You've Got a Friend | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1971 | |||
Recorded | April 22, 1971 June 10, 1971 July 7, 1971 [1] | |||
Genre |
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Length | 35:35 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Dick Glasser [3] | |||
Andy Williams chronology | ||||
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Singles from You've Got a Friend | ||||
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Alternate cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Billboard | Spotlight Pick [4] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
You've Got a Friend is the twenty-eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. The album bears a striking resemblance to the Johnny Mathis album You've Got a Friend released that same month. Besides sharing their name,the two albums are both made up of covers of easy listening hits of the time,with 11 songs each,and the two albums have seven songs in common that are positioned in a similar order.
The Williams album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's &Tapes chart in the issue dated August 28,1971,and remained there for 12 weeks,peaking at number 54. [6] it also debuted on the Cashbox albums chart in the issue dated August 21,of that year,and remained on the chart for 12 weeks,peaking at number 45 [7] For its release in the UK,the album was entitled A Song for You.
The single from the album,"A Song for You",entered the Hot 100 in the US in the issue of Billboard dated August 21,1971,and stayed on the chart for four weeks,eventually peaking at number 82. [8] The song entered the magazine's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs of the week in the following issue,on August 28,for its first of five weeks,during which time it reached number 29. [9]
You've Got a Friend was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on February 5,2002,the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the fall of 1970, The Andy Williams Show . [10] Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection,Vol. 2,which contains 15 of his studio albums and two compilations and was released on November 29,2002. [11]
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic notes "The arrangements closely followed those of the original recordings;the difference was that the voice on the track was Williams',not Michael Jackson's or Karen Carpenter's. But such soft rockers of the early '70s were more palatable to middle-of-the-road audiences than some of the ones from the '60s" [2]
Billboard magazine wrote,"In what may be one of his finest and most commercial packages of all time,Williams has a chart winner in this delightful program. Along with his new single,'A Song for You',he turns in exceptional treatments of Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend',Kris Kristofferson's 'Help Me Make It Through the Night',and Nichols-Williams's 'Rainy Days and Mondays'." [4]
Cashbox enjoyed "his respects to Carole King via versions of “It’s Too Late”and “You’ve Got A Friend,”and a Motown mood for “Never Can Say Goodbye”and “I’ll Be There" [12]
From the liner notes for the 2002 CD: [1]
"You've Got a Friend" had its biggest success as a recording by James Taylor that spent a week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 [13] and Easy Listening chart, [14] reached number four on the UK singles chart, [15] received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, [16] and earned Taylor and songwriter Carole King respective Grammys for Best Vocal Performance,Male and Song of the Year. [17] Sammi Smith had the most popular cover of "Help Me Make It Through the Night",spending three weeks at number one on Billboard's Country chart, [18] reaching number eight pop [19] and number three Easy Listening, [20] receiving Gold certification, [21] and earning songwriter Kris Kristofferson and Smith respective Grammys for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance,Female. [17] [19]
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" by the Bee Gees went to number one for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 [22] and number four on the magazine's Easy Listening chart [23] in addition to receiving Gold certification from the RIAA. [24] "Rainy Days and Mondays" by The Carpenters is yet another Gold record covered here. [25] They enjoyed two weeks with the song at number two pop [26] and four weeks at number one Easy Listening. [27] The Jackson 5 had the most successful version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" with three weeks at number two on the Hot 100, [28] three weeks at number one on the R&B chart, [29] and a number 33 hit in the UK. [30]
Carole King's "It's Too Late" spent five weeks at number one on the pop [31] and Easy Listening charts, [32] reached number six UK, [33] received Gold certification, [34] and earned King the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. [35] The Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There" had five weeks at number one on the Hot 100 [36] and six weeks at number one R&B [29] and reached number 24 Easy Listening [37] and number four UK. [30] The Fortunes got as high as number 15 pop [38] and number eight Easy Listening [39] with "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again".
Bread took "If" to number four on the Hot 100 [40] and also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart. [41] The song on this album entitled "For All We Know" won the Oscar for Best Original Song for its inclusion in the 1970 film Lovers and Other Strangers [42] and was another Gold single for The Carpenters, [25] this time reaching number three pop [26] and spending three weeks at number one Easy Listening. [27] "A Song for You" originally appeared on Leon Russell's self-titled debut album in 1970. [43] Aside from Williams,the only other artist to chart the song during this period was Jaye P. Morgan,who reached 105 while "bubbling under" the Hot 100 for three weeks that began in the August 21,1971,issue of Billboard magazine—the same issue in which Williams's chart run with the song began. [44]
From the liner notes for the original album: [3]
Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests is the eleventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1963 by Columbia Records following his first season as host of his variety series,The Andy Williams Show. The LP has a studio recording of the closing theme from the show,"May Each Day",and continues the format of his previous Columbia releases by including songs from the 1920s,1930s,1940s,and 1950s.
The Wonderful World of Andy Williams is the thirteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released by Columbia Records to coincide with the December 31,1963,broadcast of The Andy Williams Show. Various tracks were recorded with members of his family,including The Williams Brothers,who joined him for a remake of his first top 10 hit,"Canadian Sunset",from 1956.
The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits is the fifteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in September 1964 by Columbia Records,one month before the premiere of the film version of My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn.
Andy Williams' Dear Heart is the sixteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1965 by Columbia Records and was the last of his Columbia releases that remained exclusively within the realm of traditional pop. After covering two Beatles hits on his next non-holiday studio album,The Shadow of Your Smile,he would try out samba music on In the Arms of Love,aim for a much younger crowd with "Music to Watch Girls By" on Born Free,and focus more on contemporary material on subsequent albums.
The Shadow of Your Smile is the eighteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1966 by Columbia Records and included covers of "Michelle" and "Yesterday",the same pair of Beatles ballads that labelmate Johnny Mathis recorded for his 1966 album of the same name. For Williams these selections initiated a trend away from the traditional pop formula that his album output at Columbia up until this point had adhered to.
In the Arms of Love is the nineteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on December 19,1966,by Columbia Records and was the last of twelve consecutive Williams studio LPs produced by Robert Mersey.
Love,Andy is the twenty-first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released on October 16,1967,by Columbia Records to coincide with the NBC special of the same name,which aired on November 6. The LP had a mix of covers of old and recent hits that included two songs from the 1940s that also had chart success in 1966 via Chris Montez:"The More I See You" and "There Will Never Be Another You".
Happy Heart is the twenty-third studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released in the spring of 1969 by Columbia Records and continued the trend of his recent albums in relying exclusively on contemporary material. This particular project eschewed offerings from Broadway and Hollywood that had been predominant on his LPs with Columbia.
The Andy Williams Show is the twenty-sixth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. In his review on AllMusic.com,William Ruhlmann writes that "The Andy Williams Show LP was not a soundtrack recording from the TV series,and it was not really a live album,although it gets categorized as such. What appears to be the case is that Columbia Records took a group of Williams' studio recordings,most of them made during the summer of 1970 and consisting of his versions of recent soft rock hits,and added a lot of canned applause along with some of the kind of musical interludes used to usher numbers on and off on the show,including bits of its "Moon River" theme music at the start and the finish."
Love Story is the twenty-seventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on February 3,1971,by Columbia Records. This was another in his series of cover albums,but the title track,subtitled "Where Do I Begin",was the one song included that he originated.
Love Story is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK in July 1971 by the CBS Records division of Columbia and was mainly composed of tracks that had not been included on his studio LPs.
Love Theme from "The Godfather" is the twenty-ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released on March 21,1972,by Columbia Records. The two new songs on what was otherwise another LP of covers of hits by other artists were the title track and "Music from Across the Way",which came from the songwriters behind his recent hits "Happy Heart" and "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story".
Alone Again (Naturally) is the thirtieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released in September 1972 by Columbia Records and mainly consisting of songs originated by other artists. For its release in the UK,the album was titled The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face),and three of the songs were replaced with the 7-inch single tracks "Who Was It?" and "Marmalade,Molasses &Honey" and a recording that was not released on vinyl in the U.S.,"If You're Gonna Break Another Heart".
You Lay So Easy on My Mind is the thirty-fourth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams,released in November 1974 by Columbia Records. The idea for this LP was mentioned in an interview with Williams in the November 3,1973,issue of Billboard magazine that emphasized his desire to move away from recording albums of Easy Listening covers of hits by other artists,noting that he was "planning an album to be cut in Nashville with Columbia's high-flying country-pop producer,Billy Sherrill." The article coincided with the release of his first attempt to shift directions,Solitaire,which performed poorly. A return to the Easy Listening hits formula,The Way We Were,followed in the spring of 1974 but failed to even chart,so this next attempt to eschew soft rock songs leaned heavily on Country hits.
Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in June 1973 by Columbia Records. This collection follows in the footsteps of its predecessor,Andy Williams' Greatest Hits,in that it is not limited to his biggest and most recent hit singles,although his final two US Top 40 entries were included. It also has an album track not released as a single,a couple of hits from his time with Cadence Records,two other singles that could have been included on the first volume,and two Easy Listening chart entries that never made the Billboard Hot 100.
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.
Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13,1972,by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.
Me and Mrs. Jones is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in January 1973 by Columbia Records. While it does cover several big chart hits of the day like his last album,Song Sung Blue,did,it also includes songs that didn't make the US Top 40 or had never charted.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20,1975,by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the singer's usual practice of covering hits by other artists by including two new songs,both written by Jerry Fuller:"Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote",which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.