The Best of Carly Simon
Greatest hits album by
Carly Simon
ReleasedNovember 24, 1975
Recorded1970–1975
GenreRock
Length38:18
LabelElektra
ProducerEddie Kramer, Richard Perry, Paul Samwell-Smith
Carly Simon chronology
Playing Possum
(1975)		 The Best of Carly Simon
(1975)		 Another Passenger
(1976)

The Best of Carly Simon is singer-songwriter Carly Simon's first greatest hits album, released by Elektra Records, on November 24, 1975.

Covering the first five years of her career, The Best of Carly Simon includes eight top 20 hit singles from her first five albums: Carly Simon, Anticipation (both 1971), No Secrets (1972), Hotcakes (1974), and Playing Possum (1975), as well as two album cuts from No Secrets: "Night Owl" and "We Have No Secrets", the latter of which was released as the B-side to the single "The Right Thing to Do" in 1973.

Overview

For many years, this was Simon's only greatest hits collection, and as a result, it became her best selling album. In the late 1990s, sales in the United States alone stood at over three million copies. However, in later years the collection could not be considered a complete or definitive representation of Simon's best or most popular work because it did not include her major hits from the mid-1970s onward, such as "Nobody Does It Better", "You Belong to Me", "Jesse", "Coming Around Again", and "Let the River Run". The fact that Simon had changed record labels several times (moving from Elektra to Warner Bros. to Epic to Arista) made a more wide-ranging collection a difficult proposition. A live album, Greatest Hits Live (1988), went some way to rectifying this issue, but the original recorded versions were eventually collected on the three-disc box set Clouds in My Coffee (1995), the two-disc set Anthology (2002), and the single-disc collections The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better (1998) and Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits (2004). Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits went on to become a great critical and commercial success, and was certified Gold by both the Recording Industry Association of America on March 2, 2007[1] and the British Phonographic Industry on July 22, 2013.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[4]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Jim Newsom rated the album 41⁄2-stars-out-of-5, and wrote: "Opening with the powerful "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", and including four tunes from the classic No Secrets album, Simon's insightful lyrics and evocative voice remain fresh years later. This album is a good starting point for those interested in discovering why." Newsom also singled out the track "Anticipation": "...with its classic "I rehearsed those words just late last night," and the repetitive coda "these are the good old days," though merely a ketchup commercial to a later generation, still retains its power here in the original version.[3]

A contemporary review from Robert Christgau stated: "Given her self-knowledge and her fans' taste, a compilation isn't going to get her at her best, though this does collect some of her more attractive melodies. Light a fart for the two big Jacob Brackman statements: "Attitude Dancing", which means exactly what it says, and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain", which doesn't, not quite--the most insidious let's-write-God-a-love-song to date."[4]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[5]

No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be"
Carly Simon (1971)4:15
2."The Right Thing to Do"SimonNo Secrets (1972)2:57
3."Mockingbird (with James Taylor)"
Hotcakes (1974)4:11
4."Legend in Your Own Time"SimonAnticipation (1971)3:45
5."Haven't Got Time for the Pain"
  • Simon
  • Brackman
Hotcakes (1974)3:50
6."You're So Vain"SimonNo Secrets (1972)4:17
7."(We Have) No Secrets"SimonNo Secrets (1972)3:57
8."Night Owl"TaylorNo Secrets (1972)3:47
9."Anticipation"SimonAnticipation (1971)3:19
10."Attitude Dancing"
  • Simon
  • Brackman
Playing Possum (1975)4:00
Total length:38:18

Notes

  • ^a signifies a writer by additional lyrics

Personnel

Musicians

  • Carly Simon – lead vocals (all tracks), piano (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 9, 10), background vocals (tracks 2, 10), acoustic guitar (tracks 4, 7, 9), string arrangement (track 6)
  • Jim Ryan – electric guitar (tracks 3, 4, 8, 9), bass (tracks 2, 4, 9), acoustic guitar (tracks 4, 5, 9), guitar (tracks 6, 7)
  • Richard Perry – production (tracks 2, 3, 5–8, 10), percussion (track 6)
  • Kirby Johnson – string conducting & string arrangement (tracks 2, 7), horn conducting & horn arrangement (track 2), electric piano (track 7)
  • Paul Buckmaster – string conducting, string arrangement, woodwind conducting & woodwind arrangement (track 5), string orchestration (track 6)
  • Klaus Voormann – bass (tracks 3, 5–7)
  • Andy Newmark – percussion (tracks 4, 9), drums (track 2)
  • Jim Keltner – drums (tracks 3, 5, 8)
  • Jim Gordon – drums (tracks 6, 7, 10)
  • Ray Cooper – congas (tracks 2, 8)
  • Dr. John – piano & organ (track 3)
  • Ralph MacDonald – percussion (tracks 3, 5)
  • James Taylor – vocals (track 3), acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • Bobby Keys – baritone saxophone (track 3), tenor saxophone (track 8)
  • Paul Samwell-Smith – production (tracks 4, 9)
  • John Ryan – acoustic bass (tracks 4, 9)
  • Paul Glanz – piano (tracks 4, 9)
  • Paul Riser – string arrangement & horn arrangement (track 10)
  • Eddie Kramer – production (track 1)
  • Paul Griffin – piano (track 1)
  • Tony Levin – bass (track 1)
  • Jimmy Johnson – drums (track 1)
  • Ed Freeman – string arrangement (track 1)
  • Liza Strike – background vocals (track 2)
  • Vicki Brown – background vocals (track 2)
  • Robbie Robertson – electric guitar (track 3)
  • Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone (track 3)
  • Carl Hall – background vocals (track 5)
  • Tasha Thomas – background vocals (track 5)
  • Lani Groves – background vocals (track 5)
  • Paul Keough – acoustic guitar (track 7)
  • Nicky Hopkins – piano (track 8)
  • Bonnie Bramlett – background vocals (track 8)
  • Doris Troy – background vocals (track 8)
  • Paul McCartney – background vocals (track 8)
  • Linda McCartney – background vocals (track 8)
  • Willie Weeks – bass (track 10)
  • Andrew Gold – guitar (track 10)
  • Eddie Bongo – congas (track 10)
  • Carole King – background vocals (track 10)
  • Abigale Haness – background vocals (track 10)
  • Kenny Moore – background vocals (track 10)

Credits

  • WCI Record Group – CDD pre-mastering
  • Arlyne Rothberg, Inc. – management
  • Glenn Christensen – art direction
  • Albert Mackenzie Watson – photo

Charts

Album – Billboard (United States)[6]

Year Chart Position
1975 Pop Albums 17

Album – International

Year Country Position
1975 Australia[7] 42
Canada[8] 40

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[9] Gold 50,000^
Australia (ARIA)[10] 5× Platinum 350,000^
United States (RIAA)[11] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "American certifications – Carly Simon". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ "British certifications – Carly Simon". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 20, 2022. Type Carly Simon in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  3. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "The Best of Carly Simon". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). "Carly Simon". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0-89919-025-1. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  5. ↑ The Best of Carly Simon (booklet). Carly Simon. Elektra. 1975.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ↑ "Carly Simon – Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ↑ "CAN Charts > Carly Simon". RPM. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Carly Simon – Best of Carly Simon". Music Canada. April 1, 1977. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  11. ↑ "American album certifications – Carly Simon – Best of". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
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