Just Friends is a 1931 jazz standard written by John Klenner with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis. It tells the story of the ache when a romance shifts into friendship. It was introduced by Red McKenzie and His Orchestra in October 1931, but became a hit in 1932 when Russ Columbo sang it with Leonard Joy’s Orchestra. Since then it has been recorded many times by artists across generations, including Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan in 1949, Chet Baker in 1955, and Frank Sinatra on the 1959 album No One Cares (arranged by Gordon Jenkins). The tune is typically performed in a mid tempo swing and is known as a enduring jazz standard in an AABA form with a bittersweet mood.
