Last Time I Saw Him (song)
Encyclopedia
"Last Time I Saw Him" is the title of a 1973 single release by Diana Ross
, being a composition by Michael Masser
and lyricist Pam Sawyer
: the track was produced by Masser and released in December 1973 at the same time as Ross' Last Time I Saw Him album.
", a dreamy ballad which had hit #1, but "Last Time I Saw Him" took a drastically different musical direction: AMG would note that on the "arguably campy" last-named track arrangers Michael Omartian
and Gene Page
"throw in everything but the proverbial kitchen sink with a score that is all over the musical map from Dixieland-band jazz
to banjo
-pickin' and even an orchestrated string section
" while Billboard
would describe "Last Time I Saw Him" as "a light romp in the Tony Orlando and Dawn
style."
The song's narrator recalls how she saw her "honey" off on a Greyhound bus
having given the man a large amount of money to establish future living arrangements for the two of them; six months have since passed with no word and the narrator resultantly announces her intention to go in search of her errant swain in the naive belief he has been stranded by some ill-fortune from which she can retrieve him.
Ross scored her seventh Top 40 hit with "Last Time I Saw Him" which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100
in February 1974, also affording Ross a Top 20 R&B
hit at #16. The track had its greatest impact in the easy listening
market: #1 for three weeks on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard, "Last Time I Saw Him" was eventually named the biggest Easy Listening Hit for the year 1974..
Ross also charted with "Last Time I Saw Him" in Australia at #18 and in the UK at #35.
expediently covered
"Last Time I Saw Him" for the C&W
market in the January 1974 recording sessions at the RCA Victor Studio in Nashville which resulted in the House of Love album produced by Billy Taylor. West's "Last Time I Saw Him" reached #8 on the C&W chart
in Billboard in February 1974 marking the first time West had scored back-to-back C&W Top Ten hits, her precedent single having been her career record "Country Sunshine"; this success was followed by a progressive drop in West's hitmaking power with her longtime label RCA Victor eventually dropping her in 1976 and although West's subsequent signing with United Artists
boosted her chart profile her first C&W Top Ten hit since "Last Time I Saw Him" did not occur until 1980 when "A Lesson in Leavin'" afforded West her first #1 solo hit (four Dottie West/Kenny Rogers
duets had reached the Top Ten in 1978-79 including #1 hits "Every Time Two Fools Collide
" and "All I Ever Need Is You").
"Last Time I Saw Him" has also been recorded by Elke Best (as "Du bist der Größte"), Lea Laven
(as "Jää Vielä Aamuun") and Lill-Babs
(as "Du alter Gauner").
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, being a composition by Michael Masser
Michael Masser
Michael Masser , a former stockbroker, is a composer and producer of popular music. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law, but left to pursue his interest in music...
and lyricist Pam Sawyer
Pam Sawyer
Pamela Sawyer, an American-based songwriter from Romford, East London.Sawyer worked with artists at Motown Records from 1967 to 1977. Before Motown she had been involved in hit records for the Young Rascals and Lulu, and wrote with Lori Burton with whom she also recorded as the Whyte Boots.Sawyer...
: the track was produced by Masser and released in December 1973 at the same time as Ross' Last Time I Saw Him album.
Background
Michael Masser had also composed and produced the precedent solo Diana Ross single "Touch Me in the MorningTouch Me in the Morning
"Touch Me in the Morning" is a popular song recorded by Diana Ross on the Motown label. It became her second solo number-one single in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973....
", a dreamy ballad which had hit #1, but "Last Time I Saw Him" took a drastically different musical direction: AMG would note that on the "arguably campy" last-named track arrangers Michael Omartian
Michael Omartian
Michael Omartian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and music producer. He has been a participant in over 350,000,000 albums and CD’s sold worldwide, as a producer, arranger, artist or musician, during a career that has spanned over 38 years...
and Gene Page
Gene Page
Eugene Edgar "Gene" Page, Jr. was an influential conductor, composer, arranger and record producer most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s....
"throw in everything but the proverbial kitchen sink with a score that is all over the musical map from Dixieland-band jazz
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
to banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
-pickin' and even an orchestrated string section
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
" while Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
would describe "Last Time I Saw Him" as "a light romp in the Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tony Orlando and Dawn was a pop music group that was popular in the 1970s. Their signature hits include "Candida", "Knock Three Times", "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", and "He Don't Love You ".-History:...
style."
The song's narrator recalls how she saw her "honey" off on a Greyhound bus
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
having given the man a large amount of money to establish future living arrangements for the two of them; six months have since passed with no word and the narrator resultantly announces her intention to go in search of her errant swain in the naive belief he has been stranded by some ill-fortune from which she can retrieve him.
Ross scored her seventh Top 40 hit with "Last Time I Saw Him" which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in February 1974, also affording Ross a Top 20 R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
hit at #16. The track had its greatest impact in the easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
market: #1 for three weeks on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard, "Last Time I Saw Him" was eventually named the biggest Easy Listening Hit for the year 1974..
Ross also charted with "Last Time I Saw Him" in Australia at #18 and in the UK at #35.
Charts
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 14 |
Other versions
Dottie WestDottie West
Dottie West was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and co-recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists...
expediently covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
"Last Time I Saw Him" for the C&W
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
market in the January 1974 recording sessions at the RCA Victor Studio in Nashville which resulted in the House of Love album produced by Billy Taylor. West's "Last Time I Saw Him" reached #8 on the C&W chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in Billboard in February 1974 marking the first time West had scored back-to-back C&W Top Ten hits, her precedent single having been her career record "Country Sunshine"; this success was followed by a progressive drop in West's hitmaking power with her longtime label RCA Victor eventually dropping her in 1976 and although West's subsequent signing with United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
boosted her chart profile her first C&W Top Ten hit since "Last Time I Saw Him" did not occur until 1980 when "A Lesson in Leavin'" afforded West her first #1 solo hit (four Dottie West/Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
duets had reached the Top Ten in 1978-79 including #1 hits "Every Time Two Fools Collide
Every Time Two Fools Collide (song)
"Every Time Two Fools Collide" is a country music song written by Jan Dyer and Jeff Tweel, and recorded by Kenny Rogers and Dottie West. Released in 1978, the song reached No...
" and "All I Ever Need Is You").
"Last Time I Saw Him" has also been recorded by Elke Best (as "Du bist der Größte"), Lea Laven
Lea Laven
Lea Laven is a Finnish pop singer....
(as "Jää Vielä Aamuun") and Lill-Babs
Lill-Babs
Lill-Babs is a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Lill-Babs was born in Järvsö, Gävleborg County, as the first daughter of Britta and Ragnar Svensson...
(as "Du alter Gauner").
charts/ Dottie West version
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 8 |