Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits, Etc.

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I adore this album. Transitions are beautiful, great mix of his work, probably one of my favorite albums ever. It's too bad it's no longer sold...my LP will eventually die...

Yeah, have to agree with the other reviewers here: this is a GREAT collection of Paul Simon's earliest solo material. If Columbia were smart, they'd dig this one out of mothballs, remaster the whole thing (using the exact same song list and versions) and reissue it. Bonus tracks or not, I'd buy one just to have a nice, new cleaned up version. It's one of my all time favorites from the 70s and with such great songs, one of the best Hits albums of all time.

Side 1

1-Slip Slidin' Away
2-Stranded in a Limousine
3-Still Crazy After All These Years
4-Have a Good Time
5-Duncan
6-Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
7-Somebody So Right

Side 2

1-Kodachrome
2-I Do It For Your Love
3-50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
4-American Tune
5-Mother and Child Reunion
6-Loves Me Like a Rock
7-Take Me To Mardi Gras

This is the first Paul Simon album I ever received when I first became a fan of his in 1977. I never knew that the first two songs "Slip Slidin' Away" and "Stranded In A Limousine" (also, with the exception of the live version of "American Tune") were singles. They were just as great as the other songs. I'd do anything to find a C.D. of this album - REMASTERED - BRAND NEW - FACTORY SEALED - NOT USED (with no unnecessary bonus tracks). I'd also hope that it wouldn't be too expensive. I know its a hard-to-find item, but this is one of Paul's best albums - a real retrospective. Paul's albums are fantastic!

It irks me to no end when a classic recording that clearly has sales potential is out of print. If the people who own the rights don't keep the item in circulation, how can they blame anyone for pirating it? This recording, as well as, the Chet Baker Quintet recordings on 'Prestige' and the classic Joćo Gilberto recordings ought to be available. There are many others that fit into this category, but those are some that come immediately to mind.

Every Paul Simon fan knows these songs are great. By now, Greatest Hits Etc. is only sought after by die hard completists. The good news is all of these songs continue to be available. Below is a quick way to find/program the songs in the same order using Essential Paul Simon (EPS), Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' (LR) and Still Crazy After All These Years (SC).
# Track
1. 7 (EPS)
2. 16 (EPS)
3. 1 (SC)
4. 8 (SC)
5. 5 (LR)
6. 3 (EPS)
7. 9 (EPS)
8. 5 (EPS)
9. 3 (SC)
10. 4 (SC)
11. 3 (LR)
12. 1 (EPS)
13. 2 (EPS)
14. 12 (EPS)

I admit there is a large dose of nostalgia that influences me giving this out of print collection 5 stars. It was the first serious album I acquired at 15 years old. I got it as the main selection from the Columbia Record Club. I played it to death. I guess the reasoning that the record company used in letting this one go out of print is that most of this collection is reissued in the cd release Negotiations And Love Songs. This is why I think that collection is a step down. First it loses 5 great songs from GH Etc: Stranded In A Limousine, Duncan, Take Me To The Mardis Gras, I Do It For Your Love, and American Tune. Second the additional tracks on Negotiations from Hearts and Bones and Graceland sound out of place with these earlier songs. There is a unity with the first collection that is lost in the second. While You Can Call Me Al is a great song I don't think it sits well with Slip Slidin Away. I may have to track down an overpriced used cd or burn my own with the tracks in the original sequence.

Excellent set of Paul Simon Hits-- only thing better would be to have the all the discs containing these songs. How do you discontinue a well put together record (when so much gobbily-gook just lingers/somebody dropped the ball on this one)? --- But I GOT MINE- THANK YOU, Amazon et al!!

Another review in harmony with others already posted. Yes, this ranks as a collectors item, with the lovely Slip Slidin', Something So Right and I Do It For Your Love exhibiting the smooth melodic and harmonic composition skills of Paul Simon.

[Note the deliberate humour in the album title ... Greatest Hits ETC. Not all the songs in this collection are "greatest".]

I agree with the comment about Columbia declining to resurrect this recording in digital form (I have the cassette tape, and already some of the sound quality is deteriorating). Head-in-the-sand mentality from copyright owners does indeed encourage 'sharing'.

I was very happy to find this I have the album but no turntable so when I found this at such a good price, and in excellent condition I had to have it. Thank you amazon and seller for for making my day. The seller was wonderful at getting it to me before date of expected arrival and was professionally packaged.