This is the version of Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) that was released on Apr 1, 1966 in the US. The American record company execs had tampered with the original UK design of most of the Stones albums up to this time, often releasing inferior American versions. On this one they reversed the trend and the UK design, which was released Nov 4, 1966, did not include Paint It, Black. The UK version substituted Mother's Little Helper and added 3 additional tracks (Take It Or Leave It, Out Of Time, and What To do).

This US version covered their American hits from 1964-1966. Here are the songs on this album, in the order they were released as singles in the U.S.:
3-6-64 Not Fade Away
6-12-64 Tell Me (version 2)
7-24-64 It's All Over Now
7-24-64 Good Times, Bad Times (B side of It's All Over Now)
9-25-64 Time Is On My Side (version 2)
12-18-64 Heart Of Stone
3-12-65 The Last Time
3-12-65 Play With Fire (B side of The Last Time)
6-4-65 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
9-24-65 Get Off Of My Cloud
12-17-65 As Tears Go By
2-11-66 19th Nervous Breakdown

There is an interesting story about the cover art and 8 page photo book that was part of the original album. The photos were originally done for an album to be called Could You Walk On The Water?, but the concept was so controversial at that time that the photo of the Band walking on the water of a California reservoir was dropped and the photo of them standing on the bank was used. The album was renamed After-Math (although the American version dropped the hyphen) and the artwork was used for this greatest hits album.

This is the remastered super audio CDs (SACD) of the Stones ABCKO catalog (which includes all the early Decca/London material. ABCKO acquired the Stones' catalog after Allen Klein became their manager in 1965. The resulting legal battles produced releases that the Stones opposed (they took out full page adds asking fans not to buy them), including the controversial Metamorphosis releases (which are now available on CD for the 1st time ever). But the sad fact is that the Stones lost control of their great early material. With these remastered SACD releases, we at last have some idea of what they really sounded like in the studio. I guess if we had these 40 years ago they would have ended up Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the Universe instead of Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the World.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection.

19 of 21 found the following review helpful:

A classic comp of mid-'60s hits  Aug 28, 2002
By Scott E. Miller
"Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass)" is one of the evergreen hits collections--in thirty-six years, it's never been out of print, and there's a reason for that: There are almost no weak spots on this album. Sure, there are better or more complete Stones collections ("Hot Rocks," "The Singles Collection" box, "Forty Licks"), but this one manages to capture the band while it was in the midst of conquering the world. How else to explain the brass of an album that leads off with the Stones then-biggest hit to date, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and then fails to go downhill, like most other hits compilations?

Being one of the new hybrid CDs, not only has the sound been largely improved (I say "largely" because there are a couple of exceptions--more in a moment), but so has the packaging--the booklet of color photos that was inside the original gatefold LP jacket has been restored. And "Satisfaction" does indeed live up to the hype--it sounds like it's coming out of the control room speakers, even on a regular CD player. "The Last Time," however, still sounds like it's coming out of a transistor radio (remember those? I don't) someone chucked into a garbage can three or four alleys away--I've got a first pressing copy of the vinyl and it still sounds bad there, so I guess it's never going to sound much better. And while four tracks are in stereo ("Satisfaction," "Time Is On My Side," "It's All Over Now," and "Heart Of Stone"), the rest are mono--and you've got to be listening to tell which is which, because, at least on the copy I listened to, there's no indication on the packaging of what mixes were used where. The CD isn't any help, as it proclaims the entire album to be in stereo. Obviously ABKCO still has a lot to learn about being honest with its customers.

Quibbles aside, most of the album has been hugely sonically improved, and for the better. And you can't go wrong with that track listing, aside from "Tell Me," which sounds like a bad Merseyside imitation (Herman's Hermits, anyone?). Nearly every track is a winner--and the Stones were really still in the early days, yet (even if it didn't seem like it at the time). If you don't have any other Stones records, you can't go wrong starting with this one. And if you do have some other Stones records, give it a spin and listen to the soundtrack of a band beginning to form a legend as yet unsullied by age, scandal, and bad rock videos.

13 of 14 found the following review helpful:

Their first hits collection  Feb 21, 2003
By Pieter "Toypom"
High Tide was originally issued as separate US and UK albums with slightly different track listings. This CD reissue has superb sound quality and contains most of their early classics. The exclusion of Lady Jane and Little Red Rooster is unfortunate. But there's enough of their brilliant classics in various styles here, for example brooding ballads like The Last Time, Time Is On My Side and Play With Fire. As Tears Go By was of course a massive hit for Marianne Faithfull. Classic, raucous rock surfaces on Get Off My Cloud and I Can Get No (Satisfaction) - amongst its many cover versions was a 1974 hit by the flash-in-the-pan Bubblerock! Other great songs include the visceral Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown and Not Fade Away. I'm giving it only four stars, though, since the album Through The Past Darkly has a better selection of their early work, while the two Hot Rocks compilations contain a wider selection of their classic 60's work. But this is still a great album.

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Not exactly a quantum leap in sound quality  Sep 02, 2002

Most of these classic songs will remain 5-star, life-enhancing nuggets of blues-rock genius long after we've all passed on. But considering the near "Second Coming" hype the new Stones CD remasters have been getting, I'd say, "Buy one or two titles and listen for yourself."

This was my first and so far only purchase of the Stones' vintage albums on remastered CD. Frankly, after A-B'ing this version with the older ABKCO version from the mid-1980s, my speakers and headphones went, "That's it?"

Hence, the 3-star rating here. But that so-so rating applies only to the sound quality. Maybe listening to these remasters on an SACD system would knock my socks off. (I'd be interested in reading reviews by you folks who have the SACD capability in your stereo system. If you say these remastered Stones CDs sound unbelievably great in the "surround sound" format, then maybe I need to reconfigure my stereo to include SACD.)

On my top-notch stereo system I'd say some of the songs here (most notably "Satisfaction") sound better than my old vinyl records and over ABKCO's mid-1980s Stones releases on CD. But "Last Time" still sounds muddy and the crack and thump of Charlie's drums on "Get Off Of My Cloud" may be cleaner but not especially sonically improved over the first ABKCO version of this CD. Unfortunately for me, those are two of my favorites from the Stones' early catalogue.

I agree with fellow reviewer Scott Miller of Colorado that it's great to see the company has restored the original artwork of the old London vinyl record. Obviously a lot of care and attention to detail have gone into these remasters.

I'm still going to buy the newly remastered "Through The Past Darkly" because ANY change in how "Honky Tonk Women" sounds will be a HUGE improvement over the older ABKCO release of that CD. And I might buy "Let It Bleed." But if "Big Hits" is any indication of what's in store soundwise regarding this series of Stones remasterings, I'll put my money toward some Junior Wells CDs I've had my eye on.

12 of 15 found the following review helpful:

A Classic Set You Probably Don't Need  Jan 08, 2005
By AntiochAndy "antiochandy"
Back in the days of records, the first three "albums" I ever bought for myself were SURREALISTIC PILLOW by the Jefferson Airplane and AFTERMATH and BIG HITS (HIGH TIDE AND GREEN GRASS) by the Stones. Looking back, that was a great purchase. All are classics and are loaded with absolute killer songs. On BIG HITS, "It's All Over Now" and "The Last Time" were the tunes that first made me a Stones fan, and "Satisfaction" is considered by many to be the greatest single rock song of all time. At a time when the Beatles usually occupied the top spot on the "charts", Satisfaction" was a monster hit and dominated radio airplay for months during the spring and summer of 1965. With the recent purchase of this CD, I now have all three of the albums from my first purchase on disc.

BIG HITS was the first of many collections of Stones "greatest hits". It was the definitive collection when I first got it, but because it's their earliest greatest hits release, many of the cuts on this disc are relatively unpolished and some are now less well-known than later material. Nevertheless, these are still great songs and, on it's own, this disc is still very much worth owning. The problem is that, if you're a real fan, you have these songs on other discs, so this one is a bit superfluous. Conversely, if you're just a casual listener, there are now several Stones "hits" collections that are bigger and more complete.

I don't want to downplay this disc. It's still a great set and there are people out there that will want to own it, but most will simply want to look elsewhere for Stones collections, and that's why I've only given it 4 stars. It's a 5 star body of material, but it's utility has been outmoded by subsequent releases. Still, if it fills a need for you, or a gap in your music library, go for it. It remains a superb body of work and the sound quality on this disc is quite good.

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