We all have our favorite musical acts, and many of those are famous enough to have Greatest Hits or Best Of collections. Usually, however, when I look at these, I turn up my nose at them. They’re often full of hits that were horrible, or leave out songs that to me, are classic even if they weren’t hits.
For an example, I give you Paul McCartney’s four CD collection, Pure McCartney. For a beginner, it’s probably a great place to start, if you don’t want to buy all of his albums. As far as I’m concerned, however, it could stand a lot of improvement.
So I give you the playlist that I compiled of my own Pure McCartney.
Spin It On
Pretty Little Head
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
San Ferry Anne
One More Kiss
Listen To What The Man Said
This Never Happened Before
With A Little Luck
Appreciate
Ballroom Dancing
No More Lonely Nights
Hope Of Deliverance
Maybe I’m Amazed
Coming Up (studio version)
Too Much Rain
Big Barn Bed
Jet
Magneto and Titanium Man (live)
Old Siam, Sir
Heaven On A Sunday
So Bad
Your Way
Take It Away
Silly Love Songs
Hi Hi Hi
Beautiful Night
Beware My Love (live)
Mr. Bellamy
Temporary Secretary
Another Day
Sing The Changes
Press
Mull of Kintyre
Live And Let Die
Daytime Nighttime Suffering
Simple As That
Calico Skies
Oh Woman, Oh Why
Girls’ School
Keep Under Cover
Turned Out
Wanderlust
Spies Like Us
Footprints
My Love
Long Leather Coat
Bluebird
Junior’s Farm
Band On The Run
Pipes of Peace
Peace In The Neighbourhood
Run Devil Run
Heather
Stranglehold
One Of These Days
Fine Line
Soily (live)
Loveliest Thing
Riding To Vanity Fair
Tug Of War
London Town
Getting Closer
Little Willow
Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Ever Present Past
As you can see, this compilation has plenty of hits; but it also has lots of deep cuts. There are songs that never got onto albums; in fact, there’s one song which until recently had never been released in the U.S. There’s one cover, and a few live tracks. My criteria for selecting a song was simple: Did I love it? Did I consider it “Pure McCartney”? If so, it went on there. If not, it didn’t. (I skipped one album entirely.) I had a lot of fun choosing songs and deciding on the best sequencing.
So what, for you, is your perfect Greatest Hits/Best Of album that has never been released, by the musician(s) of your choice? Feel free to tell us a bit about why you picked those songs, and why the resulting playlist is better than the collection(s) available. Have fun!
