Wilbert Harrison’s self-penned “Let’s Work Together” was his first hit in ten years after his astounding No. 1 success in 1959 with Leiber & Stoller’s song “Kansas City.” Harrison usually recorded all the instruments in his sessions and on stage by himself, including the guitar, piano and harmonica, though for years he also performed with a group as Wilbert Harrison and The Roamers. He recorded all the instruments on the "Let's Work Together" album.
Wilbert Harrison was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 5, 1929. "Kansas City" not only established Harrison in his musical career and was later and was awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2001, along with being named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
“Kansas City” also established Bobby Robinson’s Fury and Fire labels and Bobby Robinson himself as one of the African-American music-business pioneers. Robinson ran Bobby's Happy House of Hits on 125th Street near the Apollo Theater on 125th Street in Harlem in New York. A third reputation was established with “Kansas City”— guitar soloist Wild Jimmy Spruill, whose "Kansas City" guitar solo is a landmark in rock and roll.
“Let’s Work Together” had numerous recordings, including a hit by Canned Heat and versions by country rock band The Kentucky Headhunters and smooth-voiced Bryan Ferry.
The “Let’s Work Together” album marked the reuniting of Harrison with Sue Records’ Juggy Murray, with whom Harrison had had an association going back to Fury. Juggy Murray’s partnered with Bobby Robinson, then created Sue Records and had such notable artists as Ike and Tina Turner, Baby Washington and Jimmy McGriff.
Harrison died in Spencer, North Carolina at the age of 65 in 1994.
