Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: 1964-1966

by The Yardbirds

Overview

In many ways, Rhino's 1986 compilation Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: 1964-1966 is the standard-bearer among Yardbirds hits collections, largely because it is the one that was available domestically in the U.S. for so many years. It is undeniably excellent, containing a lion's share of the Yardbirds' biggest hits, but it bears a couple of major flaws that keep it from being a definitive single-disc set. First off, it is effectively a document of the Yardbirds with Eric Clapton, as it stops in 1966 just after Jeff Beck replaced Clapton as the group's lead guitarist. This happens to be the time they switched labels, but that is less of a clean break than it reads, since the Yardbirds started to get further out when Beck joined the group, as captured here by the droning "Still I'm Sad," the frenzied rave-up of "I'm a Man," the minor-key menace of "Evil Hearted You," and the bright piercing psychedelia of "Shapes of Things." Here, these tracks are mixed up with the bluesier cuts from the Clapton era, and this non-chronological sequencing -- while not distracting -- doesn't quite have the same dramatic impact as following the band single by single. All the noteworthy hits comps that followed in the wake of this 1986 comp did wind up following that blueprint, whether it was Raven's single-disc sets Over Under Sideways Down and Happenings Ten Years Time Ago or Rhino's splendid double-disc Ultimate! set, which contains every one of the tracks from Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 save "Putty (In Your Hands)," an atypically fluffy pop tune that's fun but not essential. All of these also have the benefit of fully exploring Beck's tenure with the band as well as Jimmy Page's stint toward the group's demise, so they are preferable to this set, but it's still hard to knock this Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, as it was the first hits compilation to take a serious approach to the band's catalog and it remains a dynamite listen on its own terms. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2008
Label:	Rhino
UPC:	0081227991562
Rank:	4704

Tracks

1. For Your Love
2. Putty (In Your Hands)
3. Evil Hearted You
4. Still I'm Sad
5. You're a Better Man Than I
6. Shapes of Things
7. Heart Full of Soul
8. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
9. I Ain't Done Wrong
10. I'm a Man
11. The Train Kept A-Rollin'
12. A Certain Girl
13. I Ain't Got You
14. I'm Not Talking
15. I Wish You Would
16. Too Much Monkey Business
17. Got Love If You Want It
18. Smokestack Lightning

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Yardbirds   Primary Artist
Jeff Beck   Guitar

Technical Credits

Big John Patton   Composer
Howlin' Wolf   Composer
Lois Mann   Composer
Naomi Neville   Composer
Jim McCarty   Composer
Mike Hugg   Composer
Clarence Carter   Composer
Graham Gouldman   Composer
Brian Hugg   Composer
Giorgio Gomelsky   Producer,Original Analog Production
Tiny Bradshaw   Composer
Jimmy Rogers   Composer
Mose Allison   Composer
Sonny Boy Williamson I   Composer
Howard Kay   Composer
Parke Puterbaugh   Annotation,Liner Notes
Don "DJ Snake" Brown   Design,Art Direction
Dezo Hoffmann   Photography
Paul Samwell-Smith   Composer
Slim Harpo   Composer
Bo Diddley   Composer
Bill Inglot   Producer,Transfers,Release Production,Digital Preparation
Ken Perry   Transfers,Digital Preparation
Billy Boy Arnold   Composer
Keith Relf   Composer
Chuck Berry   Composer