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 instru ...
, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the
hit song, "
Why Can't We Live Together".
Life and career
Thomas was born in
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...
, 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, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...
and
Cannonball Adderley
Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.
Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...
, before working as a
session musician
A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
in
Memphis,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, and releasing
singles on the
Goldwax Records label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
. He had little
solo
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Arts and entertainment Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity
* Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character
* Napoleon Solo, fr ...
success until he moved to
Glades Records in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, and in late 1972 he released "Why Can't We Live Together".
The
record topped the U.S. ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
R&B chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
, 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''. 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 artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
s, including
Gwen McCrae
Gwendolyn Patricia McCrae ( Mosley, December 21, 1943 – February 21, 2025) was an American singer, best known for her 1975 hit record, hit "Rockin' Chair (Gwen McCrae song), Rockin' Chair". Known in the music industry as the "Queen of Rare Gro ...
, 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'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
LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...
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
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
sampled Thomas' signature hit, "Why Can't We Live Together", on his single "
Hotline Bling
"Hotline Bling" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake (musician), Drake, which served as the lead single from his fourth studio album ''Views (album), Views'' (2016). The song is credited as a bonus track on the album. It was made availabl ...
".
Thomas died of cancer on March 11, 2022, at the age of 77.
Discography
Albums
Singles
See also
*
List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
*
List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1973
*
List of disco artists (S-Z)
*
List of funk musicians
*
List of soul musicians
*
List of Soul Train episodes
*
List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Timmy
1944 births
2022 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Florida
20th-century African-American male singers
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
African-American male singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
American rhythm and blues singers
American soul musicians
Musicians from Evansville, Indiana
Singer-songwriters from Indiana