''Friends'', released in 1971, is the fourth official album release by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. It was a project John and

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

took on before their breakout success in the US, and served as the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

for the ''Friends'' film released in the same year. It was certified Gold in April 1971 by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It became John's third gold record in as many months in that market (following the albums ''

'' in February and ''

Tumbleweed Connection ''Tumbleweed Connection'' is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London, England in March 1970, and released in October 1970 in the United Kingdom and January 1971 in the United Sta ...

'' in March). The title track was a minor hit in the US (#34 on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

) despite the film's poor performance. The album also received a 1972

Grammy 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 ...

nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture. The rights to the soundtrack are now with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, which shares ownership of John's music with him, and which also owns the

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...

catalogue. Apart from the original vinyl release in 1971, it has yet to be issued as a standalone CD, but the ''Friends'' soundtrack is available on the ''

Rare Masters ''Rare Masters'' is a compilation album by Elton John that was released in 1992. It includes all A-side and B-sides released by John between 1968 and 1975 that were not included on original studio albums or on ''Elton John's Greatest Hits Volu ...

'' (1992) 2-CD set, tracks 10–19 on Disc One, albeit with the tracks in a different order to the original LP. The difference is that "Michelle's Song" changes places with "Honey Roll" and "Variations on Friends". In the early 1970s, John performed the title track and "Can I Put You On" in concert, with the latter appearing on the next release, the live recording '' 17-11-70'' (retitled ''11-17-70'' in North America). The most recent performance of "Friends" was in 1999.

Track listing

All tracks written by Elton John and

, except where noted.

Personnel

Information taken from the original LP's liner notes. *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Caleb Quaye Caleb Quaye (born 9 October 1948), is an English rock guitarist and studio musician best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Hall & Oates and Ralph McTell, and also toured with ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

("Can I Put You On", "Honey Roll") *Barry Morgan—drums ("Friends", "Michelle's Song") *

Dee Murray Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates; 3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992) was an English bass guitarist. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Biography Murray was born in Gillingham ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

("Can I Put You On", "Honey Roll") *

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

("Can I Put You On", "Honey Roll") *

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a Grammy Award-winning British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Sha ...

– orchestral

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

*Rex Morris –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

("Honey Roll") *

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show ''Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the v ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Lesley Duncan Lesley Cox (née Duncan; 12 August 1943 – 12 March 2010) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved ...

– backing vocals * Liza Strike - backing vocals

Production

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No ...

- producer * Executive Producer - John Gilbert * Engineer – Robin Geoffrey Cable

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friends (Soundtrack) Romance film soundtracks Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon 1971 soundtrack albums Elton John soundtracks Paramount Records (1969) soundtracks Albums recorded at Trident Studios Albums arranged by Paul Buckmaster Single-artist film soundtracks