For
Sittin' on Top of the World,
Dean Martin's most recent album, producer Jimmy Bowen had abandoned the country-pop approach that had brought
Martin hits in the 1960s but faded from popularity later in the decade, and took the singer back to his days as a crooner of pop standards. That record didn't sell, either, however, and on
You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me, Bowen split the difference and tried a few other things as well. The title song, a recent number one country hit for
Ray Price, sounded like a potential pop hit to him, and he had
Martin record it for single release. His instincts were good: The song soon after became a pop hit, but for
Gladys Knight & the Pips, not
Martin. Bowen also let
Martin re-record some standards ("I'm Confessin' [That I Love You]," "Baby Won't You Please Come Home," "I Don't Know Why," "Gimme a Little Kiss [Will Ya, Huh!]"), all of which he had done for his
Dream With Dean album in 1964; had him cover a recent pop hit ("Tie a Yellow Ribbon ['Round the Old Oak Tree]"); convinced him to take on an Arthur Alexander R&B number best known for a version by
the Rolling Stones ("You Better Move On"); and even took
Martin back to his roots in Italian songs ("Amor Mio"). The idea, it seemed, was to try a little everything, and
Martin, as usual, was game. But he really needed to have displayed such versatility earlier. Maybe, if "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" had been the turnaround hit Bowen thought it could be for
Martin, it all would have been different. As it was, Reprise Records didn't even bother to release
Martin's next album for four years after he recorded it. ~ William Ruhlmann