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War | |
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 War performing in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Eric Burdon and War
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| Origin | Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels |
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| Spinoffs | Lowrider Band |
| Members | Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan James Zota Baker Scott Martin Stanley Behrens Sal Rodriguez Marcos Reyes Trevor Huxley |
| Past members | Eric Burdon Harold Ray Brown Howard E. Scott Lee Oskar B. B. Dickerson Thomas "Papa Dee" Allen Charles Miller Ron Hammon Pat Rizzo Luther Rabb Alice Tweed Smith Ricky Green Tetsuya "Tex" Nakamura Rae Valentine Kerry Campbell Charles Green J. B. Eckl Lance Ellis Smoky Greenwell Sandro Alberto Richard Marquez Kenny Hudson Fernando Harkless Stuart Ziff Pancho Tomaselli Mitch Kashmar David Urquidi David "Pug" Rodriguez |
| Website | war |
War (originally calledEric Burdon and War) is an Americanfunk/soul/rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1969.[1]
The band is known for several hit songs in the 1970s (including "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto", "The Cisco Kid", "Why Can't We Be Friends?", "Low Rider", and "Summer").[2][3] A musical crossover band, War became known for its eclectic blend of different musical styles, an amalgam of the sounds and styles the band members heard living in the racially diverse ghettos ofLos Angeles.
Their albumThe World Is a Ghetto wasBillboard's best-selling album of 1973.[4] The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic lineup. War was subject to many lineup changes over the course of its existence, leaving memberLeroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current lineup; four other members created a new group called theLowrider Band.
In 1962,Howard E. Scott andHarold Brown formed a group called the Creators inLong Beach, California. Within a few years, they had addedCharles Miller, Morris "B. B." Dickerson, andLonnie Jordan to the lineup.Lee Oskar andPapa Dee Allen later joined as well. They all shared a love of diverse styles of music, which they had absorbed living in the racially mixed Los Angeles ghettos. The Creators recorded several singles onDore Records while working with Tjay Contrelli, a saxophonist from the bandLove. In 1968, the Creators became Nightshift (named because Brown worked nights at a steel yard) and started performing with Melvyn "Deacon" Jones from Richmond, Indiana, a rhythm and blues artist. Deacon Jones, as he was referred to, is often confused with Deacon Jones, the American football player who was from the same era. The band then changed their name from Nightshift to War.
Nightshift was conceived by record producerJerry Goldstein ("My Boyfriend's Back", "Hang on Sloopy", "I Want Candy") and singerEric Burdon (ex-lead singer of the British bandthe Animals). In 1969, Goldstein saw musicians who would eventually become War playing at the Rag Doll inNorth Hollywood, backing Deacon Jones, the blues artist, and he was attracted to the band's sound. Jordan claimed that the band's goal was to spread a message of brotherhood and harmony, using instruments and voices to speak out against racism, hunger, gangs, crimes, and turf wars, and promote hope and the spirit of brotherhood.[5] Eric Burdon and War began playing live shows to audiences throughoutSouthern California before entering into the studio to record their debut albumEric Burdon Declares "War". The album's best known track, "Spill the Wine", was a hit and launched the band's career.
Eric Burdon and War toured extensively across Europe and the United States. The subtitle of a 1970 review in theNew Musical Express of their first UK gig in London'sHyde Park read: "Burdon and War: Best Live Band We've Ever Seen".[6] Their show atRonnie Scott's Club in London on September 16, 1970, is historically notable for being the last public performance forJimi Hendrix,[7] who joined them onstage for the last 35 minutes of Burdon and War's second set; a day later he was dead. A second Eric Burdon and War album, a two-disc set titledThe Black-Man's Burdon was released in 1970. During the subsequent tour, Burdon collapsed on the stage during a concert, caused by an asthma attack, and the band continued the tour without him[8] before Burdon left the band in the middle of its European tour. They finished the tour without him and returned to record their first album as War.
War (1971) met with only modest success, but later that year, the band releasedAll Day Music which included the singles "All Day Music" and "Slippin' into Darkness". The latter single sold over one million copies, and was awarded agold disc by theR.I.A.A. in June 1972.[9] In 1972, they releasedThe World Is a Ghetto which was even more successful. Its second single, "The Cisco Kid", shipped gold,[10] and the album attained the number one spot onBillboard 200,[11] and wasBillboard magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973.
This band lives up to its name. The powerful, deceptively torpid groove evokes the pace of inner-city pleasures like 'All Day Music' and 'Summer.' But however jokey and off-the-cuff they sound, they're usually singing about conflict, often racial conflict—the real subject of 'The Cisco Kid' and 'Why Can't We Be Friends?,' which many take fornovelty songs.
Deliver the Word (1973), the next album, contained the hits "Gypsy Man" and a studio version of "Me and Baby Brother" (previously issued as a live recording), which peaked at No. 8 and No. 15 on the Billboard chart. The album went on to sell nearly two million copies.[citation needed] The albumWhy Can't We Be Friends? was released in 1975. It included "Low Rider" and the title track, which were among the band's bigger hits.[10]
In 1976, War released a greatest hits record that contained one new song "Summer", which, as a single, went gold and peaked at number 7 on theBillboard chart. Also released that year wereLove Is All Around by Eric Burdon and War, containing mostly unreleased recordings from 1969 and 1970, andPlatinum Jazz, a one-off album for jazz labelBlue Note. The latter double album had cover art to match the greatest hits album, and was half new material and half compilation, focusing on (but not restricted to) instrumental music. The group continued to attain success with their next albumGalaxy (1977), and its title single was inspired byStar Wars. War's next project was a soundtrack album for the movieYoungblood in 1978.
In 1979, following the departure of B. B. Dickerson during recording sessions for their next album (replaced byLuther Rabb on bass who completed the album), the band considered changing their name to The Music Band, but decided at the last minute to continue as War, and use "The Music Band" as the title of a series of albums. The series originally consisted of two studio albums (The Music Band,The Music Band 2, both in 1979) and a live album (The Music Band Live, 1980), but after the band left MCA in 1981 and had already made records for other labels, MCA expanded the series with a compilation (The Best of the Music Band, 1982) and a third original album of left-over material (The Music Band – Jazz, 1983).
The group lost another member whenCharles Miller (saxophone) was murdered in 1980. He had already been replaced byPat Rizzo (exSly and the Family Stone) in 1979. Other new members joining at this time were Alice Tweed Smith (credited as "Tweed Smith" and "Alice Tweed Smyth" on various albums) on percussion and vocals (giving the band its first female vocalist), and Ronnie Hammon as a third drummer.
After making the one-off single "Cinco de Mayo" for LAX Records in 1981 (Jerry Goldstein's own label, which also reissuedEric Burdon Declares "War" under the titleSpill the Wine the same year), War signed withRCA Victor Records and recordedOutlaw (1982) which included the single plus additional singles "You Got the Power", "Outlaw", and "Just Because".[10] It was followed byLife (is So Strange) (1983) from which the title track was also a single. War's records from 1979 to 1983 were not as successful as those from the preceding decade, and after the two RCA albums, the band's activities became sporadic. They did not record another full album until a decade later. The 1987 compilation albumThe Best of War ...and More included two new tracks, "Livin' in the Red" and "Whose Cadillac Is That?", and a remixed version of "Low Rider" (in addition to the original version). Papa Dee Allen died of a brainaneurysm which struck him onstage in August 1988. He was 57 years old.
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Sampling of War by hip hop artists was prevalent enough to merit the compilation albumRap Declares War in 1992, which was sanctioned by the band.In 1993, War reformed with most surviving previous members (including original members Brown, Jordan, Oskar, and Scott, and later members Hammon and Rizzo), augmented by a large lineup of supporting musicians and still under the management and production of Jerry Goldstein, and released a new album,☮ in 1994.
In 1996, the group attempted to gain independence from Goldstein, but were unable to do so under the name "War" which remains a trademark owned by Goldstein and Far Out Productions.[13] In response, Brown, Oskar, Scott, and a returning B. B. Dickerson (who had not worked with War since 1979) adopted a name which referenced one of War's biggest hits:Lowrider Band. They have yet to record a studio album.
Lonnie Jordan opted to remain with Goldstein and create a new version of War with himself as the only original member. Some other musicians who had joined between 1983 and 1993 were also part of the new lineup. Both the "new" War and the Lowrider Band are currently active as live performance acts.
1996 also saw the release of a double CD compilation,Anthology (1970–1994), later updated in 2003 with a few track substitutions, asThe Very Best of War. Another CD compilation from 1999,Grooves and Messages, included a second disc of remixes done by various producers.
On April 21, 2008, Eric Burdon performed "Spill the Wine" with War in concert at the London Royal Albert Hall, released asGreatest Hits Live on Avenue/Rhino Records, who also reissued much of War's back catalog that year.
War were unsuccessfully nominated for induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009[14] and 2014.[15]
In 2014, War released a new studio album,Evolutionary, as a double CD, the second disc being a reissue of theirGreatest Hits album from 1976.
On June 5, 2025, War received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame with all surviving original core members present including Jerry Goldstein, Charles Miller's children, and B.B Dickerson's son[16].
According to music writerColin Larkin, their "potent fusion offunk,R&B,rock andLatin styles produced aprogressive soul sound",[10] whileMartin C. Strong calls them "one of the fiercest progressive soul combos of the '70s".[17] The liner notes to the 2003 greatest hits albumThe Very Best of War described the band's sound as a mix of "rock,jazz,Latin, and R&B",[18] whileThe Maui News described the band's sound in an October 2024 article as blending "R&B, rock, Latin music, jazz, andblues."[19]
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