Friendship

From Wikipedia:

“Friendship” is a song written by Cole Porter from his 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr. The song was once again performed in the 1943 film version starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey.

History

Cole Porter wrote “Friendship” for the finale to his 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady which opened on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on December 6, 1939. It was premiered by Ethel Merman as Mme. La Comtesse du Barry and Bert Lahr as The King of France. In subsequent productions, Frances Day and Arthur Riscoe performed the song in the original 1942 London premiere; and Faith Prince and Robert Morse performed it in the 1996 Encores! revival.

In 1943, Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey performed the song in the film version of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical. Lucille Ball’s singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears for most of the picture, but her real voice was used in “Friendship”. Ball and Kelly reunited in 1978 and performed the song on Kelly’s television special, “An American in Pasadena”, which aired on March 13, 1978.

The 1962 Off-Broadway revival of Cole Porter’s musical Anything Goes incorporate the song, along with other Porter songs such as “It’s De-Lovely”, “Red, Hot and Blue”, “Let’s Misbehave” and “Take Me Back to Manhattan”. All subsequent revivals of the musical still incorporated “Friendship” into the score of Anything Goes. Notable performers who have performed the song in the musical are Sutton Foster, Chita Rivera, Patti Lupone, Leslie Uggams, Elaine Paige and Andrea McArdle. […]

On January 31, 1969, during the Beatles’ “Get Back” sessions, John Lennon and Paul McCartney played a version of “Friendship.”

Bootlegs

Cover versions played during the "Get Back" sessions

"Friendship" was covered during The Beatles' "Get Back" sessions in January 1969. Here is the complete list of covers recorded by Paul McCartney, either alone or with other Beatles, during these sessions:

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