Timmy Thomas

Timmy Thomas E. (* 13. November 1944 in Evansville , Indiana ) is an American R & B - singer , keyboard player , composer and music producer . His best known hit is Why Can't We Live Together from 1972.

Life

Thomas began his musical career as an accompanist for Donald Byrd and Cannonball Adderley before moving to Memphis , Tennessee as a session musician . His first solo hit was Why Can't We Live Together , which reached number one on the Billboard R&B charts in 1973.

Several other hits followed by 1984, including People Are Changin ' . Thomas continued to work as a session musician at TK Records, including Gwen McCrae and Blowfly . In the 1990s he was a producer at LaFace Records. In 1985 the singer Nicole McCloud , who had a top 20 hit in Germany with Don't You Want My Love , recorded the song New York Eyes written by Timmy Thomas in a duet with him. As organist, Timmy Thomas is involved in the Joss Stone albums The Soul Sessions (2003) and Mind, Body & Soul (2004).

Success and Cultural Influence

Especially his title Why Can't We Live Together has been covered several times or served as inspiration for other productions. In addition to a remix under her own name in 1990, the version by the British singer Sade from her 1984 debut album Diamond Life became particularly popular. In 2015 the Canadian rapper Drake released his track Hotline Bling , the musical basis of which is the instrumental version of Why Can't We Live Together .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	UK	US	R&B
1973	Why Can't We Live Together Glades 6501	-	-	US53 (15 weeks) US	R&B10 (15 weeks) R&B	First published: 1972 Producers: Steve Alaimo , Timmy Thomas

More albums

• 1974: You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing (Glades 6504)
• 1976: The Magician (Glades 7510)
• 1977: Touch to Touch (Glades 7513)
• 1979: Timmy Thomas Live (Glades 7517)
• 1974: Gotta Give a Little Love (Ten Years After) (Gold Mountain 80006)
• 1994: With Heart and Soul (DTM)
• 1998: Why Can't We Live Together: The Best of the TK Years 1972–81 (compilation; Westside 552)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	UK	US	R&B	Dance
1972	Why Can't We Live Together Why Can't We Live Together	DE28 (4 weeks) DE	UK12 (11 weeks) UK	US3 (15 weeks) US	R&B1 (18 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1972 Author: Timmy Thomas
1973	People Are Changin ' You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	US75 (5 weeks) US	R&B23 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1973 Author: Timmy Thomas
	Let Me Be Your Eyes You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	-	R&B48 (6 weeks) R&B	-
	What Can I Tell Her You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	-	R&B19 (14 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1973 Authors: Brad Shapiro, Clarence Reid, Willie Clarke Original: JP Robinson, 1970
1974	One Brief Moment You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	-	R&B62 (9 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 1974 Author: Timmy Thomas
	I've Got to See You Tonight You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	-	R&B31 (12 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1974 Author: Willie Hale
1975	You're the Song (I've Always Wanted to Sing) You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing	-	-	-	R&B78 (7 weeks) R&B	-	B-side of I've Got to See You Tonight Authors: Stanley McKenny, Timmy Thomas
	Sexy woman	-	-	-	R&B69 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1975 Author: Timmy Thomas
1977	Stone to the Bone The Magician	-	-	-	R&B74 (7 weeks) R&B	Dance12 (9 weeks) Dance	First published: March 1977 Authors: Ines Pinchot, Timmy Thomas
1978	Touch to Touch / Africano Touch to Touch	-	-	-	-	Dance32 (4 weeks) Dance	First published: February 1978 Author: Noel Williams
	Freak In, Freak Out	-	-	-	R&B92 (3 weeks) R&B	-	First published: September 1978 Authors: Clarence Reid, Inez J. Kitts
1981	Are you crazy ???	-	-	-	R&B73 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1981 Authors: Inez J. Kitts, Timmy Thomas
1984	Gotta Give a Little Love (Ten Years Later) Gotta Give a Little Love (Ten Years Later)	-	-	US80 (3 weeks) US	R&B29 (11 weeks) R&B	Dance28 (9 weeks) Dance	First published: April 1984 Author: Timmy Thomas
	Love Is Never Too Late Gotta Give a Little Love (Ten Years Later)	-	-	-	R&B90 (2 weeks) R&B	-	First published: August 1984 Author: Timmy Thomas
1985	New York Eyes What About Me?	-	UK41 (8 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First published: December 1985 with Nicole McCloud Author: Timmy Thomas
1990	Why Can't We Live Together? (The 1990 Re-Recording)	DE26 (12 weeks) DE	UK54 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First release: July 1990 Saxophone: Frank Kirchner Producer: The Wild Boys

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

• 1967: Have Some Boogaloo (released March)
• 1967: It's My Life (release: August)
• 1970: What's Bothering Me
• 1973: The Coldest Days of My Life
• 1975: It's What They Can't See
• 1976: Love Shine
• 1977: The Magician (release: March)
• 1980: Drown in My Own Tears
• 1982: My Last Affair
• 1990: Dying Inside (To Hold You)
• 1991: What Do You Say to a Lady (with Jackie Moore )
• 2013: Sweet Heaven (Tom Glide feat. Timmy Thomas)

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE  UK  US  R&B Number one albums DE-DE UK-UK US-US R&B-R&B Top 10 albums DE-DE UK-UK US-US R&B1R&B Albums in the charts DE-DE UK-UK US1US R&B1R&B

DE  UK  US  R&B  Dance Number one singles DE-DE UK-UK US-US R&B-R&B Dance-Dance Top 10 singles DE-DE UK-UK US1US R&B1R&B Dance-Dance Singles in the charts DE2DE UK3UK US3US R&B3R&B Dance3Dance

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles DE UK Billboard 200
2. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
3. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
4. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .

Web links

• Timmy Thomas at Allmusic (English)
• Timmy Thomas at Discogs (English)
• Article on The Standard Report