Patti LaBelle, You Are My Friend | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 173rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “You Are My Friend” by Patti LaBelle. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 173^rd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “You Are My Friend” performed by Patti LaBelle.

“You are my friend / I never knew it ‘til then / My friend, my friend.” Word.  The great Patti LaBelle ‘brings the heat’ on the ‘friendly’ “You Are My Friend”. “You Are My Friend” is the fifth track on her 1977 album, Patti LaBelle. LaBelle, James Budd Ellison, and L. Armstead Edwards penned the classic. David Rubinson & Friends, Inc. produced the cut. While “You Are My Friend” didn’t impact the pop charts, it performed modestly on the R&B charts (no. 61). Despite not being a big hit in the LaBelle catalog, this song is a gem.

First and foremost, Patti LaBelle sings angelically. Her voice is anointed! Her performance is dynamic, expressive, and nuanced.  Patti brings the tuneful melodies to life superbly. Her ad-libs and high-flying vocals are everything, specifically on the bridge where the choir sings, “I’ve been looking around, and you were here all the time…” The lyrics aren’t complicated but solidly convey the power of ‘friendship’ – a special relationship.  “You hold my hand, you might not say a word,” she sings in the first verse, continuing, “But I see your tears when I show my pain.” Powerful.  In the second, LaBelle asserts, “Your love has made me realize / My future looks bright to me all because…” – yup, you guessed it – “You are my friend!”  Besides top-notch vocals and thoughtful lyricism, the instrumental accompaniment is marvelous too.  We’d expect nothing but the crème de la crème supporting a Philly gal like Patti! “You Are My Friend” is epic!

Patti LaBelle // Patti LaBelle // Epic // 1977

Patti LaBelle, You Are My Friend: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 173 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Epic; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]