Greatest Hits (James Taylor album)


Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. 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. It features redone versions of "Carolina in My Mind" and "Something in the Way She Moves", 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 #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.
In August 2012, the album re-entered the Billboard albums chart at #15, which gave the album a new peak.

Reception

William Ruhlmann gave the album a positive review, writing for Allmusic that it constitutes a "reasonable collection for an artist who wasn't particularly well-defined by his singles. While cautioning that the release didn't 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:
  1. "Something in the Way She Moves" – 3:14
  2. "Carolina in My Mind" – 4:00
  3. "Fire and Rain" – 3:26
  4. "Sweet Baby James" – 2:55
  5. "Country Road" – 3:26
  6. "You've Got a Friend" – 4:33
Side 2:
  1. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" – 2:39
  2. "Walking Man" – 3:36
  3. "How Sweet It Is " – 3:39
  4. "Mexico" – 3:01
  5. "Shower the People" – 4:01
  6. "Steamroller" – 5:19

    Personnel