"The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" is a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

- pop song written by

Otha Young Otha Young (a.k.a. Robert Otha Young) (May 10, 1943 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and the longtime musical partner of country-pop artist Juice Newton. Otha was born on May 10, 1943 in Tulare, Tu ...

for

Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...

in the mid-1970s. Newton was known for charting hits on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Hot Country charts - and this song has the distinction of being the only single of hers to reach the top 10 on all three of those charts, peaking at #1 on two of them.

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 Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as wel ...

'' (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

). 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 Dottsy Brodt Dwyer (born April 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas, United States) is an American country music singer. She grew up in Seguin. Between 1975 and 1981, she recorded as Dottsy for the RCA Records label. During that timespan, she charted thirte ...

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''. After becoming a solo artist, Newton re-recorded the song for her 1981 album, the star-making ''

Juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

'', 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 "Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' Dolls ...

" and "

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by W ...

". In early 1982, "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" reached No. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

,Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 258. No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

, and No. 7 on the ''Billboard''

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

, where it remained in the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

for eighteen weeks. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 454. 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 music video for the song was filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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

Juice Newton version

Year-end charts

References

External links

U.S. 7" single release info
Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetest Thing, The 1981 singles 1975 songs Juice Newton songs Songs written by Otha Young Song recordings produced by Richard Landis Capitol Records singles