You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me

"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.

Weatherly told Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits that he wrote the song in 1971 and let his father-in-law first record it as a Christmas present for the latter's wife. "I thought it was really strange that nobody'd written a song with that title — possibly somebody had, but I'd never heard it — so I just sat down and let this stream of consciousness happen. I basically wrote it in a very short period of time, probably 30 minutes or an hour."^[1]

The versions

Ray Price country version

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.

Gladys Knight & the Pips pop/R&B version

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.^[2] The single was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.

The Persuaders R&B version

Also, earlier in 1974,the same year that Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded the song, The Persuaders also recorded a version, taken from their album of the same name ^[3][4][5] Their version was quieter,less brassy, and more introspective than The Pips' version ^[6]

Dean Martin pop version

The song was also recorded by Dean Martin in 1973.

Andy Williams version

Andy Williams released a version in 1974 on his album, The Way We Were.

Steve Lawrence version

Steve Lawrence released a version in 1973 under MGM Records label.

Chart performance

Ray Price version

Gladys Knight & the Pips version

References

• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2006.
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight Merald "Bubba" Knight William Guest Edward Patten Brenda Knight Eleanor Guest Langston George Chris Morante Studio albums Everybody Needs Love Neither One of Us Imagination I Feel a Song 2nd Anniversary The One and Only Soundtrack albums Claudine Compilation albums The Ultimate Collection Singles "Every Beat of My Heart" "Giving Up" "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" "Everybody Needs Love" "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" "The End of Our Road" "It Should Have Been Me" "I Wish It Would Rain" "The Nitty Gritty" "If I Were Your Woman" "Help Me Make It Through the Night" "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" "The Look of Love" "Midnight Train to Georgia" "I've Got to Use My Imagination" "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" "The Way We Were/Try to Remember" "Save the Overtime (For Me)" "Hero" "Love Overboard" Related topics Discography Aaliyah Barry Hankerson Book