 CD bonus tracks

  1. It Won't Be Wrong (Jim McGuinn, Harvey Gerst) - 1:58
  2. Set You Free This Time (Gene Clark) - 2:49
  3. Have You Seen Her Face (Chris Hillman) - 2:40

Musicians of the original album

The Byrds

  • Jim McGuinn - guitar, vocals
  • Gene Clark - tambourine, vocals (guitar on bonus tracks 12–13 from 1999, harmonica on bonus track 13 from 1999)
  • David Crosby - guitar, vocals
  • Chris Hillman - electric bass, vocals
  • Michael Clarke - drums

More musicians

  • Bill Pittman and Jerry Cole - rhythm guitars at Mr. Tambourine Man
  • Larry Knechtel - electric bass with Mr. Tambourine Man
  • Hal Blaine - drums at Mr. Tambourine Man
  • Leon Russell - electric piano with Mr. Tambourine Man
  • Van Dyke Parks - Organ at 5D (Fifth Dimension)
  • Hugh Masekela - trumpet for So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
  • (Unknown) - Organ on My Back Pages