Singer-songwriter Carole King wrote “You’ve Got a Friend” in 1971 and recorded it for her album Tapestry, but it was James Taylor’s version—cut that same year for Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon—that most listeners know best. King played piano and sang harmony on Taylor’s take, which went on to top the Billboard charts and earn both artists Grammy awards.
This transcription comes from the original studio recording—played in G but sounding in A, thanks to a capo at the second fret. It’s classic Taylor: loose and conversational, with syncopations, slurs, and small harmonic tweaks that keep the changes flowing and the arrangement open ended.
Guitarist Danny Kortchmar played a second acoustic part on the track, but that’s not included here. What you see is just Taylor’s guitar, which carries the rhythm and harmony all on its own. From the hammered-on suspension in the intro to the syncopated Gmaj7 voicings in the chorus, the part covers a lot of ground without ever sounding dense. The tone is clear and warm, with a soft attack that gives the guitar a kind of vocal presence.
Throughout the song, Taylor sticks to familiar open chords—G, C, Em, Am, and so on—but the way he plays them is anything but standard. His fingerpicking is light and fluid, and the details shift constantly—tracing the vocal, smoothing out transitions, or adding a bit of movement between lines. There’s motion in every bar: a subtle fill, a change in texture that keeps the part from settling into a pattern. Nothing repeats exactly, and that’s part of what makes Taylor’s accompaniment so effective.
The notation captures a lot of those moves, but it’s probably best not to treat it as a fixed arrangement. What matters most is the phrasing and the way the guitar sits with the vocal. Listen closely, and let the song change a little each time you play it.
Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to post notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the November/December 2025 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine, you will find the music on page 44.
