Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) turns 50!

To all my fellow Eagles fans…

This memorable compilation album was released on February 17, 1976.

This is an image of the cover art for the album *Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)* by the Eagles. Copyright Asylum Records.

Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) contains a selection of songs from the band's first four albums, which were released from 1972 to 1975. On the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the album reached number 1, where it stayed for five weeks. The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that ship at least one million copies in the United States. It received its first Platinum certification a week after its release. The RIAA has certified the album 40 times Platinum, indicating sales of 40 million copies in the United States alone, which would make Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) the best-selling album of all time in the United States (it was surpassed in Platinum certifications by Michael Jackson's Thriller after Jackson's death in 2009, but regained the title in August 2018). In 2017, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) comprises nine singles released between 1972 and 1975, plus the album track "Desperado". All of the singles except "Tequila Sunrise" had charted in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, and five had reached the top ten. "One of These Nights" and "Best of My Love" had both topped the chart. The cover of the album is an image of a piece of art created by artist Boyd Elder (aka "El Chingadero"), whose work was also used for the cover of One of These Nights. The piece consists of a painted plastic cast of an eagle skull against a light-blue background made of silver mylar. The bumpy appearance of the background gave rise to a myth that it was covered in cocaine powder that the band snorted after the photo shoot. The band chose not to debunk that myth, though Glenn Frey reportedly also noticed the resemblance and told Elder that the background reminded him of "a field of blow".

Source: Wikipedia.org

The Eagles are one of my all-time favorite bands and an influence. I’ve heard their iconic songs on the radio for as long as I can remember. Their music, style, and story are authentic pieces of Americana. As a young child, I often heard their albums playing on my parents’ record player console that sat in our living room right across from the pea green sofa. Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) was the first Eagles album that I remember and “Take It To The Limit” was one of the very first songs that I recall hearing on that turntable.

A future “rockstar”… Photo of me circa 1976.

Courtesy of Anthony Woodard

There also were many trips and times spent in the car with these great tunes playing on the radio. Even though it was almost 50 years ago, I can still remember my dad popping an 8-track cartridge of Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) into the tape player of the Ford LTD, as we all made our way down to Pomme de Terre Lake.

Courtesy of Anthony Woodard

The laid-back sounds of the Eagles created a perfect soundtrack for summer road trips or times at the lake. And, despite the changing musical tastes that come with being teenagers, we always held the songs of the Eagles in high regard. Classics like “Lyin’ Eyes”, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, and “Tequila Sunrise” were some of the first strumming songs that I learned to play on the guitar a few years later.