His 12 Greatest Hits

His 12 Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Neil Diamond
Released	1974
Recorded	1968 - 1972
Genre	Pop rock
Length	44:03
Label	MCA
Producer	Various
Neil Diamond chronology
Brooklyn Roads (1974) His 12 Greatest Hits (1974) Serenade (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

His 12 Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Neil Diamond, issued in 1974 on the MCA record label. As the title suggests, it contains twelve songs from Neil's catalogue.

The album contains songs from his tenure with Uni Records, from 1968 to 1972. After Neil had signed to Columbia Records, his earlier works were reissued on MCA Records, which was the parent company of Uni Records which had folded in the early 1970s.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Neil Diamond.

Side one

1. Sweet Caroline (Live) - 4:15
2. Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - 3:26
3. Shilo - 2:59
4. Holly Holy (Live) - 5:40
5. Brooklyn Roads - 3:39
6. Cracklin' Rosie - 3:00

Side two

1. Play Me - 3:49
2. Done Too Soon - 2:45
3. Stones - 3:03
4. Song Sung Blue - 3:15
5. Soolaimon - 4:33
6. I Am...I Said - 3:32

© 1974 MCA Records

Alternate versions

Not all songs on the album were the original studio versions. "Holly Holy" and "Sweet Caroline" were live recordings, taken from the live album Hot August Night. On the 1985 CD release of "His 12 Greatest Hits", however, these live recordings were replaced by their original studio versions, but the 1993 CD release of the compilation reverted to the live versions of these 2 tracks.^[2]

Follow up

In 1982, Columbia Records released "His Twelve Greatest Hits, Volume II", a follow up to this album. It contained songs from the years 1973-1981.

Charts

The album is one of the most successful compilations in Neil Diamond's catalogue, reaching number 29 in the Billboard 200 chart. It was awarded gold in 1974. It remained a steady seller, resulting in a quadruple platinum award in 1993 for the sales of 4 million units in the USA.^[3]

References