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| Carrying on a proud tradition. |
The Hit
Another chapter, another journey into the unknown; not even my oldies-radio-lovin’ wife had heard Timmy Thomas’ 1972 hit, “We Cant’ We Live Together.” That said, millions of young people have heard the tune without realizing it. (Quality foreshadowing…)
It opens with a percussive tapping. Pulses on an electric organ come in just over ten seconds in and proceeds to soar over it (or surf on it?) that sound. The longer the intro runs (it is not short), the more it feels thoughtful, even meditative, like an idea turning over in someone’s mind. The song continues - short, tense bursts from the electric organ here, some mellow grounding tones there - and then the vocals come in to pose the plaintive, troubled question: “Why Can’t We Live Together.” Call it a plea playing over a groove.
I’ll let Timmy Thomas tell the origin story. This comes from a 2015 interview with Spin Magazine on another big moment in his career:
“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.”
One man alone in a room doing it all. Timmy Thomas was ahead of his time in a couple ways.
The Rest of the Story
Timothy E. Thomas came into this world in 1944, born in Indiana. He started in music with a band called Phillip & the Faithfuls, who released a string of singles in the mid-1960s (represented on the sampler by “Love Me” and “Rhythm Marie”) After that project dried up, he became a session musician in Memphis (and, from another source, a school administrator) while releasing more material on the side - e.g., “Have Some Boogaloo” and “It’s My Life” (snappy little cover) - on a local label called Goldwax Records. Thomas never stopped plugging away at his side gig; in fact, he went in even harder after another position in education moved him to Miami, Florida, opening a nightclub on the corner of 46th & Collins. Which is where things took off for him.
Another chapter, another journey into the unknown; not even my oldies-radio-lovin’ wife had heard Timmy Thomas’ 1972 hit, “We Cant’ We Live Together.” That said, millions of young people have heard the tune without realizing it. (Quality foreshadowing…)
It opens with a percussive tapping. Pulses on an electric organ come in just over ten seconds in and proceeds to soar over it (or surf on it?) that sound. The longer the intro runs (it is not short), the more it feels thoughtful, even meditative, like an idea turning over in someone’s mind. The song continues - short, tense bursts from the electric organ here, some mellow grounding tones there - and then the vocals come in to pose the plaintive, troubled question: “Why Can’t We Live Together.” Call it a plea playing over a groove.
I’ll let Timmy Thomas tell the origin story. This comes from a 2015 interview with Spin Magazine on another big moment in his career:
“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.”
One man alone in a room doing it all. Timmy Thomas was ahead of his time in a couple ways.
The Rest of the Story
Timothy E. Thomas came into this world in 1944, born in Indiana. He started in music with a band called Phillip & the Faithfuls, who released a string of singles in the mid-1960s (represented on the sampler by “Love Me” and “Rhythm Marie”) After that project dried up, he became a session musician in Memphis (and, from another source, a school administrator) while releasing more material on the side - e.g., “Have Some Boogaloo” and “It’s My Life” (snappy little cover) - on a local label called Goldwax Records. Thomas never stopped plugging away at his side gig; in fact, he went in even harder after another position in education moved him to Miami, Florida, opening a nightclub on the corner of 46th & Collins. Which is where things took off for him.
