| "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ray Price | ||||
| from the album You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me | ||||
| B-side | What Kind of Love is This | |||
| Released | July 1973 (U.S.) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | ca. May 1973 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:50 | |||
| Label | Columbia 45889 | |||
| Writer(s) | Jim Weatherly | |||
| Producer | Don Law | |||
| Ray Price singles chronology | ||||
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| "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Gladys Knight & the Pips | ||||
| from the album Imagination | ||||
| Released | February 1974 (U.S.) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | pop, rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 3:44 | |||
| Label | Buddah Records 403 | |||
| Writer(s) | Jim Weatherly | |||
| Gladys Knight & the Pips singles chronology | ||||
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"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — also known simply as "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — is a song written by Jim Weatherly, and enjoyed two runs of popularity, each by an artist in a different genre.
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The song's first run of popularity, as "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," came in 1973. That's when country music singer Ray Price took the song to No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart on October 6, 1973.
For that version, it represented a last and a first. The "last" was Price's seventh and most recent No. 1 single, in a string dating back to his 1956 hit "Crazy Arms." The "first": It was the No. 1 single on the debut program of "American Country Countdown," which used the Billboard chart in its programming.
In the early- to mid-1970s, Gladys Knight & the Pips had covered several of Weatherly-penned tunes, and in 1974, they dipped into his catalog once again with their rendition of the song. Their version, titled "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that spring and topped the Hot Soul Singles for two weeks.[1] The single was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.
The song was also recorded by Dean Martin in 1973.
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 82 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 2 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 37 |
| Preceded by "Blood Red and Goin' Down" by Tanya Tucker |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single October 6, 1973 |
Succeeded by "Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico" by Johnny Rodriguez |
| Preceded by "Lookin' for a Love" by Bobby Womack |
Billboard Hot Soul Singles number one single April 6–13, 1974 |
Succeeded by "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by MFSB with The Three Degrees |
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