The album was one of several in the mid-1980s that featured Charles returning to country music after a two-decade absence; he had previously recorded the two-volumeModern Sounds in Country and Western Musicto much acclaim in 1962. ForFriendship,Charles collaborated with several established country stars in a series of duets. Whereas theModern Soundssingles were not explicitly released tocountry radio,the singles fromFriendshipwere, and the album provided Charles with his highest-charting hits on the country charts, including a number-one country hit withWillie Nelson,"Seven Spanish Angels".
Friendshipwas first released in August 1984 byColumbia RecordsandEpic Records.It reached the number-one position on theBillboard'sTop Country Albumsand remained on the chart for 70 weeks. According toStephen Thomas Erlewine,the album was "a big hit, really the last genuine hit when Charles was alive", as well as "the pinnacle of his '80s country-pop records, the one where Ray truly captured the sound of the era".[1]It was later reissued by Columbia asRay Charles and Friends' Super Hits.[5]In 2005,Friendshipwas reissued again by Columbia in partnership withLegacy Recordings.[1]
In a retrospective review forAllMusic,Erlewine judged the album's best moments to be "merely pleasant; at its worst, it's simply dull" and "more of a testament to the power of Sherrill'sMusic Citymachine than it is to Charles' greatness. "[1]Robert Christgauwas more enthusiastic reviewing the album's 2005 reissue, saying the duet concept worked "pretty darn good on the only memorable album of his Nashville foray". He cited "We Didn't See a Thing" as a highlight of both Charles andGeorge Jones' late-period recordings and also applauded the two bonus songs, despite their deviation from the original album's stylistic concept.[3]
