"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Robert Shaw Parsons and Ed Penney, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

. It was released in April 1976 as the second single from the album ''

This Is Barbara Mandrell ''This Is Barbara Mandrell'' is the fourth solo studio album by American country music singer Barbara Mandrell, released in May 1976. This was Mandrell's first album with ABC/Dot Records, her new record company. Mandrell had previously been sign ...

''. It reached the top 20 of the American country songs chart.

Background and recording

Barbara Mandrell had her first charting singles with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, but after switching to ABC/Dot she developed a musical identity that brought greater success. She started working with producer

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...

, who crafted a

Countrypolitan The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough Honky tonk, honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruse ...

sound that helped her music reach larger audiences. One of the singles she cut during this period was 1976's "That's What Friends Are For", which was written by Robert Shaw Parsons and Ed Penney. Collins produced Mandrell's third ABC/Dot session in February 1976 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. On the same session, Mandrell cut two additional tracks, including the future single "Love Is Thin Ice".

Release and chart performance

"That's What Friends Are For" was released as a single on ABC/Dot Records on April 12, 1976. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

by the song "The Beginning of the End". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 13 weeks on America's ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

country songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

chart, peaking at number 16 by August 1976. It was Mandrell's second single issued by the label. In Canada, the single climbed to the number 27 position on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' country chart. The song was released on Mandrell's first album for the label, which was titled ''

''. The album was released in 1976.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "That's What Friends Are For" – 2:39 * "The Beginning of the End" – 2:31

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1976 singles 1976 songs ABC Records singles Dot Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer)