Wilbert Harrison originally wrote and recorded this blues-style R&B number as "Let's Stick Together," a plea for fidelity in a fractured marriage. That version, released in 1962, didn't make the charts (until Bryan Ferry covered it in 1976) but never left Harrison's mind. Seven years later, he resurrected the song, keeping the melody but changing the lyrics. "I thought I'd put some words to it that meant a bit more," he told Beat Instrumental in 1970. Changing the title to "Let's Work Together," Harrison's new message of unity was aimed at a nation rife with conflict over the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.
Harrison acted as a one-man-band on this, playing harmonica, guitar, and percussion in addition to singing.
Sue Records, a small New York label, released this as a two-part single in 1969 but it took around nine months reach the charts. It peaked at #32 in February 1970. In November, a cover by the blues-rock band Canned Heat landed at #26 (#2 UK). It was Harrison's second and last Top 40 hit. His first was a decade earlier when his cover of the Leiber and Stoller tune "Kansas City" hit #1.
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