![]() Most of the band grew up in Southern California and were immersed in low rider culture. They are often coruscating with ridiculous and lairy paint jobs, they have very small steering wheels and swivel seats. ![]() The cars are modified with hydraulic lifts that allow the driver to lower each wheel and make the car bounce. So what exactly is a low rider? As well as being a customised car it is also a culture. Their first international hit, Low Rider, reached number seven Stateside and number 12 in the UK. The hits came thick and fast in America and they hit the top 10 with The World Is a Ghetto (1972), The Cisco Kid and Gypsy Man (1973) and Why Can’t We Be Lovers in 1975. But we just let it flow and played.” There was an ever changing line up because various members kept getting drafted to the Vietnam War. “We never thought we’d hit because we were too different,” says Jordan, “people wanted us to be like the Chambers Brothers or Sly and the Family Stone. They were a multi-racial group who developed their own unique sound to incorporate funk, jazz, Latino, rock and soul. Scott, Charles Miller on sax and flute, Lee Oskar on harmonica, percussionist Papa Dee Allen and drummer Harold Brown. The original line up consisted of lead singer Lonnie Jordan, bassist B.B. After two albums and three American hits including the number three Spill the Wine, Burdon left and the band would continue without him. He paired them up with Burdon and spent a few months touring around Southern California to discover how they were received before they recorded their debut album Eric Burdon Declares War. ![]() In 1969 Jerry attended the Rag Doll in North Hollywood and saw a footballer called Deacon Jones, but what caught his eye was his backing band. Their big break came when record producer Jerry Goldstein conceived the idea of finding a group to back Eric Burdon, following his departure as lead singer with The Animals. After a few months they changed name to Nite Shift – so called because the drummer, Harold Brown, worked at a steel yard at night. The original group started out as The Creators, playing clubs in the Los Angeles area, where they became the first black band booked on the Sunset Strip. Not just because of that, but also because of the name ‘WAR.’ That was a threat in some countries.Is there a fine line between funk and rock? This week’s track is a top 20 hit from 1976 which I’ve always classed as a funk track and that snuggles in beautifully between songs like Black Betty, Play That Funky Music and any of James Brown’s repertoire, but not too long ago, Classic Rock Magazine listed it at number 87 in their all-time Top 100 classic rock Songs, that track is Low Rider by War. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go to places like South Africa and other countries because of the blend in the group. Most of the groups were identified by genre. “You didn’t have a lot of bands like us that played a variety of music,” he said in an interview with Pollstar. “It’s just as (relevant) today.”įounding member Lonnie Jordan said, in the early days, it was difficult to put a name on the band’s eclectic and varied style of music, and even more difficult to explain it. We spoke out against racism, hunger, gangs, crimes, and turf wars, as we embraced all people with hope and the spirit of brotherhood,” the band’s bio reads. “Our instruments and voices became our weapons of choice and the songs our ammunition. Expressing their viewpoint had been part of the band’s identity since the late 1960s when they were originally known as The Creators. “Why Can’t We Be Friends” called out race and class discrimination and it wasn’t the first time WAR married political messaging and music. The band had yet to reach the pinnacle of its success, however, and followed up in 1975 with their third studio album “Why Can’t We Be Friends.” Featuring recognizable songs like “Don’t Let No One Get You Down,” “Low Rider,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” the album was a hit, and also put WAR in the spotlight for breaking down barriers through their music. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of their release of the best-selling album of 1973, “The World is a Ghetto” featuring the hit songs “Cisco Kid” and “The World is a Ghetto.” – More than five decades have gone by since the musical crossover band WAR began rocking.
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