Timmy Thomas
Though perhaps best known for the skeletal organ groove of his 1972 hit "Why Can't We Live Together," R&B vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Timmy Thomas enjoyed a long and storied career in various sectors of the music industry. After making solo albums throughout the '70s and into the '80s, Thomas transitioned into a production role in the '90s, though he continued releasing singles and one-off records like the 1993 compilation With Heat & Soul. Thomas' music was still being discovered well into the 2000s and beyond, when artists like Drake and Darren Espanto covered his songs or sampled them for new hits.
Thomas was born in Evansville, Indiana in 1944. In the '60s he started working as a session musician in the studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and was releasing singles of his own by the end of the decade. Thomas left Memphis for Miami at the beginning of the '70s, and there he recorded his 1972 debut long-player Why Can't We Live Together. The album's spare instrumentation of rudimentary rhythm box drum machine, ghostly funk organ, and Thomas' patient but passionate vocals stood out from the busy psychedelic soul of the era, but the open arrangements were just as trippy. The album's title track became Thomas' first and biggest hit, climbing to the upper reaches of the charts in several countries and selling over two million copies worldwide. He filled out his sound considerably for 1974's You're the Song I've Always Wanted to Sing and spent the rest of the '70s releasing singles that got deeper into a disco sound, as well as issuing several more records under his own name such as 1977's Touch to Touch and a 1979 live album recorded at a concert in South Africa. Thomas continued working as a studio player on sessions with Gwen McCrae and Blowfly and moved into production in the '90s working for LaFace Records. He scored a hit in the Philippines with his 1990 song "(Dying Inside) To Hold You" and sporadically released new music of his own. Thomas' best-loved hit endured and was given a boost in recognition when global pop phenomenon Drake sampled "Why Can't We Live Together?" as the backbone of his 2015 hit "Hotline Bling." The song became ubiquitously popular worldwide, hitting the upper reaches of the charts and eventually being streamed over a billion times. In 2017 singer/actor Darren Espanto covered "(Dying Inside) To Hold You" for the film Philippine romantic comedy All of You, furthering the interest in Thomas' back catalog. Thomas was 77 years old and still living in Miami when he died of cancer on March 11, 2022.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo
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Diskografie
20 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Timmy Thomas (Live)
Funk - Erschienen bei Stone Music Family, LLC am 30.10.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together
Pop - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.10.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together: The Best Of The TK Years 1972/81
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei Parlophone UK am 19.05.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together
Soul - Erschienen bei Mmt am 01.10.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
(Dying Inside) To Hold You
Disco - Erschienen bei New Way Music Musikverlag und Produktion GmbH am 01.01.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together (Gregor Salto & Ibitaly Remix)
Disco - Erschienen bei High Fashion Music am 19.03.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together
Dance - Erschienen bei High Fashion Music am 30.10.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together
Disco - Erschienen bei New Way Music Musikverlag und Produktion GmbH am 06.04.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You're the Song
Soul - Erschienen bei Stone Music Family, LLC am 30.10.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Best of Timmy Thomas
Soul - Erschienen bei Vantage Music am 07.10.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stone To The Bone
R&B - Erschienen bei Real Rhythm And Blues Records am 25.07.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Loving Timmy
R&B - Erschienen bei Real Rhythm And Blues Records am 04.04.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Touch to Touch
Soul - Erschienen bei Stone Music Family, LLC am 01.01.1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live in Africa (Live)
Soul - Erschienen bei The Gallo Record Company Vault am 22.12.1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You're The Song I've Always Wanted To Sing (2004 Remaster)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei Parlophone UK am 01.01.1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Funky Me
R&B - Erschienen bei Blooming Jazz Records am 06.01.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Why Can't We Live Together (No More Wars)
House - Erschienen bei Four 4 Manifesto LLC am 01.05.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Timmy Thomas
Soul - Erschienen bei Heaven And Earth Music am 07.10.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I've Got To See You Tonight
Soul - Erschienen bei Black Barn Music am 15.09.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo