"Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" is a song written by

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are considere ...

, Raymond Jackson and Carl Hampton, and first recorded by

The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American Gospel music, gospel, soul music, soul, and Rhythm and blues, R&B singing group. Pops Staples, Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group w ...

for their album ''

Be What You Are ''Be What You Are'' is a soul album by the Staple Singers, released in September 1973. It reached number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, ''Billboard'' Top Soul LPs chart. The first single, "Be What You Are", fared poorly; however, the follow-up ...

''. It was one of The Staple Singers most successful singles and peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart and number 23 on its

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart in 1973. The single also reached number 27 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart.

The Oak Ridge Boys version

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe ...

released the song in August 1985 as the second single from their album '' Step On Out''. It was their thirteenth number one on the country chart and appeared at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs 1985 Year-End chart. In Canada, the single topped the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks chart.

References

Songs about friendship 1973 singles 1985 singles The Staple Singers songs The Oak Ridge Boys songs Songs written by Homer Banks Song recordings produced by Ron Chancey MCA Records singles Songs written by Raymond Jackson (songwriter) 1973 songs Songs written by Carl Hampton {{1985-country-song-stub