''We're the Best of Friends'' is a 1979 duet album by American vocalists

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

and

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson ...

. It was released on November 2, 1979 by Capitol Records.

Reception

The album reached peak positions of number 44 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 7 on '' Billboard'' R&B Albums chart.

Track listing

#"Gimme Some Time" (

) - 3:19 #"This Love Affair" (Marvin Yancy, Natalie Cole) - 4:37 #"I Want To Be Where You Are" (

) - 4:15 #"Your Lonely Heart" (Natalie Cole) - 4:30 #" What You Won't Do for Love" (Alfons Kettner,

Bobby Caldwell Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...

) - 6:02 #"We're the Best of Friends" (Edward Howard, Thomas Campbell) - 4:14 #"

Let's Fall in Love "Let's Fall in Love" is a song written by Harold Arlen (music) and Ted Koehler (lyrics) for the film '' Let's Fall in Love'' and published in 1933. In the film, it is heard during the opening credits and later sung by Art Jarrett and chorus, a ...

/ You Send Me" (Medley) ( Harold Arlen,

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but w ...

/ Sam Cooke) - 4:08 #"Love Will Find You" (Peabo Bryson) - 6:09

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals *

– lead vocals, backing vocals (3, 5, 8), keyboards (3, 5, 6, 8), percussion (3, 5, 6, 8), horn arrangements (3, 5, 6, 8), rhythm arrangements (3, 5, 6, 8) * Michael Wycoff – keyboards (1, 2, 4, 7) *

Marvin Yancy Marvin Jerome Yancy (May 31, 1950 – March 22, 1985) was an American gospel musician, pastor and Grammy-winning record producer, and former pastor of Fountain of Life Baptist Church. He started his music career, in 1971, with The Independents, w ...

– keyboards (1, 4, 7) * Thomas Campbell – keyboards (3, 5, 6, 8) * Jim Boling –

ARP synthesizer ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before de ...

(3, 8), Minimoog (3, 8), Prophet-5 (3, 8), horn arrangements (3, 5), trumpet (3, 5, 6, 8), flugelhorn solo (5) * Robert Palmer – guitar (1, 2) *

Phil Upchurch Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, an ...

– guitar (1, 2, 4, 7) * Richard Horton – guitar (3, 5, 6, 8) *

Keni Burke Kenneth M. "Keni" Burke (born September 28, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who began his career with four siblings in the 1970s band the Five Stairsteps. Biography Five Stairsteps As a member ...

– bass (1, 2, 4, 7) * Bobby Eaton – bass (1, 2, 4, 7) * Dwight W. Watkins – bass (3, 5, 6, 8), backing vocals (3, 5, 8) *

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

– drums (1, 2, 4, 7) * Andre Robinson – drums (3, 5, 6, 8) * Eddie "Bongo" Brown – percussion (1) * Chuck Bryson – percussion (3, 5, 6, 8), backing vocals (3, 5, 8) * Terry Dukes – percussion (3, 5, 6, 8), backing vocals (3, 5, 8) * Bill Green – saxophone (2, 4) * Fred Jackson, Jr. – saxophone (2, 4, 7) * Fred Smith – saxophone (2, 4, 7) * Ernie Watts – saxophone (2, 4, 7) * Ron Dover – saxophone (3, 5, 6, 8), horn arrangements (3, 5), tenor saxophone solo (8) *

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

– trombone (2, 4, 7) *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

– trombone (2, 4, 7) * Chris Riddle – trombone (2, 4, 7) * Daniel Dillard – trombone (3, 5, 6, 8), horn arrangements (3, 5) * Oscar Brashear – trumpet (2, 4, 7) *

Bobby Bryant Bobby Bryant (born January 24, 1944) is a former cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings. Early life At Willingham High School, he was a star in football along with basketball, track and field, and baseball. Bryant was recruited to play for the Un ...

– trumpet (2, 4, 7) * Thaddeus Johnson – trumpet (3, 5, 6, 8), horn arrangements (3, 5) * Gayle Levant – harp (6, 8) * David Blumberg – horn and string arrangements (2), conductor (2) * Mark Davis – arrangements (2, 4, 7) * Benjamin Barrett – orchestra contractor (2, 4, 7) *

Harry Bluestone Harry Bluestone (30 September 1907 – 22 December 1992) was a composer and violinist who composed music for TV and film. He was prolific and worked mainly on composing with Emil Cadkin. Earlier on, he was a violinist and freelanced on rad ...

– concertmaster (2, 4, 7) *

Johnny Pate John William Pate (born December 5, 1923) is an American former jazz bassist who became a producer, arranger, and leading figure in Chicago soul, pop, and rhythm and blues. He learned piano and tuba as a child and later picked up the bass guitar ...

– string arrangements and conductor (3, 5, 6, 8) * Assa Drori – concertmaster (3, 5, 6, 8) * Linda Williams – horn and string arrangements (4) * Nelson Riddle – horn and string arrangements (7), conductor (7)

Production

* Producers – Mark Davis and Marvin Yancy (Tracks 1, 2, 4 & 7); Peabo Bryson and Johnny Pate (Tracks 3, 5, 6 & 8). * Executive Producer – Cecil Hale * Recorded and Mixed by Rik Pekkonen * Horns, rhythm and strings recorded by Butch Lynch and Steve Reyes. * Vocals recorded by Gordon Shyrock * Recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Sound Factory and

United Western Recorders United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boule ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Mastered by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction – Melissa Tormé-March * Design – John Ernsdorf * Photography – V. Hughes Frye

Charts

Singles

References

External links

Peabo Bryson & Natalie Cole-We're The Best Of Friends at Discogs
{{Authority control 1979 albums Natalie Cole albums Peabo Bryson albums Albums arranged by Nelson Riddle Albums produced by Johnny Pate Capitol Records albums Vocal duet albums