The Byrds' Greatest Hits
Encyclopedia
The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits
album by the American rock
band
The Byrds
and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records
(see 1967 in music
). It is the top-selling album in The Byrds' catalogue and reached #6 on the Billboard Top LPs
chart but failed to break into the UK Albums Chart
. The album provides a summary of The Byrds' history during Gene Clark
and David Crosby
's tenure with the band and also functions as a survey of the group's hit singles
from 1965 to 1967, a period when the band had its greatest amount of success on the singles chart. Most of the band's U.S. A-sides
from this period are included on the album, along with three of their more important album tracks: "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "The Bells of Rhymney
", and "Chimes of Freedom
". The three U.S. singles from this period that are not included on the album are "Set You Free This Time
", "Have You Seen Her Face
" and "Lady Friend
" (although these songs have been included as bonus tracks on various CD
reissues of the album). All of the songs included on the original Greatest Hits album can also be found on the band's first four albums, Mr. Tambourine Man
, Turn! Turn! Turn!
, Fifth Dimension
and Younger Than Yesterday
.
The eight tracks on The Byrds' Greatest Hits that had been singles
peaked 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 'n' Roll Star
" #29; "Eight Miles High
" #14; "Turn! Turn! Turn!
" #1; and "Mr. Tambourine Man
" #1. In addition, four of the singles included on the album had charted in the United Kingdom, peaking at the following positions on the UK Singles Chart
: "Turn! Turn! Turn!" #26; "Eight Miles High" #24; "All I Really Want to Do" #4; and "Mr. Tambourine Man" #1. In particular, the "Eight Miles High", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", and "Mr. Tambourine Man" singles were widely influential during the 1960s, a time when singles, at least in pop music
, were as important in their own right as albums, and generally more so. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" summed up the decade's counter-cultural
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 subgenres of folk rock
and psychedelic rock
respectively into the popular music
of the day.
, CS 9516 in stereo
) and October 20, 1967 in the United Kingdom (catalogue item BPG 63107 in mono, SBPG 63107 in stereo). The album was certified
Gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
within a year of its release, eventually being certified platinum
on November 21, 1986.
The album was first issued on CD by Columbia Records in 1985 and was later re-released in a remastered form in 1991 with alternative cover artwork. In the UK and Europe, this 1991 edition of the album was titled Greatest Hits: 18 Classics Remastered and included an additional seven bonus tracks taken from The Byrds' post Younger Than Yesterday career (a period not covered by the original album). The album was remastered again at 20-bit
resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy
Byrds series and reissued in an expanded and remix
ed form on March 30, 1999. The three bonus tracks on the 1999 reissue included two of the remaining singles from The Byrds' 1965–1967 career, plus the #63 charting B-side
, "It Won't Be Wrong
". The album was reissued again in the SACD
format on January 30, 2001, with the same expanded track listing as on the 20-bit remaster.
On March 16, 2009 Sony Music
released a new Byrds compilation
titled Greatest Hits as part of their Steel Box Collection series. This compilation album is not the same as the original The Byrds' Greatest Hits album, although it does have four of the same tracks in common.
enthusiastically waxed lyrical about the album in a review published in Crawdaddy!
magazine: "Any greatest hits album is insignificant. By definition it contains nothing unfamiliar; and yet this very fact offers great potential beauty, for a well-made greatest hits LP might then unleash the emotion of familiarity in an artistic context. The Byrds have achieved that goal: always masters of the form, they have now taken the concept of a great hits anthology and created from it an essay into rediscovery." WCFL Beat magazine was also complimentary about the album, noting that during the mid-1960s British Invasion
The Byrds were the only American band to "help to revolutionize the pop scene and to pave the way for the so-called psychedelic music of today." In the UK, Record Mirror
gave the album a top rating of 4 stars, while commenting "This is a chronological collection of their singles and is really something. Their sound has progressed from the Dylanesque to the sound which is one of the best in the pop world." A November 1967 review of the album in Beat Instrumental declared "This is probably the best collection LP to come out of the states this year, and has songs that won't date for years to come."
In recent years, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
, in his review for the Allmusic website, has described the album as "pretty close to a definitive single-disc summary of the Byrds' prime." Sarah Zupko also praised the album in her PopMatters
review, noting that "The Byrds perfectly captured the mood of their time." In his review of the SACD version of the album for the Music Tap website, Robert Olsen described the album as "a compilation album featuring some of the better known recordings from the first 4 albums." Olsen went on to note that "The first album is over-represented, and there's an unwholesome emphasis on the Dylan cuts. Nevertheless, at the time the album was stunning in its breadth and provided the next generation with a good sample of the sound and direction of the group."
In 2003, the album was ranked at #178 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
.
The Byrds
Additional personnel
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album by the American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
(see 1967 in music
1967 in music
The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...
). It is the top-selling album in The Byrds' catalogue and reached #6 on the Billboard Top LPs
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart but failed to break into the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The album provides a summary of The Byrds' history during Gene Clark
Gene Clark
Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
and David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
's tenure with the band and also functions as a survey of the group's hit singles
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
from 1965 to 1967, a period when the band had its greatest amount of success on the singles chart. Most of the band's U.S. A-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
from this period are included on the album, along with three of their more important album tracks: "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "The Bells of Rhymney
The Bells of Rhymney
"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song first recorded by folk singer Pete Seeger, using words written by Welsh poet Idris Davies. The lyrics to the song were drawn from part of Davies' poetic work Gwalia Deserta, which was first published in 1938...
", and "Chimes of Freedom
Chimes of Freedom
"Chimes of Freedom" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan , produced by Tom Wilson. It was written in early 1964 and was influenced by the symbolist poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. The song depicts the feelings and thoughts of the singer...
". The three U.S. singles from this period that are not included on the album are "Set You Free This Time
Set You Free This Time
"Set You Free This Time" is a song by the American folk rock band The Byrds, written by band member Gene Clark and first released in December 1965 on the group's Turn! Turn! Turn! album. According to Clark, the song was written in just a few hours during The Byrds' 1965 British tour, after a night...
", "Have You Seen Her Face
Have You Seen Her Face
"Have You Seen Her Face" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by the group's bass player Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as the third single to be taken from that album on May 22, 1967 and reached #74 on the Billboard...
" and "Lady Friend
Lady Friend (song)
"Lady Friend" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by David Crosby and released as a single on July 13, 1967. The single reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom...
" (although these songs have been included as bonus tracks on various CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
reissues of the album). All of the songs included on the original Greatest Hits album can also be found on the band's first four albums, Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man (album)
Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut album by the American folk rock band The Byrds and was released in June 1965 on Columbia Records . The album, along with the single of the same name, established the band as an internationally successful rock act and was also influential in originating the musical...
, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Turn! Turn! Turn! (album)
Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second album by the folk rock band The Byrds and was released in December 1965 on Columbia Records . Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string...
, Fifth Dimension
Fifth Dimension (album)
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records . Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark...
and Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in February 1967 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelic rock into their music, a process they had begun on their previous LP...
.
The eight tracks on The Byrds' Greatest Hits that had been singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
peaked at the following positions on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
: "5D (Fifth Dimension)
5D (Fifth Dimension)
"5D " is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by band member Jim McGuinn. It was released as a single on June 13, 1966 and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension, released...
" #44; "All I Really Want to Do" #40; "Mr. Spaceman
Mr. Spaceman
"Mr. Spaceman" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds and was the third track on their 1966 album Fifth Dimension. The song was initially written by band member Jim McGuinn as a "melodramatic screenplay" but it soon evolved into a whimsical meditation on the existence of extraterrestrial...
" #36; "My Back Pages
My Back Pages
"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment...
" #30; "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to...
" #29; "Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
" #14; "Turn! Turn! Turn!
Turn! Turn! Turn! (song)
"Turn! Turn! Turn! ", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible and put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959...
" #1; and "Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
" #1. In addition, four of the singles included on the album had charted in the United Kingdom, peaking at the following positions on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
: "Turn! Turn! Turn!" #26; "Eight Miles High" #24; "All I Really Want to Do" #4; and "Mr. Tambourine Man" #1. In particular, the "Eight Miles High", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", and "Mr. Tambourine Man" singles were widely influential during the 1960s, a time when singles, at least in pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, were as important in their own right as albums, and generally more so. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" summed up the decade's counter-cultural
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
values as much as "Blowin' in the Wind
Blowin' in the Wind
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" or "All You Need Is Love
All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
", while "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High" helped to introduce the subgenres of folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
and psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
respectively into the popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
of the day.
Release
The Byrds' Greatest Hits was released on August 7, 1967 in the United States (catalogue item CL 2716 in monoMonaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
, CS 9516 in stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
) and October 20, 1967 in the United Kingdom (catalogue item BPG 63107 in mono, SBPG 63107 in stereo). The album was certified
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
Gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
within a year of its release, eventually being certified platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
on November 21, 1986.
The album was first issued on CD by Columbia Records in 1985 and was later re-released in a remastered form in 1991 with alternative cover artwork. In the UK and Europe, this 1991 edition of the album was titled Greatest Hits: 18 Classics Remastered and included an additional seven bonus tracks taken from The Byrds' post Younger Than Yesterday career (a period not covered by the original album). The album was remastered again at 20-bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
Byrds series and reissued in an expanded and remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed form on March 30, 1999. The three bonus tracks on the 1999 reissue included two of the remaining singles from The Byrds' 1965–1967 career, plus the #63 charting B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
, "It Won't Be Wrong
It Won't Be Wrong
"It Won't Be Wrong" is a song by the American folk rock band The Byrds, which appeared as the second track on their 1965 album, Turn! Turn! Turn! It was written in 1964 by band member Jim McGuinn and his friend, Harvey Gerst, an acquaintance from McGuinn's days as a folk singer at The Troubadour...
". The album was reissued again in the SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
format on January 30, 2001, with the same expanded track listing as on the 20-bit remaster.
On March 16, 2009 Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
released a new Byrds compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
titled Greatest Hits as part of their Steel Box Collection series. This compilation album is not the same as the original The Byrds' Greatest Hits album, although it does have four of the same tracks in common.
Reception
Upon release, The Byrds' Greatest Hits was met with positive reviews. Paul WilliamsPaul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)
Paul Williams is an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism :Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans...
enthusiastically waxed lyrical about the album in a review published in Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
magazine: "Any greatest hits album is insignificant. By definition it contains nothing unfamiliar; and yet this very fact offers great potential beauty, for a well-made greatest hits LP might then unleash the emotion of familiarity in an artistic context. The Byrds have achieved that goal: always masters of the form, they have now taken the concept of a great hits anthology and created from it an essay into rediscovery." WCFL Beat magazine was also complimentary about the album, noting that during the mid-1960s British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
The Byrds were the only American band to "help to revolutionize the pop scene and to pave the way for the so-called psychedelic music of today." In the UK, Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
gave the album a top rating of 4 stars, while commenting "This is a chronological collection of their singles and is really something. Their sound has progressed from the Dylanesque to the sound which is one of the best in the pop world." A November 1967 review of the album in Beat Instrumental declared "This is probably the best collection LP to come out of the states this year, and has songs that won't date for years to come."
In recent years, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
, in his review for the Allmusic website, has described the album as "pretty close to a definitive single-disc summary of the Byrds' prime." Sarah Zupko also praised the album in her PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
review, noting that "The Byrds perfectly captured the mood of their time." In his review of the SACD version of the album for the Music Tap website, Robert Olsen described the album as "a compilation album featuring some of the better known recordings from the first 4 albums." Olsen went on to note that "The first album is over-represented, and there's an unwholesome emphasis on the Dylan cuts. Nevertheless, at the time the album was stunning in its breadth and provided the next generation with a good sample of the sound and direction of the group."
In 2003, the album was ranked at #178 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Side 1
- "Mr. Tambourine ManMr. Tambourine Man"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 2:29 - "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
) – 2:32 - "The Bells of RhymneyThe Bells of Rhymney"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song first recorded by folk singer Pete Seeger, using words written by Welsh poet Idris Davies. The lyrics to the song were drawn from part of Davies' poetic work Gwalia Deserta, which was first published in 1938...
" (Idris DaviesIdris DaviesIdris Davies was a Welsh poet. He was born in Rhymney, near Caerphilly in South Wales, the Welsh-speaking son of colliery chief winderman Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. Davies became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English...
, Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
) – 3:30 - "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)" (Book of Ecclesiastes/Pete Seeger) – 3:49
- "All I Really Want to Do" (Bob Dylan) – 2:04
- "Chimes of FreedomChimes of Freedom"Chimes of Freedom" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan , produced by Tom Wilson. It was written in early 1964 and was influenced by the symbolist poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. The song depicts the feelings and thoughts of the singer...
" (Bob Dylan) – 3:51
Side 2
- "Eight Miles HighEight Miles High"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinnRoger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, David CrosbyDavid CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
) – 3:34 - "Mr. SpacemanMr. Spaceman"Mr. Spaceman" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds and was the third track on their 1966 album Fifth Dimension. The song was initially written by band member Jim McGuinn as a "melodramatic screenplay" but it soon evolved into a whimsical meditation on the existence of extraterrestrial...
" (Jim McGuinn) – 2:09 - "5D (Fifth Dimension)5D (Fifth Dimension)"5D " is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by band member Jim McGuinn. It was released as a single on June 13, 1966 and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension, released...
" (Jim McGuinn) – 2:33 - "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll StarSo You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to...
" (Jim McGuinn, Chris HillmanChris HillmanChristopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
) – 1:50 - "My Back PagesMy Back Pages"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment...
" (Bob Dylan) – 3:08
1991 reissue bonus tracks
- "Jesus Is Just AlrightJesus Is Just Alright"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a gospel song written by Arthur Reid Reynolds and first recorded by Reynolds' own group, The Art Reynolds Singers, on their 1966 album, Tellin' It Like It Is....
" (Arthur Reynolds) – 2:08 - "Chestnut MareChestnut Mare"Chestnut Mare" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy during 1969 for a planned country rock musical named Gene Tryp. The musical was never staged and the song was instead released in September 1970 as part of The Byrds' album...
" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques LevyJacques LevyJacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
) – 5:07 - "I Trust" (Roger McGuinn) – 3:17
- "Lady FriendLady Friend (song)"Lady Friend" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by David Crosby and released as a single on July 13, 1967. The single reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom...
" (David Crosby) – 2:35 - "Lay Lady LayLay Lady Lay"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings...
" (Bob Dylan) – 3:16 - "Ballad of Easy RiderBallad of Easy RiderBallad of Easy Rider is the eighth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in November 1969 on Columbia Records . The album was named after the song "Ballad of Easy Rider", which had been penned by The Byrds' guitarist and singer, Roger McGuinn , as the theme song for the 1969...
" (Roger McGuinn) – 2:02 - "Glory, GloryGlory, Glory, Hallelujah (Lay My Burden Down)"Glory, Glory" is an American spiritual song, which has been recorded by many artists in a variety of genres, including folk, country, blues, rock, and gospel.-Lyrics:Lyrically, the song has many variations but the best known version of the song "Glory, Glory" (also known as "When I Lay My Burden...
" (Arthur Reynolds) – 4:03
1999 reissue bonus tracks
- "It Won't Be WrongIt Won't Be Wrong"It Won't Be Wrong" is a song by the American folk rock band The Byrds, which appeared as the second track on their 1965 album, Turn! Turn! Turn! It was written in 1964 by band member Jim McGuinn and his friend, Harvey Gerst, an acquaintance from McGuinn's days as a folk singer at The Troubadour...
" (Jim McGuinn, Harvey Gerst) – 1:58 - "Set You Free This TimeSet You Free This Time"Set You Free This Time" is a song by the American folk rock band The Byrds, written by band member Gene Clark and first released in December 1965 on the group's Turn! Turn! Turn! album. According to Clark, the song was written in just a few hours during The Byrds' 1965 British tour, after a night...
" (Gene Clark) – 2:49 - "Have You Seen Her FaceHave You Seen Her Face"Have You Seen Her Face" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by the group's bass player Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as the third single to be taken from that album on May 22, 1967 and reached #74 on the Billboard...
" (Chris Hillman) – 2:40
Personnel
NOTE: Sources for this section are as follows:The Byrds
- Jim McGuinnRoger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
- tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, vocals (guitar on 1999 bonus tracks 12-13, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
on 1999 bonus track 13) - David CrosbyDavid CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
- guitar, vocals - Chris HillmanChris HillmanChristopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
- electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Michael ClarkeMichael Clarke (musician)Michael Clarke , was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group The Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.-Biography:Clarke was born Michael James Dick in...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional personnel
- Bill Pittman and Jerry ColeJerry ColeJerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.-Biography:...
- rhythm guitar on "Mr. Tambourine ManMr. Tambourine Man"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
" - Larry KnechtelLarry KnechtelLawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
- electric bass on "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Hal BlaineHal BlaineHal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
- drums on "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
- electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
on "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
- organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
on "5D (Fifth Dimension)5D (Fifth Dimension)"5D " is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by band member Jim McGuinn. It was released as a single on June 13, 1966 and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension, released...
" - Hugh MasekelaHugh MasekelaHugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
on "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll StarSo You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to...
" - unknown - organ on "My Back PagesMy Back Pages"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment...
"
Release history
| Date | Label | Format | Country | Catalog | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 7, 1967 | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
LP LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
US | CL 2716 | Original mono Monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path... release. |
| CS 9516 | Original stereo release. | ||||
| October 20, 1967 | CBS Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
LP | UK | BPG 63107 | Original mono release. |
| SBPG 63107 | Original stereo release. | ||||
| 1976 | Embassy Embassy Records Embassy Records was originally a UK budget record label that produced cover versions of current hit songs that were sold exclusively in Woolworths shops at a cheaper price than the original recordings. As such, Embassy can be seen as the UK equivalent of U.S. labels such as Hit and Bell Records... |
LP | UK | EMB 31381 | |
| 1985 | Columbia | CD | US | CK 9516 | Original CD release. |
| 1985 | CBS | LP | UK | 32068 | |
| 1985 | CBS | CD | UK | CDCBS 32068 | |
| 1991 | Columbia | CD | US | 467843 2 | Titled Greatest Hits: Re-Mastered with alternative cover artwork. |
| 1991 | Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
LP | UK | COL 467843 1 | Titled Greatest Hits: Re-Mastered with alternative cover artwork. |
| 1991 | Sony | CD | UK | COL 468316 2 | Titled Greatest Hits: 18 Classics Remastered with alternative cover artwork and seven bonus tracks. |
| March 30, 1999 | Columbia/Legacy | CD | US | CK 66230 | Reissue containing three bonus tracks and a stereo remix of the entire album. |
| January 30, 2001 | Columbia/Legacy | CD | US | CS 66230 | SACD Super Audio CD Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard... reissue containing three bonus tracks and a stereo remix of the entire album. |
| 2003 | Sony | CD | Japan | MHCP-107 | Reissue containing three bonus tracks and a stereo remix of the album in a replica LP sleeve. |