''You've Got a Friend'' is the twenty-eighth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

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 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 ...

. The album bears a striking resemblance to the

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

album ''

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

'' 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 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

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 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 ...

'' magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated August 28, 1971, and remained there for 12 weeks, peaking at number 54. 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 understandin ...

", entered the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' 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), radio play, and online streaming ...

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 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

songs of the week in the following issue, on August 28, for its first of five weeks, during which time it reached number 29. ''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 Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

on February 5, 2002, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the fall of 1970, ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...

''. 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

''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 who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

's '

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

's '

Help Me Make It Through the Night "Help Me Make It Through The Night" is a country music 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 ...

', and

Nichols Nichols may refer to: People *Nichols (surname) *Nichol, a surname Places Canada * Nichols Islands, Nunavut United States * Nichols, California, an unincorporated community * Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, California * Nichols, Connecticut * Nich ...

- Williams's '

Rainy Days and Mondays "Rainy Days and Mondays" is a 1971 song by the Carpenters, with instrumental backing by L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, that went to number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move by Carole King k ...

'."

Track listing

Side one

# "

" (

) – 4:44 # "

" (

) – 2:36 # "

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees in 1971. It was written by Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 album '' Trafalgar''. It was their first US No. 1 single and also reached No. 1 in ...

" (

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...

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

) – 3:41 # "

" ( Roger Nichols, Paul Williams) – 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 s ...

" (

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 appeared on Broadway in the musicals '' Two Gentlemen of Vero ...

) – 3:33

Side two

# " It's Too Late" (

) – 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 Mot ...

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

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 the title of a pop song composed by Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway; it became the third U.S. Top 40 hit for The Fortunes in 1971, and their fifth in Canada. Background The song uses de ...

" ( 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. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic mill ...

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 (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts i ...

) – 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 of the same name by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The cast includes Richard S. Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Lea ...

'' (

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 mediev ...

, 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 and ...

) – 3:07

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"

Song information

" had its biggest success as a recording by

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

that spent a week at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

chart, reached number four on the UK singles chart, received Gold certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 ...

, and earned Taylor and songwriter Carole King respective Grammys for Best Vocal Performance, Male and Song of the Year..

Sammi Smith Jewel Fay Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005), known professionally as Sammi Smith, was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 country-pop crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", whi ...

had the most popular cover of "

", spending three weeks at number one on ''

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

chart, reaching number eight pop. and number three Easy Listening, receiving Gold certification, and earning songwriter

and Smith respective

Grammys 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 pres ...

for

Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter. There ha ...

and

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female *In 1 ...

. "

" by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

went to number one for four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number four on the magazine's

chart in addition to receiving Gold certification from 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 ...

. "

" by

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...

is yet another Gold record covered here. Type ''Carpenters'' in the Search box and press ''Enter''. They enjoyed two weeks with the song at number two pop. and four weeks at number one Easy Listening..

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

had the most successful version of "

" with three weeks at number two on the Hot 100, three weeks at number one on the R&B chart,. and a number 33 hit in the UK.

's " It's Too Late" spent five weeks at number one on the pop and

charts, reached number six UK, received Gold certification, and earned King the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

. The

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

song " I'll Be There" had five weeks at number one on the

and six weeks at number one R&B and reached number 24 Easy Listening and number four UK.

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had ...

got as high as number 15 pop and number eight Easy Listening with "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again".

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

took " If" to number four on the

and also spent three weeks at number one on the

chart. The song on this album entitled " For All We Know" won the Oscar for Best Original Song for its inclusion in the 1970 film ''

'' and was another Gold single for

, this time reaching number three pop and spending three weeks at number one Easy Listening. "

" originally appeared on

's self-titled debut album in 1970. Aside from Williams, the only other artist to chart the song during this period was

Jaye P. Morgan Jaye P. Morgan (born Mary Margaret Morgan) is a retired American popular music singer, actress, and game show panelist. Early life Morgan was born in Mancos in Montezuma County in far southwestern Colorado. Her family moved to California by t ...

, who reached 105 while "

bubbling under Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

" the

for three weeks that began in the August 21, 1971, issue of ''

'' magazine—the same issue in which Williams's chart run with the song began..

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album: *

- vocals *

Dick Glasser Richard Eugene Glasser (December 8, 1933 – July 10, 2000) was a 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 graduating Minerv ...

- 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, ...

- 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 records from the 1950s to the 1970s. Birth and fam ...

- 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 March 5, 1939, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a 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 ...

- cover photos *Virginia Team - design

References

Bibliography

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