Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by the Association, released in 1968 by Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In Canada the album reached #2 and was in the top 10 for 13 weeks. The RIAA certified the album 2× Platinum on June 1, 1989.
The autobiographical tune "Six Man Band", written by Terry Kirkman, was a new song which had also been released as a mono single in July 1968, then appeared in a stereo mix on this album. The version of "Enter the Young" that is on this collection is a re-recording of a track from their first LP. Despite the title, the album does not include the singles "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" (which charted at #35 in late 1966) or "Looking Glass" (which was a regional hit), using non-hits such as "Like Always" and "We Love Us" instead.
Some recordings on this album were encoded with the Haeco-CSG process.
Stephen Cook of AllMusic writes, "the majority of this hits collection focuses on the band's dreamy combination of polished folk, limber vocal arrangements, and wide-screen instrumental backdrops" and finishes the review by saying, "A great introduction to the band's prime work from the latter half of the '60s."[1]
David Bowling reviews the album for Seattle P-I and writes, "No matter what success their albums may have achieved, they will always be remembered for their string of singles. Greatest Hits gathers these singles, plus a few other tracks in support, to form a soft rock and pop album that has withstood the test of time surprisingly well."[2]
