''The Best of The Easybeats + Pretty Girl'' is the first

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with the 1966 sing ...

featuring a selection of songs recorded by the group between 1965 and 1966. The album was originally released in Australia and New Zealand under the

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

label under the then current licensing arrangement by the band's production company

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose ...

Background

After the success of the band's single "

Friday On My Mind "Friday on My Mind" is a 1966 song by Australian rock group the Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching no. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, no. 1 ...

" in the U.K., The Easybeats continued work with the single's producer

Shel Talmy Sheldon Talmy (born August 11, 1937) is an American record producer, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work in the UK in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks and many others. Talmy arranged and produced hits such as "You Really Got Me" ...

on a debut album for their international label

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. The finished album, titled ''

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

'', was released in Europe in May 1967. However, due to contract issues, no album of the new material was released in their home country of Australia. Instead Albert Productions compiled "greatest hits" package of the band's most popular Australian singles and EP tracks. Three songs from the ''Good Friday'' album were included on the album, with "Pretty Girl" (which hadn't yet seen a release in Australia) promoted as a "new" song. The album was released in May 1967 during the group's homecoming tour of Australia.

Releases

The album was first released in May 1967 during the band's homecoming tour of Australia. It was reissued on the budget Drum Records label in June 1975, along with ''

The Best of The Easybeats Volume 2 ''The Best of The Easybeats Volume 2'' is the second compilation album by the Australian rock group The Easybeats. The album was first released on October 9, 1969 by the group's Australian label Albert Productions. The compilation album was rel ...

''. The album's cover art title was changed to ''The Best of The Easybeats Featuring Stevie Wright''. The first release on CD was in 1986 on the Albert Productions label and again in the 1997 through EMI. The 1997 released would again change the cover art and title to simply The ''Best of The Easybeats''. On 6 August 2013, the album was remastered and made available through the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. For the 2014 Australian

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, a limited edition 180 gram vinyl LP was released. This vinyl release was released by Albert Productions and remastered by renowned mastering engineer Don Bartley.

Reception

Released May 1967 just before the band's homecoming tour, it reached #3 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

. It was the 20th highest selling album in Australia of 1967. In October 2010, it was listed at No. 6 in the book, ''

100 Best Australian Albums 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

''.

Track listing

Side A

Side B

Personnel

;The Easybeats * Stevie Wright - vocals, percussion * Harry Vanda - vocals, harmonies, guitars * George Young - vocals, harmonies, guitars *

Dick Diamonde Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs (born 28 December 1947), better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde, is a retired Dutch Australian bass guitarist. He was a founding mainstay member of 1960s rock group The Easybeats. Diamonde, with the gr ...

- vocals, bass * Snowy Fleet - drums

Producers

Ted Albert Edward Frank Albert (1937 – 11 November 1990) was an Australian early pioneer independent record production and founder of Albert Productions (part of his great grandfather's company Albert Music). In recognition of his contribution to the mus ...

- producer * Shel Talmy - producer for "Friday on My Mind", "Made My Bed ; Gonna Lie in It" and "Pretty Girl"

Sales charts and certification

Australian Charts

References

Albert Music - Best of The Easybeats + Pretty Girl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best of The Easybeats The Easybeats albums 1967 greatest hits albums Albert Productions compilation albums Parlophone compilation albums Albums produced by Shel Talmy Albums recorded at IBC Studios