Veterans of the Californian west coast circuit, the core of War's line-up - Leroy 'Lonnie' Jordan (b. 21 November 1948, San Diego, California, USA; keyboards), Howard Scott (b. 15 March 1946, San Pedro, California, USA; guitar), Charles Miller (b. 2 June 1939, Olathe, Kansas, USA; flute/saxophone), Morris 'B.B.' Dickerson (b. 3 August 1949, Torrence, California, USA; bass) and Harold Brown (b. 17 March 1946, Long Beach, California, USA; drums) - had made several records under different names including the Creators, the Romeos and Senor Soul. In 1969, the quintet was working as Nightshift, an instrumental group, when ex- Animal lead singer, Eric Burdon, adopted them as his backing band. Renamed War, the ensemble was completed by Lee Oskar (b. Oskar Levetin Hansen 24 March 1948, Copenhagen, Denmark; harmonica) and 'Papa' Dee Allen (b. 18 July 1931, Wilmington, Delaware, USA, d. 29 August 1988; percussion).
Their debut Eric Burdon Declares War, included the rhythmic 'Spill The Wine', but the group broke away from the UK vocalist, following a second collection. War's potent fusion of funk, R&B, rock and latin styles produced a progressive soul sound best heard on All Day Music and The World Is A Ghetto. They also enjoyed a significant success in the US singles charts with 'The Cisco Kid' (1973), 'Why Can't We Be Friends?' (1975) and 'Summer' (1976), each of which earned a gold disc, while in the UK they earned two Top 20 hits with 'Low Rider' (1976) and 'Galaxy' (1978). War's subsequent progress proved less fortunate. Despite an early promise, a move to MCA Records was largely unproductive as the group's record sales dipped. Lee Oskar embarked on an intermittent solo career and further changes undermined their original fire and purpose. Two 1982 singles, 'You Got The Power' and 'Outlaw' suggested a renaissance but the band was later obliged to finance its own releases. However, a 1987 remake of 'Low Rider', a previous smash hit, did reach the minor places in the R&B chart. Into the 90s the band struggle on, still performing although most of the original members have long departed.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998
01. Low Rider 02. East L.A. 03. All Day Music 04. Me And Baby Brother 05. Smile Happy 06. The Cisco Kid 07. Gypsy Man |
08. Hey Senorita 09. Angel 10. Ballero 11. Don't Let No One Get You Down 12. Cinco De Mayo 13. Salsa 14. Low Rider |
01. Lonely Feelin' 02. The World Is A Ghetto 03. Gypsy Man 04. Don't Let No One Get You Down 05. Ballero 06. L.A. Sunshine 07. Hey Senorita 08. Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) |
09. Sing A Happy Song 10. Good, Good Feeling 11. Cinco De Mayo 12. You Got The Power 13. Outlaw 14. Life Is (So Strange) 15. Peace Sign 16. Spill The Wine (Junior Vasquez Remix) |
01. Tobacco Road - (with Eric Burdon) 02. Spill The Wine - (with Eric Burdon) 03. They Can't Take Away Our Music - (with Eric Burdon) 04. Sun Oh Son 05. Lonely Feelin' 06. All Day Music 07. Get Down 08. Slippin' Into Darkness |
09. The Cisco Kid 10. The World Is A Ghetto 11. City, Country, City 12. Where Was You At 13. Gypsy Man 14. Me And Baby Brother 15. Deliver The Word 16. Ballero |
01. Why Can't We Be Friends? 02. Low Rider 03. Don't Let No One Get You Down 04. Summer 05. L.A. Sunshine 06. River Niger 07. Galaxy 08. Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) |
09. This Funky Music Makes You Feel Good 10. The Music Band 11. Outlaw 12. You Got The Power 13. Cinco De Mayo 14. Life (Is So Strange) 15. Don't Let No One Get You Down 16. Peace Sign |
01. Peace Sign 02. East L.A. 03. Wild Rodriguez 04. I'm The One (Who Understands) 05. Da Roof 06. The Smuggler (The Light In The Window) |
07. U B O.K. 08. Let Me Tell You 09. Smile For Me 10. What If 11. Angel 12. Homeless Hero |
01. Life (Is So Strange) 02. Happiness 03. WW III (Medley): |
04. Shake It Down 05. Summer Dreams 06. U-2 (Medley): U-2 (Part 1)/Automatic Eyes/U-2(Part 2)/U-2 (Part 3) |
01. Life (Is So Strange) 02. Happiness 03. WW III (Medley): The Dawning Of Night/Waiting At The Church/When The Nighttime Comes |
04. Shake It Down 05. Summer Dreams 06. U-2 (Medley): U-2 (Part 1)/Automatic Eyes/U-2 (Part 2)/U-2 (Part 3) |
01. Cinco De Mayo 02. Outlaw 03. The Jungle (Medley) 04. Just Because |
05. Baby It's Cold Outside 06. I'm About Somebody 07. You Got The Power 08. Cinco De Mayo (Exended Version) |
01. Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) 02. Sing A Happy Song 03. Keep On Doin' 04. The Kingsmen Sign 05. Walking To War 06. This Funky Music Makes You Feel Good |
07. Junk Yard 08. Superdude 09. Youngblood & Sybil 10. Flying Machine (The Chase) 11. Searching For Youngblood & Rommel 12. Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) (Reprise) |
01. War Is Coming! War Is Coming! 02. Slowly We Walk Together 03. Platinum Jazz 04. I Got You 05. L.A. Sunshine 06. River Niger |
07. H2Overture 08. City, Country, City 09. Smile Happy 10. Deliver The Word 11. Nappy Head (Theme From 'Ghetto Man') 12. Four Cornered Room |
01. Galaxy 02. Baby Face (She Said Do Do Do Do) 03. Sweet Fighting Lady |
04. Hey Senorita 05. The Seven Tin Soldiers |
01. Don't Let No One Get You Down 02. Lotus Blossom 03. Heartbeat 04. Leroy's Latin Lament (Medley) A:Lonnie Dreams.... 05. Smile Happy |
06. So 07. Low Rider 08. In Mazatlan 09. Why Can't We Be Friends? |
01. Introduction by E. Rodney Jones 02. Sun Oh Son 03. Cisco Kid, The 04. Slippin' Into Darkness 05. Slippin' Part 2 |
Disc 2 01. All Day Music 02. Ballero 03. Lonely Feelin' 04. Get Down |
01. H2 Overture 02. In Your Eyes 03. Gypsy Man 04. Me And Baby Brother |
05. Deliver The Word 06. Southern Part Of Texas 07. Blisters |
01. The Cisco Kid 02. Where Was You At 03. City, Country, City |
04. Four Cornered Room 05. The World Is A Ghetto 06. Beetles In The Bog |
01. All Day Music 02. Get Down 03. That's What Love Will Do 04. There Must Be A Reason |
05. Nappy Head (Theme From 'Ghetto Man') 06. Slippin' Into Darkness 07. Baby Brother |
01. Sun Oh Son 02. Lonely Feelin' 03. Back Home |
04. War Drums 05. Vibeka 06. Fidel's Fantasy |