The Yardbirds Greatest Hits
| The Yardbirds Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by the Yardbirds | ||||
| Released | 27 March 1967 | |||
| Recorded | 1964–1966 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 30:26 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Giorgio Gomelsky, Simon Napier-Bell | |||
| The Yardbirds' American chronology | ||||
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The Yardbirds Greatest Hits is the first compilation album of songs recorded by the Yardbirds. It was released in the United States in March 1967 by Epic Records and included all six of the Yardbirds' American A-side singles up to that time, plus three B-sides and the live "Smokestack Lightning" from Having a Rave Up.[1] The album was their highest charting LP record in the US, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[2]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
AllMusic critic Bruce Eder gave the album four and a half out of five stars, who comments "the whole platter summed up, just about as neatly as it was possible to do across just ten songs, what made the Yardbirds a great band."[2] He notes that since the focus is on "hits", most of the selections feature guitarist Jeff Beck, although Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are represented with one song each.[2] Eder adds:
Given its layout and purpose, as well as complications brought about by the subsequent shifting ownership and licensing of different parts of the group's library, this ended up being the best single-disc LP compilation ever issued on this band ... And it was responsible for introducing many fans to the full range of the group's work.
Track listing
| Side one | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Release | Length |
| 1. | "Shapes of Things" | Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, Jim McCarty | Single | 2:24 |
| 2. | "Still I'm Sad" | Smith, McCarty | B-side "I'm a Man" (US) | 2:59 |
| 3. | "New York City Blues" | Relf | B-side "Shapes of Things" (US version 2) | 4:17 |
| 4. | "For Your Love" | Graham Gouldman | Single | 2:27 |
| 5. | "Over Under Sideways Down" | Chris Dreja, McCarty, Jeff Beck, Relf, Samwell-Smith | Single | 2:22 |
| Side two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Release | Length |
| 1. | "I'm a Man" | Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley | Single (US) | 2:35 |
| 2. | "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" | Relf, Dreja, McCarty, Beck, Jimmy Page | Single | 2:49 |
| 3. | "Heart Full of Soul" | Gouldman | Single | 2:28 |
| 4. | "Smokestack Lightning" | Chester Burnett a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf | Five Live Yardbirds | 5:35 |
| 5. | "I'm Not Talking" | Mose Allison | B-side "Shapes of Things" (US version 1) | 2:30 |