# Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
**Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits** is the first compilation album by the American singer-songwriter [Bob Dylan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-dylan), released by [Columbia Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-records) on March 27, 1967, collecting ten of his best-known recordings from 1963 through 1966[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary). It has since been certified five times platinum by the RIAA, making it Dylan's best-selling record in the United States, ahead of every studio album in his catalog[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | March 27, 1967, on Columbia Records[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary) |
| Contents | Ten tracks drawn from Dylan's first seven albums, through *Blonde on Blonde*[2](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vinyl-record-album-review/) |
| Tracklist | Rainy Day Women #12 & 35; Blowin' in the Wind; The Times They Are A-Changin'; It Ain't Me, Babe; Like a Rolling Stone; Mr. Tambourine Man; Subterranean Homesick Blues; I Want You; Positively 4th Street; Just Like a Woman[3](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylans-greatest-hits/) |
| UK chart | Peak position 6; first chart date 14 January 1967; 82 weeks on the chart; CBS catalog number SBPG62847[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-bob-dylan/) |
| US certification | Five times platinum (RIAA), Dylan's best-selling record in the United States[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary) |
| Estimated sales | About 12,800,000 copies per one sales estimate[5](https://chartmasters.org/artist/bob-dylan/) |
| Cover photo | Roland Scherman[3](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylans-greatest-hits/) |
## Content
The album gathers ten songs from Dylan's first seven records, through *Blonde on Blonde*[2](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vinyl-record-album-review/). The running order on the official album page is: 1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35; 2. [Blowin' in the Wind](https://www.edgepedia.org/blowin-in-the-wind); 3. The Times They Are A-Changin'; 4. [It Ain't Me](https://www.edgepedia.org/it-aint-me), Babe; 5. [Like a Rolling Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/like-a-rolling-stone); 6. Mr. Tambourine Man; 7. Subterranean Homesick Blues; 8. I Want You; 9. Positively 4th Street; 10. Just Like a Woman[3](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylans-greatest-hits/). The set spans the folk, folk-rock, and electric phases of Dylan's mid-1960s career[2](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vinyl-record-album-review/).
The cover photograph is credited to Roland Scherman[3](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylans-greatest-hits/).
## Chart and sales performance
In the United Kingdom the album entered the Official Albums Chart on 14 January 1967 at number 39, climbed to its peak of number 6 on 18 March 1967, and spent 82 weeks on the chart in total[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-bob-dylan/). The UK release carried the CBS catalog number SBPG62847[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-bob-dylan/).
In the United States the album was certified gold on 5 January 1968 for 500,000 units sold[6](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/5769), and it eventually reached five times platinum from the RIAA[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary). One sales-estimate database puts its total at about 12.8 million copies, by far the largest figure it lists for any Dylan album[5](https://chartmasters.org/artist/bob-dylan/). Parade notes that this makes it Dylan's best-selling record in the United States, ahead of every studio album, including *Planet Waves*, which became his first number-one album seven years later[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary).
## Sequels and later compilations
**Volume 2.** *Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2* followed in 1971, between *New Morning* and *[Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid](https://www.edgepedia.org/pat-garrett-and-billy-the-kid-album)*[7](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vol-2-vinyl-record-album-review/). It mixes songs that had not made the first volume, material from *John Wesley Harding*, *Nashville Skyline*, and *New Morning*, and new recordings: in 1971 Dylan re-recorded "I Shall Be Released" and "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" with the folk singer Happy Traum[8](https://www.allmusic.com/album/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vol-ii-mw0000193643).
**Volume 3.** *Greatest Hits Volume 3* was released in 1994[9](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/greatest-hits-volume-3/). Its release carried a "Forever Dylan Greatest Hits" sticker and included one newly recorded track, arriving during a period when critics perceived Dylan as suffering from writer's block[10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-for-a-few-bob-more-1612399.html). The three volumes were later packaged together as *Greatest Hits Vol. 1, 2 & 3*[11](https://store.bobdylan.com/products/greatest-hits-vol-ii-2lp).
Later retrospectives have repeatedly reworked the same territory. The 2007 triple-disc *Dylan* compilation drew criticism from reviewers who found that representing all periods of the career had displaced obvious classics such as "Visions of Johanna" and "Desolation Row"[12](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-bob-dylan-464734.html), and the 1997 remastered *Greatest Hits* issued by Sony was reported in France as sitting at the front of store displays alongside [Radiohead](https://www.edgepedia.org/radiohead) and the [Spice Girls](https://www.edgepedia.org/spice-girls)[13](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1997/10/03/dylan-ressuscite_3775984_1819218.html).
## Reception and standing
An AllMusic review of the original album describes it as a case of less being more, with each song a statement and signpost in Dylan's career up to that point[14](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r6419). A 2022 vinyl review graded it 5/5 while noting that the set focuses strictly on his hits through 1967, leaving out album tracks such as "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"[2](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vinyl-record-album-review/).
The album's commercial endurance is unusual for a compilation released while its author was still in his twenties. Its five-times-platinum certification means it has outsold every studio album Dylan has released, and it remains the reference point against which later Dylan compilations, from *Biograph* (1985) to *Dylan* (2007), have been measured[1](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary) • [12](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-bob-dylan-464734.html).
## References
1. [1967 Rock Compilation Became a Five-Time Platinum Hit 59 Years Ago Today, Parade](https://parade.com/news/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-1967-album-anniversary)
2. [Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (Vinyl record album review), Colossal Reviews](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vinyl-record-album-review/)
3. [Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967), The Official Bob Dylan Site](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylans-greatest-hits/)
4. [GREATEST HITS - BOB DYLAN, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/bob-dylan-greatest-hits-bob-dylan/)
5. [Bob Dylan - Album Sales, Streaming & Chart Stats, ChartMasters](https://chartmasters.org/artist/bob-dylan/)
6. [BOB DYLAN'S GREATEST HITS by BOB DYLAN - Sales & Charts, Best Selling Albums](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/5769)
7. [Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Vinyl record album review), Colossal Reviews](https://colossalreviews.com/music/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vol-2-vinyl-record-album-review/)
8. [Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/bob-dylans-greatest-hits-vol-ii-mw0000193643)
9. [Greatest Hits Volume 3, The Official Bob Dylan Site](https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/greatest-hits-volume-3/)
10. [ARTS: For a few Bob more, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-for-a-few-bob-more-1612399.html)
11. [Greatest Hits Vol. 1, 2 & 3 - CD, Bob Dylan US Store](https://store.bobdylan.com/products/greatest-hits-vol-ii-2lp)
12. [Album: Bob Dylan (Dylan compilation review), The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-bob-dylan-464734.html)
13. [Bob Dylan ressuscité, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1997/10/03/dylan-ressuscite_3775984_1819218.html)
14. [Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r6419)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Compilation and greatest-hits albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license