That's What Friends Are For (Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams album)

Last updated
[A] (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) – 3:22
  • "Just the Way You Are" (Billy Joel) – 3:43
  • "That's What Friends Are For" (Fritz Baskett, Lani Groves, Clarence McDonald, Deniece Williams) – 3:27
  • "I Just Can't Get Over You" (Nat Kipner, Winston Sela) – 4:11
  • "Touching Me With Love" (Marilyn Berglas, Charlee Maass) – 2:30
  • 2003 CD bonus tracks

    This album's 2003 CD release included four bonus duets:

    As with "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", "Emotion" was also recorded for the You Light Up My Life album. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" was recorded in 1983 for Mathis's 1984 album A Special Part of Me .

    2017 CD bonus tracks

    This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection included three bonus tracks:

    "Comme ci, comme ça" and "So Deep in Love" had not been available before. The former was recorded during the sessions for this album, the latter at the same session as the theme song for the series.

    Recording dates

    From the liner notes for the 2003 CD release:

    Bonus tracks

    From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection: [17]

    • December 20, 1977 – "Emotion"
    • December 21, 1977 – "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late"
    • April 26, 1978 – "Comme ci, comme ça"
    • October 21, 1982 – "So Deep in Love", "Without Us"
    • August 16, 1983 – "Love Won't Let Me Wait"

    [18]

    Personnel

    Original album

    From the liner notes for the original album: [1]

    Musicians

    • Murray Adler – violin
    • Dorothy Ashby – harp
    • Michael Baird – drums
    • Israel Baker – violin
    • Arnold Belnick – violin
    • Harry Bluestone – concertmaster
    • Ronald Cooper – cello
    • Paulinho da Costa – percussion
    • Rollice Dale – viola
    • Douglas Davis – cello
    • Vincent DeRosa – French horn
    • Glen Dicterow – violin
    • Kurt Dieterle – violin
    • Assa Drori – violin
    • David Allan Duke – French horn
    • Scott Edwards – bass
    • Jesse Ehrlich – cello
    • Alan Estes – percussion
    • Henry Ferber – violin
    • Ronald Folsom – violin
    • David Frisina – violin
    • Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals (6, 9)
    • Endre Granat – violin
    • Bill Green – flute, baritone saxophone
    • Ed Greene – drums
    • Lani Groves – backing vocals (6, 9)
    • Allan Harshman – viola
    • John Heitmann – flute
    • Robert Henderson – French horn
    • William Hymanson – violin
    • Plas Johnson – flute, flute solo ("I Just Can't Get Over You")
    • Armand Kaproff – cello
    • Dennis Karmazyn – cello
    • Ray Kelley – cello
    • Myra Kestenbaum – viola
    • Jacob Krachmalnick – violin
    • Raphael Kramer – cello
    • Ron Leonard – cello
    • Steve Lukather – guitar
    • Arthur Maebe – French horn
    • Virginia Majewski – viola
    • Leonard Malarsky – violin
    • Johnny Mathis – lead and backing vocals
    • Tim May – guitar
    • Alexander Neiman – viola
    • Gareth "Garry" Nuttycombe – viola
    • Don Palmer – violin
    • Richard Perissi – French horn
    • Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
    • Stanley Plummer – violin
    • George Price – French horn
    • Lee Ritenour – guitar
    • Sylvester Rivers – keyboards
    • Nathan Ross – violin
    • Henry Roth – violin
    • Michel Rubini – piano
    • Sheldon Sanov – violin
    • Harry Schultz – cello
    • David Schwartz – viola
    • Gene Sherry – French horn
    • Jack Shulman – violin
    • Henry Sigismonti – French horn
    • Ralph Silverman – violin
    • Leland Sklar – bass
    • Marshall Sosson – violin
    • Sheridon Stokes – flute
    • Gloria Strassner – cello
    • Alexander Treger – violin
    • Tommy Vig – percussion
    • David T. Walker – guitar
    • Wah Wah Ragin – guitar
    • Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone
    • Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals (6, 9)
    • Deniece Williams – lead and backing vocals
    • Stevie Wonder – harmonica solo ("Just the Way You Are")
    • Robert Zimmitti – percussion

    Production

    • Jack Gold – producer
    • Gene Page – arranger, conductor (except where noted)
    • Glen Spreen – arranger, conductor ("That's What Friends Are For")
    • Dick Bogert – recording engineer
    • Joe Gastwirt – digital remastering
    • Tom Perry – mix engineer at Hollywood Sound Recorders (Hollywood, CA); mastering engineer at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA).
    • Sam Emerson – photography

    2003 CD reissue

    From the liner notes for the 2003 CD release: [18]

    Bonus tracks

    • Jack Gold – producer (except where noted)
    • Denny Diante – producer ("Love Won't Let Me Wait")
    • Gene Page – arranger, conductor (except where noted)
    • Michel Colombier – arranger; conductor ("Love Won't Let Me Wait")

    Reissue credits

    • Didier C. Deutsch – producer
    • Joseph M. Palmaccio – mastering engineer
    • Steve Berkowitz – Legacy A&R
    • Joy Gilbert Monfried – product manager
    • Darren Salmieri – A&R coordination
    • Howard Fritzson – art direction
    • Risa Noah – design
    • Sam Emerson – photography
    • Art Maillet/Sony Music Archives – photography
    • Linda Chang – packaging manager
    • Stacey Boyle – tape research
    • Matt Kelly – tape research
    • Ellis Widner – liner notes
    • Mastered at Sony Music Studios, New York

    Charts

    Album

    That's What Friends Are For
    Deniece Williams - That's What Friends Are For2.jpg
    Studio album by
    ReleasedJuly 1978
    RecordedApril 20 May 12, 1978
    Studio A&M, Hollywood
    Genre
    Length32:30
    Label Columbia/Legacy
    Producer David Foster, Jack Gold
    Johnny Mathis chronology
    You Light Up My Life
    (1978)
    That's What Friends Are For
    (1978)
    The Best Days of My Life
    (1979)
    Chart (1978)Peak
    position
    Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [19] 30
    Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [20] 23
    UK Albums (OCC) [21] 16
    US Billboard 200 [22] 19
    US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [23] 14

    Singles

    YearSingleChartPositionCountry
    1978"You're All I Need to Get By"Hot 10047US
    Soul Singles10US
    UK Singles45UK

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Deniece Williams</span> American R&B and soul singer (born 1950)

    June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Your Precious Love</span> 1967 single by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

    "Your Precious Love" is a popular song that was a 1967 hit for Motown singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The song was written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol. The doo-wop styled recording features background vocals by Fuqua, Gaye, Terrell and Bristol, and instrumentals by the Funk Brothers with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Pop singles chart, No. 2 on Billboard's R&B singles chart, and the top 40 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey. The song was later sampled by Gerald Levert in the song "Your Smile" on his 2002 album, The G Spot.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Much, Too Little, Too Late</span> 1978 single by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams

    "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" is a song performed by singers Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, written by Nat Kipner and John Vallins. The single was a comeback of sorts for Mathis, because his last U.S. top 10 hit had been 1963’s "What Will Mary Say" and his last U.S. #1 hit had been 1957's "Chances Are."

    <i>Johnny Mathis</i> (album) 1956 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Johnny Mathis is the first studio album by vocalist Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in 1956. The subtitle A New Sound in Popular Song can be found on the back cover but not on the front of the album or the disc label; in fact, this Mathis LP has been referred to as "the jazz album".

    <i>The Shadow of Your Smile</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1966 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    The Shadow of Your Smile is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released in 1966 by Mercury Records.

    <i>Love Story</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1971 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Love Story is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 10, 1971, by Columbia Records and included a recent Oscar nominee, a flashback to 1967 ("Traces"), a new song by Bacharach & David, a lesser-known one by Goffin & King, and two songs that originated in film scores from 1970 and had lyrics added later: the album closer, "Loss of Love", from Sunflower and the album opener from Love Story, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin". The norm for Mathis projects from this era was to cover recent hits, and the title track of this one was so recent that the version by Andy Williams began a 13-week run to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in February 1971, coinciding with the release of this LP.

    <i>Youve Got a Friend</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1971 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    You've Got a Friend is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 11, 1971, by Columbia Records. The phrase "Today's Great Hits" can be found above the title on both sides of the record jacket as well as both sides of the LP label as if to emphasize that this is essentially an album covering songs that were recently on the charts. This was a common practice of many vocalists of the period, so much so in fact that fellow Columbia artist Andy Williams also released an album titled You've Got a Friend in August 1971 on which he coincidentally covers seven of the 11 tracks that Mathis recorded for this album.

    <i>Mathis Is...</i> 1977 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Mathis Is... is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 21, 1977, by Columbia Records and reunited the singer with producer Thom Bell for the first time since their collaboration on I'm Coming Home in 1973. As with that project, Mathis Is... focuses primarily on new songs, the one exception being a cover of "Sweet Love of Mine" from the 1975 Pick of the Litter album by The Spinners.

    <i>Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1977 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 15, 1977, by Columbia Records and found him firmly planted in the cover album genre once again in that no original songs were included. Allmusic's Joe Viglione did feel, however, that "they seem to be trying to cover all the bases here," meaning that it had a variety of selections, including a standard from 1939, a hit that charted in both the 1950s and 1960s, a country crossover, and recent offerings from stage and screen.

    <i>You Light Up My Life</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1978 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    You Light Up My Life is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released on March 13, 1978, by Columbia Records. While this LP includes three new songs, it doesn’t stray too far from the format of his albums of recent years in covering established material, including a standard, a country number, something from Broadway, and a few soundtrack tunes.

    <i>The Best Days of My Life</i> 1979 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    The Best Days of My Life is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released on January 29, 1979, by Columbia Records. He scaled back considerably on his more than decade-long practice of recording recent hit songs by other artists. He did, however, cover two standards: "As Time Goes By" and "Begin the Beguine", the latter of which is given a disco arrangement.

    <i>The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980</i> 1980 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

    The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980 is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the fall of 1980 by Columbia Records. This collection is similar to his last major compilation, 1972's Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits, in that it excludes many of his American radio hits of this period in favor of songs that made the UK singles chart or contemporary hits by other people.

    <i>I Love My Lady</i> 2017 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    I Love My Lady is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was completed in 1981 but not released in its entirety until December 8, 2017, when it was included in the box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection. It was written and produced by Chic founders Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers and represented an attempt at shifting away from the easy listening style of music that Mathis had been recording for 25 years to the more contemporary sound of the team behind "Le Freak" and "We Are Family".

    <i>The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album</i> 1981 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

    The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1981 by Columbia Records. The back cover of the album notes that there are four new tracks. A cover of the Commodores hit "Three Times a Lady" had been released on the UK version of his 1980 album Different Kinda Different, which was retitled All for You, but the Mathis rendition of the song makes its US debut here.

    <i>Friends in Love</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1982 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Friends in Love is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on April 5, 1982, by Columbia Records and included six original songs, two of which were duets with Dionne Warwick.

    <i>A Special Part of Me</i> 1984 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    A Special Part of Me is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on January 22, 1984, by Columbia Records and reunited him with his "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" partner Deniece Williams on one of the LP's two duets, "Love Won't Let Me Wait", which is also the only song on the album that was previously recorded and released by another artist. This continuing trend away from the cover album genre would reach its limit with his next studio release, Right from the Heart, which only had original material.

    <i>The Hollywood Musicals</i> 1986 studio album by Johnny Mathis and Henry Mancini

    The Hollywood Musicals is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and American composer/conductor Henry Mancini that was released on October 17, 1986, by Columbia Records. This project heralded Mathis's return to the genre of traditional pop, which he would revisit occasionally over the next few decades.

    <i>Sending You a Little Christmas</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Johnny Mathis

    Sending You a Little Christmas is the sixth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 29, 2013, by Columbia Records. In addition to piano accompaniment on the title track by its composer Jim Brickman, this particular holiday release of original recordings is distinguished by duets with guest vocalists Susan Boyle, Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, and The Jordanaires.

    <i>Better Together: The Duet Album</i> 1991 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

    Better Together: The Duet Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 8, 1991, by Columbia Records and featured three new songs alongside eight other pairings that were previously released.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Mathis discography</span> Catalogue of recordings by Johnny Mathis

    Johnny Mathis has recorded 73 studio albums, 10 of which achieved sales of 500,000 units and were awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Six of his compilation albums also accomplished this, and of these 16 Gold albums, six eventually went Platinum by reaching sales of one million copies. In 1999, sales figures totaled five million for his first holiday LP, Merry Christmas, and three million for Johnny's Greatest Hits, a 1958 collection that has been described as the "original greatest-hits package" and once held the record for most weeks on Billboard magazine's album chart with a total of 490. His second longest album chart run was the 295 weeks belonging to his Platinum 1959 album Heavenly, which gave him five weeks in the top spot. In a ranking of the top album artists of the last half of the 1950s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number two, for the 1960s, number 10, and for the period from 1955 to 2009 he is at number six.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 That's What Friends Are For. Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams. Columbia Records. July 1978.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
    2. Whitburn 2010 , p. 504.
    3. Whitburn 2000 , p. 132.
    4. 1 2 "Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company.
    5. "Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams: That's What Friends Are For". RIAA . Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    6. "Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams: That's What Friends Are For". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    7. "That's What Friends Are For [Bonus Tracks] – Johnny Mathis, Deniece Williams – Release Info". AllMusic. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
    8. Whitburn 2004 , p. 383.
    9. Whitburn 2007 , p. 179.
    10. Whitburn 2009 , p. 628.
    11. "Top Single Picks". Billboard . September 30, 1978. p. 90.
    12. 1 2 Wynn, Ron. "Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams - That's What Friends Are For". AllMusic.
    13. 1 2 Sexton, Paul (August 12, 1978). "Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams "That's What Friends Are For"" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 15. Retrieved January 4, 2025 via worldradiohistory.com.
    14. Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (Editors). The Rolling Stone Record Guide, 1st edition, Random House/Rolling Stone Press, 1979, p. 414.
    15. "Top Album Picks". Billboard . July 22, 1978. p. 94.
    16. "Pop Album Briefs". Los Angeles Times. 3 September 1978. p. k83. ProQuest   158588454.
    17. (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
    18. 1 2 Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams: That's What Friends Are For (Reissue). Columbia Records. 2003.
    19. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4655a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
    20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams – That's What Friends Are For" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
    21. "Johnny Mathis | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
    22. "Johnny Mathis Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
    23. "Johnny Mathis Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2024.

    Bibliography