The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)

"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" is a country-pop song written by Otha Young for Juice Newton in the mid-1970s.

This article is about the 1975 song "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" performed by Juice Newton. For the 1997 song by Lauryn Hill on the soundtrack to the film Love Jones, see Love Jones (soundtrack). For other songs with the same or similar title, see Sweetest Thing (disambiguation).
"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)"
Artwork for US single
Single by Juice Newton
from the album Juice
B-side"Ride 'Em Cowboy"
ReleasedOctober 24, 1981
Recorded1981
GenreCountry, pop
Length4:06
3:58 (7")
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Otha Young
Producer(s)Richard Landis
Juice Newton singles chronology
"Queen of Hearts"
(1981)		 "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)"
(1981)		 "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me"
(1982)

History

"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" was originally recorded and released in 1975 on Juice Newton & Silver Spur's debut album, Juice Newton and Silver Spur (RCA). The 1975 version was not issued as a single, although it was the B-side of two official singles and was issued as a promotional single to U.S. radio stations. In the meantime, Dottsy recorded a version in 1976 and took it to No. 86 on the country music charts and used it as the title track to her album The Sweetest Thing.[1][2]

After becoming a solo artist, Newton re-recorded the song for her 1981 album, the star-making Juice, which was Newton's third solo album and featured three of her biggest pop hits: "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)", "Angel of the Morning" and "Queen of Hearts".

In early 1982, "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" reached No. 1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart,[2] No. 1 on the Billboard country chart,[2] and No. 7 on the Billboard pop chart, where it remained in the Top 40 for eighteen weeks.[3] The single is the only of Juice Newton's to reach the Top 10 on all three charts. On Billboard's year-end Top 40 chart, the song charted at No. 21 of all the singles of 1982.

The first pressings of the Juice album featured a different arrangement of the song, with a more prominent steel guitar part and no oboe. After the unexpected crossover success of "Angel of the Morning" and "Queen of Hearts", a pop version was mixed and replaced the country version on all future pressings of the album. The revamped version was also used for the single (which, somewhat ironically, became her first No. 1 Country Single). (The 1981 country version can be found on the United Kingdom best-of CD Country Classics and BGO's two-CD "Juice/Quiet Lies/Dirty Looks" boxed set.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Dottsy version
Chart (1976) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] 86

Juice Newton version
gollark: As in, 10, not 10 unique breeds.
gollark: So... in about two days, the AP will be flooded with at least *10* commons!
gollark: Hey, it's something.
gollark: Ideally, we'll have a wonderful, slow to dislodge mass of crazy.
gollark: Breeding to AP.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 128. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  2. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 258.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 454.
  4. "Dottsy Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  5. "Juice Newton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  6. "Juice Newton Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  7. "Juice Newton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 13, 1982". Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  9. Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly".
  10. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. Musicoutfitters.com
  12. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1982". Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
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