''You've Got a Friend'' is the twenty-eighth studio album by American pop singer

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

, released in August 1971 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The album bears a striking resemblance to the

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

album ''

You've Got a Friend "You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song and single by American singer-songwriter Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, '' Tapestry'' (1971). Another well-known version by James Taylor appears on his ...

'' released that same month. Besides sharing their name, the two albums are both made up of covers of

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

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 album debuted on ''

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 advertis ...

'' magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated August 28, 1971, and remained there for 12 weeks, peaking at number 54.. it also debuted on the '' Cashbox'' albums chart in the issue dated August 21, 1971, and remained on the chart for 12 weeks, peaking at number 45. For its release in the UK, the album was entitled ''A Song for You''. The single from the album, "

A Song for You "A Song for You" is a song written and originally recorded by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell for his first solo album ''Leon Russell'', which was released in 1970 on Shelter Records. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understandi ...

", entered the

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 ...

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.. The song entered the magazine's list of the 40 most popular

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

songs of the week in the following issue, on August 28, for its first of five weeks, during which time it reached number 29.. and number 95 on the Cashbox singles chart during its three weeks there. ''You've Got a Friend'' was released on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD by

Collectables Records Collectables Records is an American reissue record label, founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene also formed the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. History It maintains a catalogue of over 3,400 active titles on compact disc, with thousands ...

on February 5, 2002, along with Williams's 1970 Columbia album, ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' is an American television variety show hosted by singer Andy Williams that ran on NBC (and was videotaped in color) from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'') ...

''. 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.

Reception

William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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". ''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, '

', he turns in exceptional treatments of

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

's '

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

's '

Help Me Make It Through the Night "Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album '' Kristofferson''. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album '' Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

', and Nichols- Williams's '

Rainy Days and Mondays "Rainy Days and Mondays" is a song by the The Carpenters, Carpenters from their Carpenters (album), self-titled third album, with instrumental backing by the The Wrecking Crew (music), Wrecking Crew. It was written by Paul Williams (songwriter), P ...

'." '' 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'.

Track listing

Side one

# "

" (

) – 4:44 # "

" (

) – 2:36 # " How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained global fame as a member of the Bee Gees with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his own successfu ...

) – 3:41 # "

" ( Roger Nichols,

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

) – 2:58 # "

Never Can Say Goodbye "Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by the Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first ...

" (

Clifton Davis Clifton Duncan Davis (born October 4, 1945) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, minister, and author. Davis wrote The Jackson 5's No. 2 hit "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1971. He has numerous Broadway credits, including ''Hello, Dolly! (mus ...

) – 3:33

Side two

# " It's Too Late" (

, Toni Stern) – 3:56 # " I'll Be There" (

Hal Davis Harold Edward Davis (February 8, 1933 – November 18, 1998) was an American songwriter and record producer. Davis was a producer and writer for Motown Records for nearly thirty years, and was a key figure in the latter part of the Motown ...

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

Willie Hutch William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s. Biog ...

, Bob West) – 2:39 # "

Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" is a pop song composed by Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway. In 1971, it became the third U.S. top 40 hit for the Fortunes and their fifth in Canada. Background The song uses depressing imag ...

" ( Roger Cook,

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook and Tony Burrows. His compositions have included " You've Got Your Troubles" and the ...

Tony Macaulay Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...

) – 2:33 # " If" (

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

) – 2:44 # " For All We Know" from ''

Lovers and Other Strangers ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' is a 1970 American romantic comedy film directed by Cy Howard, adapted from the 1968 Broadway play by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The cast includes Richard S. Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, Anne J ...

'' (

Jimmy Griffin James Arthur Griffin (August 10, 1943 – January 11, 2005) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s soft rock band Bread. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1970 as co-writer ...

Fred Karlin Frederick James Karlin (June 16, 1936 – March 26, 2004) was an American composer of more than 130 scores for feature films and television movies. He also was an accomplished trumpeter adept at playing jazz, blues, classical, rock, and medieval ...

, Robb Royer) – 3:12 # "

" (

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

) – 3:07

Charts

Singles

Recording dates

From the liner notes for the 2002 CD: *April 22, 1971 - "Help Me Make It Through the Night", "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "I'll Be There", "For All We Know" *June 10, 1971 - "You've Got a Friend", "It's Too Late", "If" *July 7, 1971 - "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again", "A Song for You"

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album: *

- vocals *

Dick Glasser Richard Eugene Glasser (December 8, 1933 – July 10, 2000) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Glasser was born in Canton, Ohio, the third of eleven children and the oldest of five boys: subsequent to graduat ...

- producer *

Al Capps Allan Alfonzo Capps (April 26, 1939 – June 7, 2018) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, he produced and arranged albums for popular artists such as Cher, A ...

- arranger ("You've Got a Friend", "Rainy Days and Mondays", "It's Too Late", "If", "For All We Know") *

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop music, pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. B ...

- arranger ("Help Me Make It Through the Night", "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again", "A Song for You") * Dick Hazard - arranger ("I'll Be There") *Eric Prestidge - engineer, remix engineer *Peter Romano - engineer *Rafael O. Valentin - engineer *

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born 5 March 1939) is a South African photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process. Early l ...

- cover photos *Virginia Team - design

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 1971 albums Andy Williams albums Albums produced by Dick Glasser Columbia Records albums