This week we’re featuring organ-heavy tunes and today’s classic organic song of the day is “Why Can’t We Live Together” by Timmy Thomas. Released in August of 1972, this track hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
Timmy Thomas wrote, produced, and played all the parts on this one. It’s essentially an organ and rhythm machine track; Mr. Thomas pressed the “play” button on the “bossa nova” setting on a primitive Wurlitzer organ-like rhythm machine and accompanied himself on guitar and Lowry organ, playing the bass notes on the organ pedals. That’s it. The result was a very stripped down production that is pretty much all organ; it really stood out on the radio at the time.
Lyrically, Mr. Thomas was inspired by listening to Walter Cronkite reporting on the Vietnam War:
“I said ‘WHAT?! You mean that many mothers’ children died today? In a war that we can’t come to the table and sit down and talk about this, without so many families losing their loved ones?’ I said, ‘“’Why can’t we live together?’ Bing! That light went off. And I started writing it then. ‘No more wars, we want peace in this world, and no matter what color, you’re still my brother.’ And then after that, put it on this little tape, and went to WEBF, which was a local radio station. And they played local artists then… they played it, and the phones lit up. They said ‘Man, who is that?’ And I did it as a one-man band! That was my foot playing bass, that was my left-hand playing guitar… Could never believe that as a one-man band, something like that would’ve been played that much. But I do believe that the world was ready to start changing a little bit. And that song made the change.“
Timothy Thomas was born in Evansville, Indiana, and got his start accompanying jazz musicians like Donald Byrd and Cannonball Adderley. He also found work as a session musician in Memphis before moving to Miami, where he started releasing his own solo records. “Why Can’t We Live Together” was his only big mainstream hit, although he had a few more hits on the R&B charts. He moved on to producing for other artists. Timmy Thomas passed away in 2022, aged 77.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Timmy Thomas performing “Why Can’t We Live Together” live on the Dutch show “Countdown” in 1986, all by hisself. That’s some fancy keyboard work right there.
