Elton John - Greatest Hits (1974) and Greatest Hits Volume II (1977)

(U.K 1962 - 2023)

The 'Greatest Hits' (1974) compilation, remains as the best seller album of Elton John's catalog. In the States, it became the first hits package to reach number one. In Canada, it’s one of few albums to ever ship one million copies. Volume II 1977 wasn't far behind but never reached the heights of its predecessor.

About Greatest Hits Volume I:

In 1974, there was no bigger music star than Elton John. His Greatest Hits collection came out at the peak of his career and not only topped the charts in the U.S. – a rarity for a compilation – but stayed there for 10 weeks. It captured many of the songs which still remain highlights today from "Your Song" to "Rocket Man" to "Crocodile Rock" to "Candle In The Wind". On the international version of the album, "Candle in the Wind replaced “Bennie and the Jets”. The 1992 reissue on CD included both songs.

It did skip over a couple of lesser hits from this era, most notably "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer", but added them to Elton’s next greatest hits collection - Vol 2 (depending on the version)

Track Listing (Australian Pressing):

01 - Your Song
02 - Daniel
03 - Honky Cat
04 - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
05 - Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting
06 - Rocket Man
07 - Candle In The Wind
08 - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
09 - Border Song
10 - Crocodile Rock

About Greatest Hits Volume II:

While it wasn’t nearly as successful as the first volume, this is as chock-full of hits, including non-album #1 singles Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and Philadelphia Freedom. Also included is John’s version of Pinball Wizard, taken from the soundtrack to Tommy. In short, it’s an excellent continuation of the first collection, and taken together, they function as an ideal singles retrospective of the most successful singles artist of the early ‘70s.

The original international version replaced Levon with Bennie and the Jets. The 1992 CD reissue included Tiny Dancer and I Feel Like a Bullet in the Gun of Robert Ford.

Track Listing (Australian Pressing):

01 - The Bitch Is Back
02 - Pinball Wizard
03 - Grow Some Funk Of Your Own
04 - Somebody Saved My Life Tonight
05 - Bennie And The Jets
06 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
07 - Philadelphia Freedom
08 - Country Comfort
09 - Island Girl
10 - Levon
11 - Tiny Dancer (Bonus Track)

* Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (11/23/74, 1 US, 1 CL, 10 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU, gold single)

* Philadelphia Freedom (3/7/75, 1 US, 32 RB, 1 CL, 12 UK, 1 CN, 4 AU, platinum single)

* Pinball Wizard (3/20/76, 9 CL, 7 UK, 88 AU)

Bernie Taupin (Lyrics) & Elton John (Music)

Featured Albums on Greatest Hits Vol I & II

Elton John (1970)
Elton John’s self-titled album was a top-5 hit in the UK and U.S., largely thanks to Your Song, which was Elton’s breakthrough hit and has become one of, if not, the signature song of his career.

* Border Song (3/70, 92 US, 20 CL, 34 CN)

* Your Song (11/28/70, 8 US, 9 AC, 1 CL, 7 UK, 3 CN, 11 AU, 2x platinum)

Elton's Band

Madman Across the Water (1971)
This was another top-10 album in the U.S., but only peaked at #41 in the UK. Tiny Dancer wasn’t a big hit at the time, but has become an Elton John favorite.

* Levon (11/29/71, 24 US, 4 CL, 6 CN, 94 AU, gold single)

* Tiny Dancer (2/7/72, 41 US, 35 AC, 1 CL, 19 CN, 13 AU, 3x platinum)

Honky Château (1972):
This was Elton John’s first of seven consecutive #1 albums in the U.S. It peaked at #2 in the UK. In addition to the album’s two top-10 hits, it also produced the album cut “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.”

* Rocket Man (4/22/72, 6 US, 39 AC, 1 CL, 3 UK, 8 CN, 13 AU, 3x platinum)

* Honky Cat (8/12/72, 8 US, 6 AC, 3 CL, 31 UK, 10 CN, 78 AU)

Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973):
This was Elton’s first album to top the charts in both the U.S. and the UK. It also produced Crocodile Rock, his first U.S. #1. In addition to the two hit singles, the album produced the popular cut “Elderberry Wine.”

* Crocodile Rock (11/4/72, 1 US, 11 AC, 1 CL, 5 UK, 1 CN, 2 AU, platinum single)

* Daniel (1/20/73, 2 US, 1 AC, 1 CL, 4 UK, 1 CN, 7 AU, platinum single)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973):

The best-selling studio album of Elton’s career is also widely considered his crowning achievement. It was a #1 hit in the U.S. and UK. It gave him his second U.S. #1 song with Bennie and the Jets and Candle in the Wind become one of the biggest hits of all time when Elton performed it with new lyrics in 1997 as a memorial to Princess Diana.

* Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (7/7/73, 12 US, 2 CL, 7 UK, 12 CN, 31 AU, gold single)

* Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (9/29/73, 2 US, 7 AC, 1 CL, 6 UK, 1 CN, 4 AU, 2x platinum)

* Bennie and the Jets (2/16/74, 1 US, 15 RB, 1 CL, 37 UK, 1 CN, 5 AU, 2x platinum)

* Candle in the Wind (3/2/74, 6 US, 2 AC, 2 CL, 5 UK, 5 CN, 5 AU)

Elton On The Muppet Show 1977

Caribou (1974):

This was Elton’s third consecutive album to top the charts in both the U.S. and UK. The 1973 Christmas single "Step into Christmas" was not on the original album, but was featured as a bonus track on the 1995 reissue.

* Step into Christmas (12/8/73, 20 CL, 8 UK, 44 AU) D

* Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (6/1/74, 2 US, 3 AC, 1 CL, 16 UK, 1 CN, 13 AU, gold single)

* The Bitch Is Back (9/7/74, 4 US, 3 CL, 15 UK, 1 CN, 53 AU, gold single)

Elton John - The Pinball Wizard

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975):

Elton John made history when this album debuted atop the Billboard album chart, the first ever to do so. It reportedly sold 1.4 million copies within the first four days of release. Someone Saved My Life Tonight was the only single featured from the album.

* Someone Saved My Life Tonight (6/23/75, 4 US, 36 AC, 1 CL, 22 UK, 2 CN, 54 AU, gold single)

Rock of the Westies (1975):
This was the last of Elton’s #1 U.S. albums. Like its predecessor, it debuted atop the Billboard album chart. It also gave Elton another #1 song in the U.S. with Island Girl.

* Island Girl (10/4/75, 1 US, 27 AC, 1 CL, 14 UK, 4 CN, 12 AU, platinum single)

* Grow Some Funk of Your Own (1/24/76, 14 US, 8 CL, 8 CN)

Thanks to Dave's Music Database for chart & album details

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my vinyl copies, both Australian Pressings. The Australian track listings are different to those of the US, UK and European releases, making them somewhat unique I believe. Both posts come with full artwork for vinyl - including label scans. However, I have only been able to source CD artwork for his first Greatest Hits album and suspect the Volume II was never released on CD in Australia. 

My only criticism of the Australian releases are that they did not include one of his most popular hits (and ratified by Elton himself, only recently), namely  "Tiny Dancer".

I am therefore including "Tiny Dancer" as a bonus track to rectify this huge oversight.

Nevertheless, I have always believed that Elton's first "Greatest Hits" album is one of the BEST and STRONGEST compilation albums ever released by an artist, hands down.  

Greatest Hits (1974) Link (220Mb)

Greatest Hits Volume II (1977) Link (355Mb)