Greatest Hits Vol.II

by

Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971), also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. 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, suggesting that the package include a full side of unreleased tracks from his archives. After submitting a set of excerpts from the Basement Tapes, which 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," (which became an instant cult classic and is still performed live today); 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.

The album package was designed to capitalize on the publicity surrounding George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, about to be released on film and LP. 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 Concert for Bangla Desh album, 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 six times platinum in the US, making it one of Dylan's best selling albums.

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.