You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me

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You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me - Wikipedia

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"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.)

Recorded

ca. May 1973

Genre

Country

Length

3:50

Columbia 45889

Ray Price singles chronology

"She's Got to Be a Saint"
(1972)

"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"
(1973)

"Storms of Troubled Times"
(1974)

"Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"

Single by Gladys Knight & the Pips

from the album Imagination

B-side

"Once in a Lifetime Thing"

Released

February 1974 (U.S.)

Recorded

1973

Genre

Soul^[1]

Length

3:44

Buddah Records 403

Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise; Gladys Knight and the Pips were co-producers

Gladys Knight & the Pips singles chronology

"I've Got to Use My Imagination"
(1973)

"Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"
(1974)

"On and On"
(1974)

"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. It was first recorded in 1973 by Danny Thomas. Soon after it was done by Ray Price from his album You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me. The song 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."^[2]

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, when country music singer Ray Price took the song to number 1 on the Billboard 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. Although it fell short of the top 40 in his native United States, the song was an easy listening hit in Canada, his third such hit there.

Gladys Knight & the Pips pop/R&B version

In the early- to mid-1970s, Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded several of Weatherly's songs, 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 number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that spring and topped the Hot Soul Singles for two weeks.^[3] The single was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies. It also reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom.

James Cleveland gospel version

In 1975, gospel singer Rev. James Cleveland & The Charles Fold Singers recorded a live version of the song, which was cited (in the song) as an adaptation of the Gladys Knight & The Pips version of the song.^{[citation needed]}

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles^[4]	6
Ireland (IRMA)^[5]	10
UK (OCC)	7
US Billboard Hot 100^[6]	3
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	10
US Cash Box Top 100^[7]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (1974)	Rank
Canada^[8]	80
US Billboard Hot 100^[9]	34
US Cash Box^[10]	28

The Persuaders R&B version

In 1974, The Persuaders also recorded a version, taken from their album of the same name^[11]^[12]^[13] Their version was quieter, less brassy, and more introspective than The Pips' version^[14] The song reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[15]

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

Chart (1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles^[16]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	82
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	37

References

^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "Walking in Rhythm: Seventies Soul". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 63. ISBN 031214704X.
^ Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2), p. 99.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 330.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada. RPM Weekly (archived). May 11, 1974. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 27, 1974". Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ "Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. July 13, 2017.
^ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974". Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ "The Persuaders - Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. 1974. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
^ Jim Weatherly. "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me - The Persuaders | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
^ "Persuaders7.jpg (600x600 pixels)". Archive.today. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
^ "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me The Persuaders". November 17, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2016 – via YouTube.
^ "Hot 100 - Billboard". Billboard. March 30, 1974. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 275.

External links

Gladys Knight - You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me on YouTube

v t e Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight Merald "Bubba" Knight William Guest Edward Patten Brenda Knight Eleanor Guest Langston George
Studio albums	Everybody Needs Love Nitty Gritty If I Were Your Woman Neither One of Us All I Need Is Time Imagination I Feel a Song 2nd Anniversary The One and Only Visions All Our Love
Soundtrack albums	Claudine
Compilation albums	The Ultimate Collection
Singles	"Every Beat of My Heart" "Letter Full of Tears" "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" "I Don't Want to Do Wrong" "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" "On and On" "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" "The Way We Were/Try to Remember" "Save the Overtime (For Me)" "Hero" "Love Overboard" "Baby, Don't Change Your Mind"
Related topics	Discography Aaliyah Barry Hankerson

v t e Ray Price
Studio albums	Ray Price Sings Heart Songs (1957) Talk to Your Heart (1958) Ray Price Sings San Antonio Rose (1962) Night Life (1963) Love Life (1964) Burning Memories (1965) The Other Woman (1965) Another Bridge to Burn (1966) Touch My Heart (1967) Danny Boy (1968) Take Me as I Am (1968) She Wears My Ring (1969) For the Good Times (1970) I Won't Mention It Again (1971) The Lonesomest Lonesome (1972) She's Got to Be a Saint (1973) You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me (1974) Like Old Times Again (1974) San Antonio Rose (1980) Last of the Breed (2007)
Songs	"I Can't Escape from You" "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" "Release Me" "Crazy Arms" "I've Got a New Heartache" "Curtain in the Window" "Invitation to the Blues" "City Lights" "Heartaches by the Number" "The Same Old Me" "Under Your Spell Again" "I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today" "Pride" "Make the World Go Away" "Night Life" "Please Talk to My Heart" "Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)" "Danny Boy" "Crazy" "She Wears My Ring" "For the Good Times" "I Won't Mention It Again" "She's Got to Be a Saint" "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" "Faded Love" "San Antonio Rose" "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" "All the Way" "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" "Looking Back"
Related articles	Discography

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