''Greatest Hits'' is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-sell ...

. Released in November 1976. To this day, it is the best-selling album of his career. The album took place in the context of Taylor's end of his recording contract with

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It features redone versions of "

Carolina in My Mind "Carolina in My Mind" is a song originally written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. It was Taylor's second single from his 1968 self-titled debut album. Taylor wrote ''Carolina in My Mind'' while overseas recording for ...

" and "

Something in the Way She Moves "Something in the Way She Moves" is a song written by James Taylor that appeared on his 1968 debut album for Apple Records, ''James Taylor''. It has also been covered by other artists, including Tom Rush and Harry Belafonte. The opening line i ...

", both of which had been previously included on Taylor's self-titled debut album in 1968. It also includes a previously unavailable live version of " Steamroller". The album did not rise higher than number 23 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart on its original release. However it became a steady seller for many years, and ''Greatest Hits'' has sold over 11,000,000 copies certifying it as a Platinum album eleven times over, and a diamond album once (for 10 million copies). In August 2012, the album re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, at number 15, which gave the album a new peak.

Reception

Music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

William Ruhlmann gave the album a positive review, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

that it constitutes a "reasonable collection for an artist who wasn't particularly well-defined by his singles". While cautioning that the release did not quite show the "evolution" of Taylor's songwriting, he stated that it remains "a good sampler" of the artist's early work.

Track listing

All songs were written by James Taylor except where noted. Side 1 #"

" (1976 version) – 3:14 #"

" (1976 version) – 4:00 #" Fire and Rain" – 3:26 #" Sweet Baby James" – 2:55 #" Country Road" – 3:26 #"

You've Got a Friend "You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by American singer, songwriter, and musician Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, '' Tapestry'' (1971). Another well-known version is by James Taylor ...

" (

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

) – 4:33 Side 2 #"

Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, from his 1972 album '' One Man Dog''. The song has been included on three of Taylor's greatest-hits collection albums: ''Greatest Hits' ...

" – 2:39 #"Walking Man" – 3:36 #"

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produce ...

" ( Holland-Dozier-Holland) – 3:39 #"

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

" – 3:01 #" Shower the People" – 4:01 #" Steamroller" (Live) – 5:19

Personnel

– acoustic guitar, vocals *

Kenny Ascher Kenneth Lee Ascher (born October 26, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock, classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and cinema production ...

– electric piano (track 8) *

Byron Berline Byron Douglas Berline (July 6, 1944 – July 10, 2021) was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock. Life and career Berline was born in Caldwell, Kansas, ...

– fiddle (track 2) *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– tenor saxophone (track 7) *

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

– harmony vocals (track 10) *Nick DeCaro – hornorgan, voiceorgan (track 11) *

Craig Doerge Craig Doerge (; born December 4, 1944) is an American keyboard player, session musician, songwriter, record producer, best known for his keyboard work with Crosby Stills and Nash, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. Biography He was born in Clev ...

– piano (track 7) *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

(tracks 1, 2) *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

–

orchestra bells The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

, vibes (track 11) *

Andrew Gold Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold played on scores of reco ...

–

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

, backing vocals (track 2) *

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

– percussion (track 10) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums (track 9) *

– piano, backing vocals (tracks 3–5) *

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, Gr ...

– electric guitar (tracks 7, 9–10, 12); credited as Danny Kootch - acoustic guitar,

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

s (track 6) *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Dan F ...

– drums (tracks 2–7, 10–12); congas (tracks 6–7);

cabasa The cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wooden cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, wooden or plastic handle. The metal cabasa was created by Mart ...

(track 6); tambourine (track 9); shaker (track 10) *Gayle Levant – harp (track 10) *

John London John Carl Kuehne (February 6, 1942 – February 12, 2000), better known as John London, was an American musician and songwriter, and was involved in several Hollywood television and movie productions. He was most notably associated with both the ...

– bass guitar (track 4) *

Rick Marotta Richard Thomas Marotta (born January 7, 1948) is an American drummer and percussionist. He has appeared on recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Ste ...

– drums (track 8) *

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Gra ...

– percussion (track 8) *

Clarence McDonald Clarence "Mac" McDonald (1944 or 1945 – July 21, 2021) was a Los Angeles-based American pianist, composer, arranger, and producer. McDonald was known for his musical diversity, enduring melodies and signature groove. His most famous composition ...

– piano (tracks 2, 9, 12); Fender

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(tracks 9, 11); voiceorgan (track 11) *

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

– bass guitar (track 5) *

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her st ...

– backing vocals (track 6) *Andy Muson – bass guitar (track 8) *

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

– harmony vocals (track 10) *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the ...

– strings (

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

) (track 8) *

Herb Pedersen Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including country, bluegrass, p ...

– backing vocals (track 1) *

Red Rhodes Orville J. Rhodes, better known as Red Rhodes or O. J. Rhodes (December 30, 1930 – August 20, 1995), was an American pedal steel guitarist. His mother taught him to play the Dobro at the age of five, but at the age of fifteen he switched to ...

– pedal steel guitar (track 4) *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

– saxophone (track 9) *

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Th ...

– harmony vocals (tracks 9, 11) *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...

(credited as "Lee" Sklar) – bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 6–7, 9–12) *

David Spinozza David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album '' Walkin ...

– electric guitar; acoustic guitar (track 8) *Bobby West (credited as Bobby "Wild Wild" West) – double bass (track 3)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1976 greatest hits albums James Taylor compilation albums Albums produced by Peter Asher Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Albums produced by Russ Titelman Albums produced by David Spinozza Warner Records compilation albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders