IN 1994, GARTH BROOKS FANS “KNEW” WHAT THEY WERE GETTING FOR CHRISTMAS WITH THE HITS

On December 13, 1994, Garth Brooks released The Hits, his first greatest hits collection.  Just in time for the holidays, fans eagerly scooped up the collection of the songs they knew and loved best from Brooks’ first five studio releases--Garth Brooks, No Fences, Ropin’ the Wind, The Chase, and In Pieces.  Loaded with 18 hit singles, including 12 Billboard #1’s, The Hits debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 and Country Albums chart.  It ultimately earned the RIAA’s Diamond Award for certified sales of 10 million units.

So why did Brooks need to be convinced that releasing a greatest hits collection was a good idea?

In The Anthology Part II: The Next Five Years,, Brooks describes his conversation with Pat Quigley, then head of marketing at EMI North America, the parent company to Capitol Records.  

“I believe ‘Wolves,’ one of the album cuts on No Fences, needs to be heard as much as ‘Friends in Low Places.’  And a Greatest Hits would kill No Fences and the first five albums,” he explained.

Quigley agreed with Brooks and proposed a limited release—both in the number of units manufactured and the length of time The Hits would be sold.  Read all the details, including what happened to the master of The Hits, in The Anthology Part II: The Next Five Years.