Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
| Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by Bob Dylan | ||||
| Released | November 17, 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1962–1971 | |||
| Genre | Folk, rock, country | |||
| Length | 77:31 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | John H. Hammond, Tom Wilson, Bob Johnston, Leon Russell | |||
| Bob Dylan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A |
| MusicHound Rock | 3/5 |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II, also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, is the second compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on November 17, 1971 by Columbia Records. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of older material. Dylan agreed, compiling it himself and suggesting that the package include a full side of unreleased tracks from his archives. After submitting a set of excerpts from The Basement Tapes that Davis found unsatisfactory, Dylan returned to the studio in September 1971 to recut several Basement songs, with Happy Traum providing backup.
The final package included one previously uncollected single, "Watching the River Flow", an outtake from the same sessions, "When I Paint My Masterpiece"; one song from Dylan's April 12, 1963 Town Hall concert, "Tomorrow Is a Long Time", and three songs from the September sessions, "I Shall Be Released", "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", and "Down in the Flood". The remaining tracks were drawn from existing releases.
In 2003, this album was released along with Dylan's two other Greatest Hits compilations in one four-disc set, as Greatest Hits Volumes I–III.
As with the Beatles' 1962-1966 and The Basement Tapes, all the selections could fit on a single 80-minute CD, but were nevertheless released on two CDs to match the LP.
The album package was designed to capitalize on the publicity surrounding George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, about to be released as a film and album. The photo on the album cover is a cropped version of a photo taken during Dylan's performance at the concert by the film's still photographer, Barry Feinstein. The uncropped photo, which appeared as a two-page spread in the booklet included in the album Concert for Bangla Desh (sic), also contained George Harrison, who was standing to Dylan's right. The album cover is similar to the previous volume, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, which utilized Rowland Scherman's 1965 photo. Reaching #14 the US and #12 in the UK, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II is now certified five times platinum in the US, making it one of Dylan's best selling albums.
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