Why Can't We Be Friends?

For the title track, see Why Can't We Be Friends? (song). For the American Dad! episode, see Why Can't We Be Friends? (American Dad!). For "Y Can't We B Friends", see Bryce Vine § Singles. For the 1929 song, see Can't We Be Friends?

Why Can't We Be Friends?
Studio album by War
Released	June 16, 1975
Recorded	1974
Studio	Sound City Studios (Van Nuys, California)
Genre	Funk rock [1]
Length	44:04
Label	United Artists
Producer	Jerry Goldstein Lonnie Jordan Howard Scott
War chronology
War Live (1974) Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975) Love Is All Around (1976)
Singles from Why Can't We Be Friends?
"Why Can't We Be Friends?" Released: April 1975 "Low Rider" Released: May 14, 1975

Why Can't We Be Friends? is the seventh studio album by American band War, released on June 16, 1975 by United Artists Records. Two singles from the album were released: the title track backed with "In Mazatlan", and "Low Rider" backed with "So". Both A-sides were nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1976.

Of the songs on this album, an interpolation of the first part of the song "Smile Happy" was used in the song "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy featuring RikRok. Versions of the album's titular song has been used in several film productions, notably Bridge to Terabithia and Wild Things .

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	B− [3]

Track listing

All tracks composed by War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott), except where indicated. Note: The CD edition does not break "Leroy's Latin Lament" into sections.

1. "Don't Let No One Get You Down" (War, Jerry Goldstein) – 3:59
2. "Lotus Blossom" (War, Francie Nelson) – 3:59
3. "Heartbeat" – 7:25
4. "Leroy's Latin Lament (Medley)" - 6:36
   1. "Lonnie Dreams" – 0:49
   2. "The Way We Feel" (War, lyrics: Keri Oskar) – 1:10
   3. "La Fiesta" – 2:10
   4. "Lament" – 2:27
5. "Smile Happy" – 7:22
6. "So" – 4:58
7. "Low Rider" (War, Jerry Goldstein) – 3:11
8. "In Mazatlan" – 2:45
9. "Why Can't We Be Friends?" (War, Jerry Goldstein) – 3:49

Personnel

War

• Howard Scott – guitar, percussion, vocals
• B. B. Dickerson – bass, percussion, vocals
• Lonnie Jordan – organ, piano, timbales, percussion, vocals
• Harold Brown – drums, percussion, vocals (credit missing from LP cover)
• Papa Dee Allen – conga, bongos, percussion, vocals
• Charles Miller – clarinet, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, percussion, vocals
• Lee Oskar – harmonica, percussion, vocals

Charts

Year	Album	Chart positions [4]
		US	US R&B	AUS [5]
1975	Why Can't We Be Friends?	8	1	81

See also

• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 1975

References

1. Beck, Dan (February 20, 2014). "Red Hot Chilli Pipers bring 'bagrock' to Easton's State Theatre". The Morning Call. Retrieved August 16, 2020. ..."Its 2010 record, "Music For a Kilted Generation," included covers of popular rock songs such as War's "Low Rider," The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars.""
2. Allmusic review
3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 22, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
4. "War US albums chart history". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 332. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.

External links

• Why Can't We Be Friends? at Discogs