Why Can't We Be Friends? - Wikipedia

1975 album by War 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? For the sculpture, see Best Friends Forever (sculpture).

Why Can't We Be Friends?
Studio album by War
Released	June 16, 1975
Recorded	1974
Studio	Sound City (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) Greatest Hits(1976)
Singles from Why Can't We Be Friends?
"Why Can't We Be Friends?"Released: April 1975 "Low Rider"Released: August 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 and TV productions, notably Bridge to Terabithia, The Final Destination, Wild Things and King of the Hill.

Professional ratings

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

Track listing

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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

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Personnel taken from Why Can't We Be Friends? liner notes.[4]

War

• Howard Scott – guitar, percussion, vocals
• B. B. Dickerson – bass, percussion, vocals
• Lonnie Jordan – organ, piano, RMI piano,[5] 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

Additional musicians

• Sharone Scott – backing vocals
• Milton James – backing vocals
• Moses Wheelock – backing vocals

Technical personnel

• Jerry Goldstein – producer
• Lonnie Jordan – associate producer
• Howard Scott – associate producer
• Ed Barton – recording engineer
• Andrew Berliner – recording engineer
• Chris Huston – recording engineer
• Howard Miller – album cover art
• Lee Oskar – album cover concept
• Gary Sato – photography

Charts

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Year	Album	Chart positions[6]
		US	USR&B	AUS[7]
1975	Why Can't We Be Friends?	8	1	81

See also

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

References

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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. ^ Why Can't We Be Friends? (Album liner notes). War. 1975.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
5. ^ "Episode 271: War "Low Rider"". Song Exploder. April 17, 2024.
6. ^ "War US albums chart history". Allmusic.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
7. ^ 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

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• Why Can't We Be Friends? at Discogs

v t e War
Lonnie Jordan Marcos Reyes Howard E. Scott Harold Ray Brown Lee OskarMorris "B.B." Dickerson Charles Miller Eric Burdon Pat Rizzo J. B. Eckl
Studio albums	Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970) The Black-Man's Burdon (1970) War (1971) All Day Music (1971) The World Is a Ghetto (1972) Deliver the Word (1973) Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975) Love Is All Around (1976) Platinum Jazz (1976) Galaxy (1977) Youngblood (1978) The Music Band (1979) The Music Band 2 (1979) Outlaw (1982) The Music Band – Jazz (1983) Life (Is So Strange) (1983) ☮ (Peace Sign) (1994)
Live albums	War Live (1973) Greatest Hits Live (2008)
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits (1976) The Very Best of War (2003)
Songs	"Spill the Wine" "They Can't Take Away Our Music" "Slippin' into Darkness" "The World Is a Ghetto" "The Cisco Kid" "Gypsy Man" "Me and Baby Brother" "Why Can't We Be Friends?" "Low Rider" "Summer"
Related artists	Discography Lowrider Band

Authority control databases	MusicBrainz release group