Good Friends (Livingston Taylor album)

Good Friends is singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor's ninth album, released in 1993.

The album is full of skillfully crafted pop songs and classics with a jazzy twist. Taylor includes several cover songs along with his own, self-penned, material. His cover of Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands" takes the original's simple arrangement (just a bluesy electric guitar, bass and drums behind Wither's voice) and recreates the song into a gospel-choir backed a cappella performance. Based on the lyrics, the Grandma of this song was a religious woman who “clapped in church on Sunday morning” and “played a tambourine so well.” He also tackles the Wizard of Oz selections, "If I Only Had a Brain" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Keeping with the Chesky Records standards, as the back-cover reads, this album was "recorded with minimalist miking techniques and without overdubbing or artificial enhancement to ensure the purest and most natural sound possible."