Why Can't We Live Together

Album review

This album was released in America on the label Glades Records ST-6501/33-6501 [US] in 1972. Why Can't We Live Together is the debut album by Timmy Thomas and historically the first recording to fully replace drummers with a drum machine, as well as the cheapest Top Ten hit ever made. The album reached number ten in 1973 on the US R&B albums chart on the strength of the million-seller single, Why Can't We Live Together.
Why Can't We Live Together and Funky Me were recorded in Miami in August 1972, with the rest of the album recorded in November at the Glades Records studio. Timmy Thomas is the sole performer on the recordings; on the title track for instance, which took fifteen minutes to record, he played the organ parts, while singing, with one hand and percussion on the organ with the other (using pre-programmed rhythms), using his feet to play bass on the organ pedals.
In a contemporary review, a writer for the Acton Gazette described Timmy Thomas as "the new soul super-star" and hailed the "unforgettable", hypnotic hit single, but felt that the album becomes monotonous and samey due to Thomas' "obsessive use of his magic organ, with its built-in rhythm section", feeling it exposed the musician's "limited talents." They nonetheless wrote that "if the idea of hearing a string of different versions of Why Can't We Live Together appeals to you, then you'll probably love it. However, praise also was given to Thomas' talents and the album's "flashes of brilliance". In an article for Blues & Soul, John Abbey felt that although the album needed further instrumentation at times, "one cannot deny the tremendous achievement of the man for creating a whole album which, from a lesser talent, would undoubtedly have bored all and sundry to the point where the album would never have survived the full thirty-five minutes."