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In 2004, English ] singer ] released her cover of the song as half of a double A-side single, along with a cover of "]". Her recording was included in the soundtrack for the 2004 film '']''. In 2004, English ] singer ] released her cover of the song as half of a double A-side single, along with a cover of "]". Her recording was included in the soundtrack for the 2004 film '']''.

In 2009, the song was performed collectively by the finalists of Season 2 of the Danish reality TV series '']'', ] and ], and topped ] (the Danish Singles Charts) for weeks 8 and 9 in 2009.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}

==Other recordings==
{{prose|section|date=March 2013}}{{refimprove section|date=March 2013}}
Many other artists have recorded "You've Got a Friend", in a wide variety of styles and languages. Cover versions of the song began almost immediately, with at least ten artists around the world releasing recordings of the song in 1971 alone, including two (] and ]) who titled their albums ''You've Got a Friend''. The song was also recorded in 1971 by ] for her third album for ], but a dispute with the company meant the album was unreleased. The song was left unissued until 1999, when it was issued as a bonus track for the ] deluxe re-release of '']''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}

*] covered the song on their 1971 ].
*] singer ] on her 1971 album '']''.
*] on her 1971 album '']''.
*] singer ] on his 1971 album '']''.
*] on his 1971 album '']''.
*Country singer ] on the 1971 album ''Daytime Nighttime''.
*Country music singer ] on her 1971 album ''Love Takes A Lot Of My Time''.
*Canadian singer ] on her 1971 album '']'', later re-released on '']'' (1999).
*French singer ] on his 1971 album ''Il fait beau, il fait bon'' (title: "Un jardin dans mon coeur")
*French singer ], as "Un jardin dans mon cœur", on her 1971 album ''Sympathie'' arranged by her British musicians Micky Jones and Tommy Brown. Vartan also recorded a Spanish version "Tu amigo fiel".
*] on the album '']'' with ] in 1972.
*] recorded a live version of the song for her album '']'' (1972) as a medley with "]".
*A live version was recorded by ] on his 1972 '']'' album and the posthumously released ''These Songs for You, Live!''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}
*] recorded an ] version on her 1972 album '']''.
*Texas singer ] recorded a Spanish-language version ("Tu Amigo Fiel") on his 1972 album ''Viva''.
*Jazz singer ] on her 1974 album '']''.
*English singer ] on her 1974 album ''Live in London''.
*] sings a ] version on her 1986 ''Lucerito'' album.
*] on his 1987 album '']''.
*] ] group ] on their post-breakup greatest hits album '']'' (1988).
*American actor/singer ] on his self-titled 1989 debut album.
*British group ] alias ] on their 1992 cover album ''Cloak & Dagger''.
*] singer ] on her 1992 album ''Woke Up This Mornin'''.
*Gospel singers ] on their 1993 album ''Bridge Over Troubled Water''.
*Israeli singer ] on her 1997 album '']''.
*] and ] group ] on their 1997 album ''Shelter''.
*Pop singer ] on the ] edition of his 1998 ].
*] on his album ''...Sings the Ballads'' (1999).
*] musician ] on his 1999 album '']''.
*English actress ] and ], '']'' co-stars performed the song on Windsor's 1999 album ''You've Got a Friend''.
*] on his 2001 album '']''.
*Gospel singer ] on the 2003 album '']''.
*Serbian pop singer ] on her 2006 cover album ''Čovek rado izvan sebe živi''.
*Bossa nova singer ] on her 2007 album ''Soul & Bossa''.
*Welsh singer ] on his 2007 album ''Reason to Believe''.
*] and ] on the 2007 album '']''.
*Country singer ] and ] singer ] on his 2007 album '']''.
*"You've Got a Friend" is also the most covered English pop song ever in Hong Kong pop music history:{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} ] (1971, ''Will The Circle Be Unbroken''), Joe Chen (1972, ''Joe Chen's 1st''), ] (1970s, ''All I Ever Need Is You''), ] (1982, ''Star On Jenny''), Elisa Chan (1994, ''Impossible''), ] (2001, ''Top Folk''), ] (2002, ''Best of Leslie Cheung's English Collection''), Ada To (2003, ''人間定格''), ] & ] (2006, ''Camping in Hong Kong Live''), Mimi Lo (2007, ''You're My Everything''), ] (2007, ''Someone Like You''), Peter Cheung & Andrew Cheung (2007, ''Duets''), ] & ] (2007, ''This Love Live 2007'')
*] on her ''Things We Do for Love'' album.
*Jazz singer ] on her album '']'' (2008).
*] band ] on their 2008 album '']''.
*] as an ] bonus track on their 2009 album '']''.
*] on the 2009 album '']'' with his partner ].
*] offers the song as a downloadable bonus track for her 2011 album '']''.
*In 2015, popular TV series '']'' covered the song as a mash-up with ]'s "]" in the third episode of their sixth and final season, "]".

===Instrumental covers===
*] ] ] on his King tribute album ''Tapestry''.
*Jazz ] ] on his album ''All The Hits Plus More''.
*Pianist ] on his album ''Peter Nero's Greatest Hits''.
*Italian singer ] recorded an instrumental version (playing clarinet) on his 1981 album ''Lucio Dalla (Q Disc)''.
*Easy-listening artist ] on his 1992 album ''Magical Moods of Mantovani''.
*Guitarist ] on his 1999 Taylor tribute album ''Alex de Grassi's Interpretation of James Taylor''.
*Jazz ] ] on his 1999 album ''The Dance of Life''.
*] ] ] on his 2005 covers album ''Got You Covered''.
*Saxophonist ] on his 2006 renditions album ''A Song for You''.<ref>{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=r860022|pure_url=yes}}|title=A Song for You overview|work=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smoothviews.com/cdreviews/lington_asongforyou.htm|title=Michael Lington - A Song for You|work=SmoothViews.com}}</ref>
*] on their 2009 album ''What are you going to do the rest of your life''
* George Donaldson, a current ] member, recorded an acoustic guitar version in 2013.

===Live covers===
*Japanese pop singers ] on their 1980 American variety show '']''.
*] covered the song at the Children's Miracle Network Telethon in 1992.
*R&B singer ] at the 2010 ]
*'']'' ] contestant ] performed the song during the music of ] week.
*] performed the song at the 2014 MusiCares Person of the Year event


==References== ==References==

Revision as of 17:11, 26 January 2015

For other uses, see You've Got a Friend (disambiguation).
"You've Got a Friend"
Song
B-side"You Can Close Your Eyes"
"You've Got a Friend"
Song
B-side"Beautiful"

"You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by Carole King. It was first recorded by King, and included in her album Tapestry, although the better known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim, which was released as a single in 1971, and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.

"You've Got a Friend" won Grammy Awards both for Taylor (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and King (Song of the Year). Dozens of other artists have recorded the song over the years, including Dusty Springfield, Michael Jackson and Donny Hathaway.

History

James Taylor and Carole King at the 2010 Troubadour Reunion Tour

"You've Got a Friend" was written by Carole King during the January 1971 recording sessions for her own album Tapestry, and James Taylor's album Mud Slide Slim. King has stated that "the song was as close to pure inspiration as I've ever experienced. The song wrote itself. It was written by something outside myself, through me." King's album was recorded in an overlap with Taylor's, and King, Danny Kortchmar, and Joni Mitchell perform on both. The song is included on both albums; King said in a 1972 interview that she "didn't write it with James or anybody really specifically in mind. But when James heard it he really liked it and wanted to record it".

Taylor's version was released as a single, and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The James Taylor version also spent one week at the top of the Easy Listening charts. Billboard ranked it as the No. 17 song for 1971.

During the recording process, Taylor also offered to his Apple Records labelmate Mary Hopkin a chance to record the song, which she turned down, a decision she later said she strongly regretted.

James Taylor and Carole King performed "You've Got a Friend" together in 2010 during their Troubadour Reunion Tour. In 2015, Taylor performed an acoustic rendition of the song at Hôtel de Ville, Paris at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo in tribute to the victims of the 2015 Paris attacks.

Reception

According to author James D. Perone, the song's themes include an expression of "a universal, sisterly/brotherly, agape-type love of one human being for another, regardless of gender." The "reassuring" lyrics have long made the song popular with lonely people needing a boost of self-confidence. The song's messages of friendship having no boundaries and a friend being there when you are in need has universal appeal. For Taylor the lyrics had particular resonance due to the depression he had recovered from shortly before hearing King play the song. The music moves between a major and minor key, which according to music critic Maury Dean gives the song a "sympathetic mood."

In his review of Tapestry, Rolling Stone Magazine critic Jon Landau called "You've Got a Friend" Carole King's "most perfect new song." He particularly praised how the melody and lyrics support each other, and the "gorgeous, righteous rock melody" of the ending lyrics. Mojo Magazine considered the song to probably be "the core of Tapestry. Allmusic critic Stewart Mason commented on the "plainspoken intimacy" of King's performance. Mason finds that the "shyness" of King's voice gives her recording of the song a sincerity that he finds Taylor's to lack. Mason also praises the "depth and shading" provided by the string instruments on King's recording.

In his review of Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, Rolling Stone critic Ben Gerson described "You've Got a Friend" as an "affirmative song," but suggested that James Taylor's version was too similar to Carole King's original version to have been worth including on his album. Music critic Maury Dean describes Taylor's performance style for the song as minimalist and folkish and comments on his "star-spangled sincerity."

Other versions released as singles

The song was recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway for their 1972 album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, and was released as the album's first single. The single was released a year before the album was, and coincidentally was released on the same date as James Taylor's single: May 29, 1971. The Flack and Hathaway version reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the R&B chart.

"You've Got a Friend" was performed by Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Carole King at the VH1 Divas Live concert in Beacon Theatre, New York, 1998. It was released as a single and reached number 74 on the Belgian Flanders Airplay Chart.

In 2004, English R&B singer Javine released her cover of the song as half of a double A-side single, along with a cover of "Don't Walk Away". Her recording was included in the soundtrack for the 2004 film Garfield.

References

  1. ^ "Tapestry". The Mojo Collection (4th ed.).
  2. Harvey Kubernik (2008). "Troubadours - Carole King's Monumental Tapestry Album | American Masters | PBS". pbs.org. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 239.
  4. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1971
  5. Interview with Mary Hopkin, Record Collector nr. 108, August 1988
  6. Perone, J.D. (2006). The Words and Music of Carole King. Greenwood Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 9780275990275.
  7. ^ Halperin, Ian (2003). Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Story. Citadel. pp. 128–129. ISBN 978 0806523484.
  8. White, T. (2009). Long Ago and Far Away. Omnibus Press. p. 190. ISBN 9780857120069.
  9. ^ Dean, M. (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. pp. 254–255. ISBN 0875862071.
  10. ^ Landau, J. (April 29, 1971). "Tapestry". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  11. ^ Mason, S. "You've Got a Friend". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  12. Gerson, B. (June 24, 1971). "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  13. Glatzer, Jenna (2005). Céline Dion: For Keeps. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-5559-5.
  14. Jaspers, Sam (2006). Ultratop 1995-2005. Book & Media Publishing. ISBN 90-5720-232-8.

External links

Preceded by"Indian Reservation" by The Raiders Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (James Taylor version)
July 31, 1971 (one week)
Succeeded by"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by Bee Gees
Preceded by"It's Too Late" by Carole King Billboard Easy Listening number-one single (James Taylor version)
July 31, 1971 (one week)
Succeeded by"If Not for You" by Olivia Newton-John
Preceded by"Poker Face" by Lady Gaga Danish Singles Chart number-one single (X Factor Finalisterne 2009 version)
February 27, 2009 (two weeks)
Succeeded by"Kun for mig" by Medina
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