Timothy Earle Thomas (November 13, 1944 – March 11, 2022) was an American R&B singer,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical ins ...

, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "

Why Can't We Live Together "Why Can't We Live Together" is a song written and recorded by Timmy Thomas in 1972. A chart hit in the following year, it was included on the album '' Why Can't We Live Together''. It was one of the first major hits to feature the use of a rhy ...

Life and career

Thomas was born in Evansville, Indiana, on November 13, 1944, one of twelve siblings. He first attracted interest in his work as an accompanist with

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

and Cannonball Adderley, before working as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

in Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

, and releasing singles on the Goldwax Records label. He had little solo success until he moved to

Glades Records TK Records was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972. and based in Hialeah, Florida. The record label went bankrupt in 1981. "TK" was inspired by the initials of sound engineer Te ...

in Miami,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, and in late 1972 he released "Why Can't We Live Together". The

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

topped the U.S. '' Billboard'' R&B chart, made the top three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and top 20 in other countries including the United Kingdom where it peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. This disc sold over two million copies. He was earlier part of a group called Phillip & the Faithfuls, which also included the singer Phillip Reynolds, releasing material for the Goldwax imprint, including "Love Me", "What'Cha Gonna Do" and "'If You Love Her" (all in 1964). He then became a session musician in Memphis, continuing to release solo sides for Goldwax, including "Have Some Boogaloo". He also released "It's My Life" in 1967. In 1970, he had switched labels to the Climax imprint and one side called "What's Bothering Me". Relocating to Miami, Florida, in 1972, Thomas played sessions for the TK group labels, signing to the Glades Records imprint, where, later that year, he released "Why Can't We Live Together". Thomas followed up the release with "People Are Changin'" (B-side "Rainbow Power") which reached the charts in 1973. In 1974, he released the album ''

You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing ''You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing'' is the second studio album by American R&B singer Timmy Thomas, released in 1974 by Glades and TK Records. The album was re-released on CD in 2004 by EMI. Joining Timmy Thomas on this outing were othe ...

''. He went on to release six further Glades singles and then, in 1975 recorded a duet with Betty Wright entitled "It's What They Can't See". From 1976 through 1980, Thomas recorded singles for both the Glades imprint and the T.K. Disco label, including "Stone to the Bone", "Africano", "Touch to Touch", "The Magician", "Freak In, Freak Out" and "Drown in My Own Tears" and the albums '' The Magician'' (Glades, 1976) and '' Touch to Touch'' (Glades, 1977). He also continued to work on sessions for TK Records artists, including Gwen McCrae, and in later years as a producer. Thomas went on to record several R&B hits culminating in "Gotta Give a Little Love (Ten Years After)", a U.S. top 30 soul entry in 1984 for Gold Mountain Records. Thomas appeared on

Nicole McCloud Lillie Arlene Nicole Jade McCloud (born December 7, 1958 in Rochester, New York), commonly known by her former stage name Nicole McCloud, or Nicole J. McCloud is an American dance and R&B singer. She has recorded five studio albums, ''What Abo ...

's 1985 album ''What About Me?'', singing on a duet with her called "New York Eyes". This track reached number 41 in the UK. In the 1990s, he worked as a producer for LaFace Records and released the album ''With Heart and Soul'' for DTM Records. Also, his song "(Dying Inside) To Hold You" was a hit in the Philippines, and gained further popularity in 2017 when it was covered by Darren Espanto for the film '' All of You''. In 2015, Drake sampled Thomas' signature hit, "Why Can't We Live Together", on his single " Hotline Bling". Thomas died of cancer on March 11, 2022, at the age of 77.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links