We've Saved The Best For Last
by Kenny G (featuring Smokey Robinson)

Album: Silhouette (1988)
Charted: 47
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Kenny G's label, Arista Records, was convinced his hits would come in the form of songs written by others that paired him with vocalists. That was until "Songbird," his self-penned instrumental, became a surprise hit in 1987.

    Arista learned their lesson, issuing a similar instrumental, "Silhouette," as the lead single from his next album. But there was still room in his canon for vocal recordings, and Kenny loved to collaborate, so after "Silhouette" came "We've Saved The Best For Last," a duet with Smokey Robinson. By this time, big names like Robinson were happy to work with him.
  • This was written by Paul Gordon, Dennis Matkosky and Louis Pardini. Gordon's other co-writes include two popular duets: "The Next Time I Fall" (Peter Cetera and Amy Grant) and "Friends and Lovers" (Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson); Matkosky had worked with Michael Sembello, co-writing the Diana Ross hit "Mirror, Mirror" as well as Sembello's #1 hit "Maniac"; Pardini worked on Smokey Robinson's "Just To See Her." These guys certainly had the goods to deliver another lite favorite.
  • In this song, two people have reached a stage when they both know what they want, and it's each other. They've made their mistakes and don't want to waste any more time, so they're both ready to end their search, saving the best for last.

    It's the kind of love song Smokey Robinson scored with a lot in the '80s; another is "One Heartbeat."
  • As he did on "Songbird" and "Silhouette," Kenny G played his soprano saxophone on this one. He also plays alto and tenor sax, but the soprano is his money maker.
  • The music video got a fair amount of airplay on VH1, where Smokey Robinson and Kenny G were both core artists. In the clip, they meet up in a concert hall and hang out around town.
  • "We've Saved The Best For Last" was a solid hit, going to #47 in the US, but neither Kenny G nor Smokey Robinson added it to their concert repertoires.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.