You've Got a Friend (Expanded Edition)

You've Got a Friend (Expanded Edition)

What happens when you pair a classic pop vocalist with a superstar rock producer, and both are at the top of their game? The result is pure magic, or in this case, Mathis magic! Johnny Mathis teamed with Richard Perry (Nilsson Schmilsson, Ringo, Barbra Streisand’s Stoney End) for 1971’s You’ve Got a Friend, and now that classic album is making its U.S. standalone CD premiere in a deluxe, expanded edition from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records! Blending the Perry sessions with recordings produced by Mathis himself, You’ve Got a Friend offers a spectacular array of then-recent hits rendered as only Johnny could. Fusing pop and soul, Mathis and Perry tackled favorites from James Taylor (“Long Ago and Far Away”), The Beatles (“We Can Work It Out”), The Jackson 5 (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), and Gordon Lightfoot (“If You Could Read My Mind”). Carole King’s warmhearted title track is one of two Tapestry cuts smoothly sung here by Johnny, along with the chart-topping “It’s Too Late.” Mathis’ rich tapestry of contemporary music has grown larger thanks to this edition’s whopping eight bonus tracks. Session outtakes include fresh versions of The Four Tops’ Motown perennial “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers,” and the classic “I Only Have Eyes for You” (which Johnny would re-record for his 1976 album of the same name). The set is then rounded out with a host of rare singles like Jimmy Webb’s “Evie,” John Barry and Don Black’s “This Way Mary” from Mary, Queen of Scots, and the single version of Jacques Brel’s “If We Only Have Love.” This beloved Friend is sounding better than ever, as Mike Piacentini at Sony’s Battery Studios has remastered everything. The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese has penned the liner notes featuring new quotes from Johnny Mathis.