A Friend for Life

"A Friend for Life"
Single by Steve Harley
from the album The Quality of Mercy
B-side	"Safe (Live)", "Loretta's Tale (Live)"
Released	30 April 2001
Format	CD
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	4:45
Label	Intrinsic Records Pinnacle Records (distribution only)
Writer(s)	Jim Cregan, Steve Harley
Producer(s)	Jim Cregan
Steve Harley singles chronology
"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (re-issue)" (1995) "A Friend for Life" (2001) "The Last Goodbye" (2006)

"A Friend for Life" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released as a single in 2001.^[1] The song was written by Harley (music, lyrics) and Cockney Rebel's ex-guitarist Jim Cregan (music), and produced solely by Cregan,^[2] although on The Quality of Mercy album, the song would have production credits to both Harley and Cregan.^[3]

It was Harley's first release of new material since the 1996 album Poetic Justice. The single was initially released as a non-album single, although the song would later appear on the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel 2005 studio album The Quality of Mercy.^[4]

In 2015 the song was covered by British singer/musician Rod Stewart for his album Another Country.

Background

The song was created when Harley visited Cregan's home in Los Angeles. In 2015 Harley recalled: "I was in Los Angeles, staying at Jim's (then) house. We wrote most days and that tune came from one lazy afternoon's messing about. I wrote the entire lyric on the flight home." The song was recorded at friend and songwriter Mike Batt's house, who arranged and conducted the song's strings quartet, and also played keyboards. The recording inspired Batt to record extensively at his home and most of Katie Melua's recordings have since been made there.

For his online diary on his official website, Harley had announced in January 2001: "We are pretty sure that "A Friend for Life" will be released mid-March. It should, with a little luck and the efforts of a good plugger, start getting airplay around the country towards the end of February. I can't in all honestly seriously expect a hit record. It will not be released by EMI or Sony, but by a small independent label with a good heart and much belief in the product. But airplay will help sell tickets for concerts, anyway, and to play is my first love, of course."^[5]

The single began to gain airplay from March, and was released as a single in April. This coincided with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's 'Back with the Band' tour - a 38 date UK tour which was the band's first in four years.^[6] "A Friend for Life" reached #125 in the UK in May 2001, and lasted four weeks within the Top 200.^[7] It also reached #45 on the UK Independent Singles chart.^[8]

In December 2003, Cregan was interviewed by Graham Edmundson, with "A Friend for Life" being mentioned. Cregan revealed "We did "A Friend For Life" together which was a real change for me because suddenly instead of Steve being the producer I was. I thought, "this could be strange" because he had always been the man in charge. Was he going to let go of the reins? How hard was that going to be? But it was fine - he obviously put his two cents in. We have a couple of other songs which haven't been fully recorded yet."^[9]

In August 2013, Harley played at the Rewind Festival 2013 and was interviewed after his slot in the show. When asked "Talking of the songs that they didn't know, going into your back catalogue, what would you say would be the hidden gem that very few would have heard of but you would encourage us to go and listen to?" Harley replied "Oh that's a good question. A hidden gem? There's a song called "A Friend for Life", which I sang today. It touches people of a certain age. A lot of my audience are grandparents, 50s and 60s. It touches them."^[10]

Release

The single was released on CD in the UK only, via Intrinsic Records, while Pinnacle Records handled distribution throughout the UK. It was licensed to Intrinsic Records by Harley's own Comeppance Ltd.^[11][12] The CD single was mastered by Doug Shearer at Sanctuary Mastering in London.^[11]

The single featured two extra Harley-penned tracks - "Safe" and "Loretta's Tale" - both of which were live tracks, recorded live at The Blomsbury Theatre in London during the spring of 2000.^[2] "Safe" was originally recorded for the 1996 album Poetic Justice, while "Loretta's Tale" was from Cockney Rebel's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie.^[13][14]

As Harley and the other personnel were happy with the finished 2001 recording, no changes were required when it came to adding the song onto The Quality of Mercy album in 2005. Since 2005, the song has also appeared on the 2006 EMI box-set release The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology.^[15]

Promotion

No music video was created for the single, however the song did become a regular feature of Harley's live set. On YouTube, various unofficial videos of Harley and his band performing the song live in recent years have surfaced.^[16]

Some live versions of the song have also been released officially. In 2002, the song was included on Acoustic and Pure Live, which featured Cregan and other guests,^[17] and in 2004, another live version of the song was included on Anytime! (A Live Set).^[18] The song's live performance at the Isle of Wight festival in 2004 was released on DVD as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel: Live at The Isle of Wight Festival.^[19]

The song was performed live at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005, and eFestivals writer Karen Morrison reviewed the band's setlist and performance, where she mentioned the song, stating "'A Friend For Life' soothes the night air before Steve explains how the following song was sung back to him last time he was here and wherever he has been ever since."^[20] On 8 January 2011, Harley performed the song with his band and an Orchestra live at the Herre Avdelingen, NRK Marienlyst Oslo, in Norway. The performance was professionally filmed, along with "Sebastian" and "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)". Since April 2011, the performance has gained over 92,000 views on YouTube.^[21]

Harley also performed the song as a bonus session track for the BBC Radio 2 Bob Harris show Old Grey Whistle Test 40. It was broadcast on 25 September 2011,^[22] and in 2012, the song was released on the BBC box-set compilation The Old Grey Whistle Test Live.^[23][24]

Track listing

CD Single

1. "The Last Goodbye" - 4:45
2. "Safe (Live)" - 4:08
3. "Loretta's Tale (Live)" - 6:35

Critical reception

Record Collector reviewer Nick Dalton spoke of the song in a Christmas 2005 review of The Quality of Mercy album. He stated "The band stretches out of the confines of simple rock instrumentation with sawing violin and classical piano, while Jim Cregan, guitarist during the "Make Me Smile" heyday, adds a delicate solo on the reflective "A Friend for Life," one of three tracks he's co-written."^[25]

The Sunday Express reviewed the album on 9 October 2005 and stated "A genuine Seventies pop maverick, Harley has evolved into a highly-literate and intimate balladeer. "The Coast of Amalfi," and "A Friend for Life" are elegant if care-worn gems."^[26]

In November 2005, Carol Clerk of Classic Rock magazine reviewed the album, and stated "Baring his soul in public for the first time, Steve Harley has produced what might just be his best album to date. "The Quality of Mercy" is brimful of songs that are intensely personal and sometimes harrowing but, musically, very approachable. Here, Harley surveys his reality as a middle-aged father hoping his 25-year marriage will survive the empty-nest crisis. Still, the bright up-tempos of "The Last Goodbye" and the lovely, gentle melodies that carry "Journey's End (A Father's Promise)" and "A Friend for Life" offset the deep anxieties at the heart of the lyrics."^[27]

In a negative review of the album from Nick Hasted of Uncut magazine in the November 2005 issue, Hasted wrote "The acerbic swagger of Harley's real Rebel years is absent on this set with his rechristened road band. Harley's concerns now are adult: fathers and sons, nostalgia and ennui, presented with the self-importance of an adolescent, minus the energy. "A Friend for Life" retains some brutal Cockney bite about married stasis, and "The Coast of Amalfi"'s dope reverie is artful. Otherwise, ignore."^[28]

Peter Makowski of Classic Rock magazine positively reviewed the Anytime! (A Live Set) album, and stated "Here 'live and unplugged' the former Cockney Rebel takes us through a tour of all the hits and more. But it's the lesser-known material like the emotive "Friend For Life" that makes Harley sound fresh and edgy, like a latter day Libertine."^[29]

On 26 May 2008, a live convert review of the band at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall by the Liverpool Echo stated "His penultimate song was A Friend For Life – one of his most beautiful heart-felt ballads."^[30]

In a Belgian concert review of Harley at the Sportpaleis Merksem on 11 December 2010, Concertnews.be wrote "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel first performed in the Arena during the Golden Years. Three guitarists, one bassist, one violinist, one backing vocal, one keyboardist and a drummer provided a plush sound. Steve Harley himself put much feeling in his voice as in a very weathered version of "A Friend for Life" where a flute player made it even more richer."^[31]

Chart performance

Personnel

A Friend for Life

• Vocals, Bass - Steve Harley
• Producer, Guitar, Guitar Solo - Jim Cregan
• Arrangement and Conducting of String Quartet, Piano - Mike Batt
• Guitar - Robbie Gladwell
• Recording and Mixing Engineer - Matt Butler
• Assistant Recording and Mixing Engineer - Steve Sale
• Writers of "A Friend for Life" - Steve Harley, Jim Cregan

Safe (Live)

• Vocals - Steve Harley
• Guitar - Robbie Gladwell
• Backing Vocals - Lily Gonzales
• Writer of "Safe" - Steve Harley

Loretta's Tale (Live)

• Vocals, Guitar - Steve Harley
• Guitar - Robbie Gladwell
• Writer of "Loretta's Tale" - Steve Harley

Other

• Sleeve - Kitrocket UK
• Mastering - Doug Shearer at Sanctuary Mastering, London

Rod Stewart version

For inclusion on the studio album Another Country, British singer/musician Rod Stewart recorded a version of "A Friend for Life". Although Stewart had never before covered one of Harley's songs, the pair had been friends for many years. Stewart had described him as "one of the finest lyricists the UK has ever produced",^[32] while Harley had helped co-write Stewart's 1980 track "Somebody Special", from his Foolish Behaviour album.^[33] Harley had also offered his song "Irresistible" to Stewart during the mid-1980s, who turned it down, advising that Harley should record it himself.^[34] Furthermore, "A Friend for Life"'s other writer, Jim Cregan, is a long-time collaborator with Stewart, as well as Harley, and had also been guitarist for Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel during the mid-1970s.^[35]

When Cregan and Harley wrote "A Friend for Life", it had been offered to Stewart. In an online diary entry for his official website, Harley noted in November 2000: "Gave "A Friend For Life" to Rod Stewart at dinner the other night. He loves the song but said: "I don't like that line about "The cats, I'll feed yer cats..." I'll be releasing my version in the new year, but I am not averse to a world-superstar having a world-wide number one with the song. No matter."^[36]

Harley first revealed that an "international superstar" had recorded one of his songs, without revealing who they were in his online diary, dated 22 June 2015. He added: "I believe totally that you will love it. I have it (the superstar sent me a file by email) and it is, for me, a beautiful reading of a slightly complex lyric. That's why the superstar is a superstar, I guess."^[37] The following day, 23 June, saw Stewart announce the release of a new studio album titled Another Country. It was soon made available for pre-order, set for release on 23 October, with "A Friend for Life" as the closing track on the standard edition.

Stewart's version of the song was played on 31 August 2015 when Stewart appeared on BBC Radio 2 with Johnnie Walker, as part of his "Johnnie Walker Meets..." show. When Walker suggested playing "A Friend for Life" as the closing track for the show, Stewart replied: "Yeah, I'd love you to play that. Steve Harley - one of the most underrated songwriters, good old Steve." In response to Harley's reaction to the version, Stewart added that he was "over the moon."^[38] When Stewart's version was mentioned to Harley in an October 2015 interview for Classic Rock magazine, he responded: "Was I happy with that? Just a bit! Rod really nails it in his old soul voice. Good old Rod."^[39]

Speaking to The Leader in November 2016, Harley spoke of Stewart's version: "Rod's one of the great song writers. I offered it to him 10 years ago and he didn't get it, but now he's had these two lovely boys with Penny Lancaster and he gets it because it's a difficult lyric about children growing up and leaving the nest. I thanked him by buying him a fish supper in a very expensive restaurant in Mayfair."^[40]

References