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Following its release last week on vinyl for Record Store Day, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of WAR’s seminal 1975 album Why Can’t We Be Friends? is coming to CD and digital formats.  On June 6, the 3CD box will arrive in stores via Rhino and Avenue Records.

WAR’s seventh album, Why Can’t We Be Friends? found the large musical collective – Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, and Lee Oskar – continuing on its path blending funk, soul, rock, and blues.  The album’s infectious sing-along title track composed by the band and manager-producer Jerry Goldstein (co-writer of such classic hits as “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “I Want Candy”) shot to the top ten of both the U.S. Pop and R&B charts, while the second single “Low Rider,” also co-written with Goldstein, topped the R&B chart and also went top ten Pop.  The album’s material was considerably more compact than the epic psychedelic jams featured on numerous past albums, but WAR’s eclectic adventurousness nonetheless manifested itself on the longer tracks such as “Heartbeat,” the multi-part suite “Leroy’s Latin Lament,” and “Smile Happy” (a portion of which was later interpolated into reggae star Shaggy’s 2000 hit “It Wasn’t Me”).

Why Can’t We Be Friends? reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and went to No. 1 on the R&B survey, earning a Gold sales certification.  This expanded edition has been remastered from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman, with the core album presented on CD 1.  The second and third discs, The Making of ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?,’ comprise outtakes (“Zorro,” “Roam and Ramble,” “Oatmeal Box”); unedited versions of “Don’t Let No One Get You Down,” “Low Rider,” and “So;” the “Heartbeat” jam; and an audio documentary tracing the development of the album’s tracks.  The 3CD set will be housed in the same small box style as the past reissue of The World Is a Ghetto and Eric Burdon and War: The Complete CD Collection.

The Original Unedited Mix of “Low Rider” is streaming now.  Why Can’t We Be Friends? arrives on CD and digital formats on June 6.  You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below; unfortunately, the Amazon U.S. link is still not active.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) (Avenue/Rhino R2 727507, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1 (released as United Artists LP UA-LA441-G, 1975)

1. Don’t Let No One Get You Down
2. Lotus Blossom
3. Heartbeat
4. Leroy’s Latin Lament (Medley):
5. Lonnie Dreams
6. The Way We Feel
7. La Fiesta
8. Lament
9. Smile Happy
10. So
11. Low Rider
12. In Mazatlan
13. Why Can’t We Be Friends?

CD 2 (released as part of Avenue/Rhino LP box set R1 727336, 2025)

1. Zorro
2. Don’t Let Know One Get You Down (Original Unedited Mix)
3. Roam & Ramble
4. Lowrider (Original Unedited Mix)
5. So (Unedited Remix)

CD 3 (released as part of Avenue/Rhino LP box set R1 727336, 2025)

1. Oatmeal Box
2. Heartbeat (Original Jam)
3. The Making of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”​