The Best of the Band

The Best of the Band
Greatest hits album by the Band
Released	July 15, 1976 (1976-07-15)
Recorded	Early 1968 – Mid 1975
Genre	Rock
Length	47:34
Label	Capitol
Producer	The Band, John Simon
The Band chronology
Northern Lights – Southern Cross (1975) The Best of the Band (1976) Islands (1977)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
MusicHound	[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

The Best of the Band is the first greatest hits package by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Featuring ten tracks taken from six of their first seven albums (not counting 1974's Before the Flood or 1975's The Basement Tapes, both with Bob Dylan), it featured two tracks from the first, second, third and seventh albums, one each from the fourth and fifth, rounded out by the 1976 single "Twilight".

Record World said that "Twilight" "evokes the spirit of some of the group's finer moments."^[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Robbie Robertson, except where stated

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Up on Cripple Creek"		4:34
2.	"The Shape I'm In"		4:00
3.	"The Weight"		4:38
4.	"It Makes No Difference"		6:34
5.	"Life Is a Carnival"	Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Robertson	4:00
6.	"Twilight"		3:17
7.	"Don't Do It"	Holland–Dozier–Holland	5:00
8.	"Tears of Rage"	Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel	5:23
9.	"Stage Fright"		3:43
10.	"Ophelia"		3:32
11.	"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"		3:33

Album origin

Title	Album
"Up on Cripple Creek"	The Band (1969)
"The Shape I'm In"	Stage Fright (1970)
"The Weight"	Music from Big Pink (1968)
"It Makes No Difference"	Northern Lights – Southern Cross (1975)
"Life Is a Carnival"	Cahoots (1971)
"Twilight"	1975 single
"Don't Do It"	Rock of Ages (1972)
"Tears of Rage"	Music from Big Pink
"Stage Fright"	Stage Fright
"Ophelia"	Northern Lights – Southern Cross
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"	The Band

An album of the same title was released in UK on the Fame label with different cover and some different tracks.

Notes

The Band's version of the song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" was also featured as part of a promotional-only compilation album released by Capitol Records entitled The Greatest Music Ever Sold (Capitol SPRO-8511/8512), which was distributed to record stores during the 1976 Holiday season as part of Capitol's "Greatest Music Ever Sold" campaign which promoted 15 greatest hits albums issued by the record label.

References

1. The Best of the Band at AllMusic
2. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 72. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
3. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside. p. 42. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
4. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. August 21, 1976. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-04.