"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Robert Shaw Parsons and Ed Penney, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

. It was released in April 1976 as the second single from the album '' This Is Barbara Mandrell''. It reached the top 20 of the American country songs chart.

Background and recording

Barbara Mandrell had her first charting singles with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, but after switching to ABC/Dot she developed a musical identity that brought greater success. She started working with producer

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

, who crafted a Countrypolitan sound that helped her music reach larger audiences. One of the singles she cut during this period was 1976's "That's What Friends Are For", which was written by Robert Shaw Parsons and Ed Penney. Collins produced Mandrell's third ABC/Dot session in February 1976 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. On the same session, Mandrell cut two additional tracks, including the future single "Love Is Thin Ice".

Release and chart performance

"That's What Friends Are For" was released as a single on ABC/Dot Records on April 12, 1976. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

by the song "The Beginning of the End". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 13 weeks on America's ''

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 advertis ...

'' country songs chart, peaking at number 16 by August 1976. It was Mandrell's second single issued by the label. In Canada, the single climbed to the number 27 position on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' country chart. The song was released on Mandrell's first album for the label, which was titled '' This Is Barbara Mandrell''. The album was released in 1976.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "That's What Friends Are For" – 2:39 * "The Beginning of the End" – 2:31

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1976 singles 1976 songs ABC Records singles Dot Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer)