"Giving You the Best That I Got" is a 1988 song by American R&B recording artist

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

. The music video was filmed inside the 109th Field Artillery in

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite the city of Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 1770s; it was incorporated as a borough in ...

. The song appears on Baker's album of the same name, which was released in the fall of that year. The song was written by Baker,

Skip Scarborough Clarence Alexander "Skip" Scarborough (November 26, 1944 – July 3, 2003) was an American songwriter, best known for romantic ballads. Biography Scarborough was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He lived in Los Angeles most of his life. He died o ...

and Randy Holland.

Chart performance

The song was Baker's highest charting hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number three in December 1988. Whitburn, Joel (1996). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition (Billboard Publications) It also spent two weeks at number one on the ''Billboard''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in November 1988, Baker's first number one on this tally. In addition, the song spent one week atop the ''Billboard''

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 stat ...

in December 1988.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications)

Awards

The song "Giving You the Best That I Got" was released prior to the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

eligibility cutoff date of September 30, allowing it to be nominated for four awards at the

Grammy Awards of 1989 The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to George Michael for ''Faith'', and Song of the Year w ...

. The song won in the categories

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

and

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

; it was also nominated for both

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and Song of the Year. The album ''Giving You the Best That I Got'' was released in October 1988, meaning that it would not be eligible for Grammy consideration until the 1990 ceremony. There, Baker's album won in the category Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, earning her the same award two years running for a song and album of the same title. Songwriter

had offered the song to various singers, including

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He sig ...

, without success. Prior to recording the song, Baker made some changes to the original, including improvising a scat opening and requesting that the tempo of the song be increased.

In popular culture

The song was featured in a season 10 episode of ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives ...

''. The song was also used in a late 1988 episode of the US daytime soap opera ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

'' as well as a 1989 episode of ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

''. In 2019, the song appeared in the second episode of season 2 of '' Pose''.

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

would often sing this song to his opponents as a way of trash talking them.

Personnel

– lead vocals * Vernon D. Fails – keyboards * Dean "Sir" Gant – acoustic piano *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

– bass *

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate ...

– drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion * Alex Brown – backing vocals * Angel Edwards – backing vocals * Valerie Pinkston Mayo – backing vocals, BGV arrangements

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Single release info at discogs.com
{{authority control 1988 singles Anita Baker songs Songs written by Skip Scarborough Songs written by Anita Baker 1988 songs Contemporary R&B ballads 1980s ballads Elektra Records singles Song recordings produced by Michael J. Powell