The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)
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"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" is a country-pop song written by Otha Young (a.k.a. Robert O. Young). Young is the long-time musical partner of Grammy-winning vocalist Juice Newton and wrote the song for her in the mid-1970s. The song was originally recorded and released in 1975 on Newton's debut Juice Newton and Silver Spur, (RCA) Silver Spur being the backup band, which consisted of Otha Young, Tom Keeley and whomever played with them at the time. The song was released as a single the same year and did not chart.[citation needed]
Newton re-recorded the song on her 1981 album, the career-establishing Juice, which was Newton's third solo album and featured three of her five biggest pop hits: "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" "Angel of the Morning" and "Queen of Hearts".
While "The Sweetest Thing" is often the least-recalled of the three hits from the "Juice" album, it was arguably the biggest hit at the time. The song sold more than 700,000 copies in the United States and reached #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, #1 on the Billboard Country chart, and #7 on the Hot 100. The song remained active on the charts longer than any of Newton's 19 other Top-40 entries.
"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" became a staple in Newton's live concerts, and the song would also show up in re-recorded versions throughout Newton's career -- starting in 1995, reappearing in 1998, 1999, 2003 and right up to 2006, being featured in the release American Girl Volume II (a new edition of Newton's 1999 American Girl album).
Although Newton would be nominated for five "Best Female Vocalist" Grammy awards during the 1980s, she was not nominated for this song, even though fans and critics have found it to be among Juice Newton's finest records.
