History: America's Greatest Hits is the first compilation album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 trio America

America (band)

America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...

, released by Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

 in 1975

1975 in music

-January–April:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....

. It was a success in the United States, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album chart

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and being certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. It has also been certified 6 times platinum by ARIA for shipments of 420,000 copies in Australia.

History

The first seven tracks of the album, having been recorded prior to producer George Martin

George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

's involvement with the group, were remixed by Martin for this release. For example, Martin added a layer of fiddles to "Don't Cross The River." Additionally, on this album's version of "A Horse With No Name," a voice can briefly be heard about two minutes into the track. And for this album's version of "I Need You", some additional bass was brought up further, while the pitch was slowed down a quartertone.

The cover artwork is by Phil Hartman

Phil Hartman

Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...

, later known as an actor and comedian. However the liner notes spell his last name as "Hartmann" (which is the actual spelling of his name.)

Side 1

1. "A Horse With No Name
   A Horse with No Name
   “A Horse with No Name” is a song written by Dewey Bunnell and originally recorded by the band America.  It was the band's first and most successful single, released in early 1972, topping the charts in several countries...
   
   " (Dewey Bunnell) – (4:10)
2. "I Need You" (Gerry Beckley
   Gerry Beckley
   Gerald Linford "Gerry" Beckley is a founding member of the band America.Beckley was born to an American father, and an English mother. He began playing the piano at the age of three and the guitar a few years later. By 1962, Beckley was playing guitar in The Vanguards, an instrumental surf music...
   
   ) – (3:04)
3. "Sandman" (Bunnell) – (5:03)
4. "Ventura Highway
   Ventura Highway
   "Ventura Highway" is a popular 1972 song by the rock 'n' roll band America from its album, Homecoming.-Background:The vocalist and writer of the song Dewey Bunnell has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" in the song is a reference to the shapes of clouds in the sky...
   
   " (Bunnell) – (3:22)
5. "Don't Cross The River" (Dan Peek
   Dan Peek
   Daniel Milton 'Dan' Peek was a musician best known as a member of the rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell...
   
   ) – (2:30)
6. "Only in Your Heart" (Beckley) – (3:16)

Side 2

1. "Muskrat Love
   Muskrat Love
   "Muskrat Love" is a pop song by written by Willis Alan Ramsey and introduced on his sole album the 1972 release Willis Alan Ramsey; the song had its highest profile via a 1976 remake by Captain & Tennille...
   
   " (Willis Alan Ramsey
   Willis Alan Ramsey
   Willis Alan Ramsey is an American singer/songwriter, a cult legend among fans of Americana and Texas country. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Dallas, Texas. Ramsey graduated from Highland Park High School in 1969, and was a prominent baritone in the High School's Lads and Lassies...
   
   ) – (3:02)
2. "Tin Man
   Tin Man (song)
   "Tin Man" is the title of a 1974 song by the pop-rock band America. It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by the noted record producer George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version...
   
   " (Bunnell) – (3:25)
3. "Lonely People" (Catherine Peek, Dan Peek) – (2:27)
4. "Sister Golden Hair
   Sister Golden Hair
   "Sister Golden Hair" is a song written by Gerry Beckley and recorded by the band America for their fifth album Hearts . It was their second single to reach number one on the U.S...
   
   " (Beckley) – (3:16)
5. "Daisy Jane" (Beckley) – (3:07)
6. "Woman Tonight" (Peek) – (2:19)

(The positions of "Only In Your Heart" and "Woman Tonight" in the track listing are reversed on the cassette tape version.)