“You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”
Written by Jim Weatherly
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
October 5, 1973
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
October 6, 1973
There are artists who are part of the conversation when discussing the best country vocalists of all time, and then there are artists who can end that conversation as soon as their name is dropped.
Ray Price is in the latter camp, and it’s somehow even more obvious when he’s working with middling material. “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” works because his vocal is restrained and understated, which matches up with a song that gets the sentiment right but doesn’t include enough supporting details to make it emotionally impactful.
It’s the kind of song you play on your ninth anniversary or something, where you celebrate at the end of a quiet dinner, saving the big guns for the party next year.
It’s more notable for its historical significance than its own impact as a record. This was Price’s final number one hit, but also the inaugural number one country hit on the new airplay country chart from Radio & Records, which would run from October 1973 to June 2009.
“You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” gets a B.
Every No. 1 Single of the Seventies
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