Friends are there through thick and thin. They are the family we choose. To celebrate National Make a Friend Day (Feb. 11), we've put together a seven-song playlist dedicated to one of life's most precious treasures.
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SONG OF THE monDAY
Carole King wrote You’ve Got a Friend while recording Tapestry (1971). She had shared a studio with James Taylor, who was recording Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. You’ve Got a Friend was a response to Taylor's lyrics “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend" from the song Fire and Rain (1970) and won both artists a Grammy.
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SONG OF THE tuesDAY
Written for Ringo Starr by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, With a Little Help From My Friends was released from the 1967 Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The original title was “Bad Finger Boogie” because John Lennon had a hurt finger while composing the medley, which later became the inspiration for the band Badfinger.
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SONG OF THE wednesDAY
You're My Best Friend was written by Queen bassist, John Deacon. It was released from the band's 1975 album, A Night at the Opera. Deacon had written the song for his wife, and it was originally recorded with a Wurlitzer electric piano. Freddie Mercury hated playing the Wurlitzer, opting to use a grand piano instead during live performances of the song.
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SONG OF THE thursDAY
You’ve Got a Friend In Me is the theme for Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story. It was written and recorded by Randy Newman for the first Toy Story (1995). Other versions have been used in Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). The original was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas (1995).
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SONG OF THE friDAY
Goodbye Earl was written by Dennis Linde and originally recorded by the band, Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s. Dixie Chicks recorded the song for Fly (2000). It was released as the third single from that album. Oddly, the B-side was a cover of Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man.
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SONG OF THE saturDAY
Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager wrote That's What Friends Are For, and Rod Stewart originally recorded it for the 1982 movie, Night Shift. In 1985, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder recorded a version as Dionne & Friends. The charity single for AIDS research became the No. 1 hit of 1986 and won two Grammys.
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SONG OF THE sunDAY
Lean on Me was written and recorded by Bill Withers. It was released in 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It would become Withers’ first and only No. 1 hit on both the R&B charts and on Billboard Hot 100. The song landed at the top spot on the charts again in 1987 with Club Nouveau’s cover from their album, Life, Love, and Pain.
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