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Colt1861Navy

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Re: Colt1861Navy post# 915

Friday, 07/19/2002 7:04:52 PM

Friday, July 19, 2002 7:04:52 PM

Post# of 1767
Rock 'n' Roll Artists A-Z...War

http://www.warr.org/war.html

War was one of the biggest new funk acts of the 70's, competing head-to-head with Earth, Wind & Fire, and regularly beaten out on the charts only by big-time 60's R & B survivors like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and Diana Ross. But what's really amazing about the group is their leaderless, communal approach to music making. Keyboard player Lonnie Jordan and guitarist Howard Scott did have a leading role in production and writing. But most of their tunes were credited to the whole band, they frequently sang faceless harmonies all the way through a song, and they had four different soloists - saxophonist Charles Miller was quite competent, and harmonica player Lee Oskar was rivalled only by Stevie Wonder as a popularizer of the instrument. Even more impressively, they started out as an international, ethnically integrated act, led by English blues rocker/ex-Animal Eric Burdon; and once Burdon left after just a couple albums, they continued to spotlight Oskar, an expatriate Dane. The band's approach was far-sighted and idealistic, and it's a shame that music mostly doesn't work that way any more.

The core members of War were R & B players from the ghettos of L.A. They'd been gigging together for years before Burdon showed up in 1969 looking for a new backing band - his "New Animals" had burned out in just a couple of years. He promptly got them a record contract, gave them a provocative name, and brought in Oskar and producer Jerry Goldstein, who stayed with the band through the 70's and contributed as a songwriter in addition to commercializing their sound. On those early records the band keeps a low profile, letting Burdon cut loose with his rambling vocal improvisations. But once he left, War quickly figured out how to market its unique blend of funk, Latin percussion, blues, jazz, and R & B, and the rest is history. The lack of a frontman and their weak song material never seemed to slow them down. Eventually, however, War just faded from view, with a string of personnel changes and two tragic deaths in the 80's leaving Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, and Harold Brown as the only survivors from the original lineup. Amazingly, "War" continues to record and tour, having made a stab at rap music and even having recently appeared on stage with Burdon. I have reviewed one of their shows on our concert review page.

As for EB, I only have a couple of of his Animals and pre-War "New Animals" solo albums. But I do have everything he did with War, plus a couple 70's solo records. I'll try to piece together his career as I go along. For the moment, I'm listing only his key pre-War records and a few of his 70's solo records; his later catalogue is voluminous and I haven't gotten around to studying it.

I've seen a bunch of Eric Burdon web sites, most of them lousy; the most straightforward appears to be the Book of Burdon. I haven't found a good War site yet but I haven't tried very hard.

Surprisingly, I received a very rude flame letter arguing that I shouldn't review records I haven't heard. I haven't; the information I give on records I don't have is strictly factual and has nothing to do with my opinions. As for whether a skeletal page like this one should be on the web, I think the lack of any alternative discography speaks for itself. (JA)

Lineups:

The Animals: Eric Burdon (vocals), Chas Chandler (bass), John Steel (drums), Hilton Valentine (guitar). Price replaced by Dave Rowberry, late 1965. Group split up, mid-1966.

War: Papa Dee Allen (conga, bongos), Howard Brown (drums), Eric Burdon (vocals), B. B. Dickerson (bass), Lonnie Jordan (organ, piano), Charles Miller (sax, some flute), Lee Oskar (harmonica), Howard Scott (guitar). Burdon left, 1971, after which all the band members sang lead and harmony. Alice Tweed Smith (vocals) added, 1978. Luther Rabb (bass) and Pat Rizzo (sax) replaced Dickerson and Miller, Ronnie Hammon (drums) added, 1979. Miller murdered by a robber, 1980. Smith and Rizzo left, 1982. Brown left, 1983. Ricky Green (bass) replaced Rabb, 1984. Allen died on stage of a brain aneurysm, 1988. Green left, Jordan switched to bass, 1989. Oskar left, 1992. Brown returned, Kerry Campbell (sax), Charles Green (sax), Tetsuya "Tex" Nakamura (harmonica), Sal Rodriguez (drums), and Rae Valentine (programmer; son of Howard Brown) added, 1993. As of 1997 Brown and Scott are no longer touring with the band.

Discography

Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970)
A classic album that stands in stark contrast to Burdon's earlier string of agonizingly insincere solo albums. Burdon's heart-felt English blues vocals and alternately political and hallucinatory lyrics ("The Vision Of Rassan") finally find a perfect match with War's jazzy saxophone, Latin-influenced rhythm section, and understated approach. Most of the record consists of three long, enjoyable jams ("Blues For Memphis Slim") - but it's punctuated with the spacey, irresistably danceable A-side "Spill The Wine," which reuses Burdon's "Tobacco Road" gimmick of narrating a daydream, but even more effectively. The production is sparse and the sound often not very different from traditional Chicago blues, which creates the feel of a tight and professional live performance: on track after track, the band finds a good groove and stays with it. (JA)
We've reviewed Burdon' autobiography on our never imitated, never duplicated Book Reviews Page. (DBW)

Black Man's Burdon (1970)
A double album, minus anything approaching a hit like "Spill The Wine." I have it and I'll review it when I get a chance. Most of the tracks are quite long, and there's an epic medley based on "Paint It Black" that's quite memorable. There are also two versions of "Nights In White Satin," but mostly the material is new. (JA)

Love Is All Around (Eric Burdon & War: rec. 1969-1970, rel. 1976)
A cash-in cobbled together from out-takes, alternate takes, a long but rousing live version of the "Paint It Black" medley, and a fun B-side ("Magic Mountain," which backed "Spill The Wine"). Some of it really works. The title track is a powerful funk groove, with Burdon rising above his voice's hoarseness and the band supplying interesting Motown-flavored harmonies. An early take of "Tobacco Road" has even more energy than the later, released version. And there's a daring, unexpected cover of the Beatles' "A Day In The Life" - unfortunately it's too earnest, it exposes Burdon's vocal limits, and it drags at eleven minutes. Actually, it's so embarassing it's downright funny. And there are other problems like the tediously generic eleven-minute blues "Home Dream." So there's a lot here for fans, but the sad truth is that the album is just an official bootleg, and if you haven't already heard Burdon and War you really should start with Declares. (JA)

War (1971)
War was still backing Burdon when they signed their own record contract, but they split with him soon after. Their eponymous debut album was a flop even though Burdon designed the clever, eye-bending album cover. It's too bad, because it's very professional and graced with a few genuine creative flashes. Typically of the band, four different members sing lead on four tracks, with the other two being instrumentals - on "War Drums" they frame some frenetic sax and conga solos with a completely goofy group vocal. The best tune is "Sun Oh Son," with a long, lazy, nicely harmonized intro and a harsh funk segment with Dickerson's vocal proving that he's a total pro. Elsewhere there's a couple of generic soul numbers ("Lonely Feelin'"; "Back Home") and a sprawling jam ("Vibeka"). The most memorable, if not best moment is the long, flakey, embarassingly self-righteous, Cuban-flavored anti-Castro "Fidel's Fantasy," with Papa Dee's voiceover ploddingly imitating Burdon's brand of free association. Not a great record, but a respectable one. (JA)

All Day Music (1971)
The mellow, bossa nova-flavored title track was the band's first Top 40 hit; it's really enjoyable, with thrilling group harmonies and a soothing dance beat. Half a year later the longish and musically more conventional, but even more entertaining funk ballad "Slippin' Into Darkness" got a single release. It promptly outsold its predecessor, boosting the LP into gold album territory - War had finally made the big time. There's also a spartan, mid-tempo funk number that draws the lines to be filled in by later hits like "Cisco Kid" ("Get Down"). The rest of it is a little thin, though; a lengthy, sluggish, over-earnest soul testimonial ("That's What Love Will Do"); a weird near-a capella chant ("There Must Be A Reason"); a tightly arranged, but dated-sounding Santana-esque movie theme ("Nappy Head (Theme From Ghetto Man)"); a long, sloppy blues-rock live track ("Baby Brother"). But at least all of this proves the band's amazing versatility, and unlike several other War albums this one escapes without any real embarassments. (JA)

The World Is A Ghetto (1972)
The band's commercial high point - it topped the charts and quickly went gold. It brilliantly blends rebellious 60's experimentation with starry-eyed 70's hedonism, delivering all of their signature motifs: superbly lyrical Lee Oskar solos, inclusive group harmonies, taut Latin rhythms, wah-wah'ed guitar, and smoky jazz saxophone, all of it packaged as hard-driving funk and R & B. The best-known track, their #2 hit "The Cisco Kid," uses a loping Caribbean beat to irresistable effect. They put across a danceable, gospel-tinged funk-rocker ("Where Was You At"), a desolate blues with soulful harmonies and spacey Eastern effects ("Four Cornered Room"), and a lulling funk riff with crowd harmonies and steel drums ("Beetles In The Bog"). And amazingly, they get away with two long-format jams: "City, Country, City," which drags a bit but has a marvelous harmonica theme, and the gorgeous, ten-minute title track, which cracked the Top 10 on its own. Solid and creative, the collection's only real shortcoming is its meagre listing of just six tracks. (JA)

Deliver The Word (1973)
The first single here was "Gypsy Man," and it was followed by "Me And My Baby Brother"; both of them sold pretty well, as did the album. A key record that I like quite a bit and just haven't gotten around to reviewing yet. (JA)

War Live! (1974)
A pretty big hit for a live record, rising well up into the Top 40. There are just eight tracks, so almost everything other than "Lonely Feelin'" gets stretched out. Includes the instrumental "Ballero," which just made it into the Top 40 a few months after the album was released. (JA)

Sun Secrets (Eric Burdon: 1974)
After a couple of years off, Goldstein tried and failed to jumpstart Burdon's career. It's kind of pathetic. The backing is a noxiously loud generic mid-70's two-guitars-bass-and-drums corporate rock band that seems to think it's really hot stuff. The material's worse: basically a set of Animals oldies ("It's My Life"; boring, bombastic, eight minute takes of "When I Was Young" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), salted with a cover of Johnny Cash's ancient hit "Ring Of Fire" and a few new tunes like the overpowered "The Real Me" and the endless "Letter From The Country Farm" (yet another loping Burdon poetry bash, this time graced with a screeching pentatonic lead guitar). You'd think that War had never happened. But ironically, Burdon's echo-slathered voice seems fine, and he lends some manic energy to the proceedings - in a few places he pretty much screams his head off, but it's fun. (JA)

Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975)
War's last album to break into the Top 10, and it includes two of the biggest gimmick tunes of the entire 70's: the faux reggae title track, with its repetitive, feel-good refrain and goofy two-line "verses" sung by the whole band; and the follow-up single "Low Rider," one big, complicated groove propelled by a creepy whispered vocal, cheesy Latin percussion, and a beat so compelling only a deaf person could resist it. Both of them were Top 10 hits, and at least the first of them wears thin real quick. But the rest of the album is completely serious and frequently fascinating, with some experiments that teeter on the edge of disaster. The funk jam "Heartbeat" sputters madly; "Leroy's Latin Lament" flies between lush balladry and manic salsa; and the harmony-fest "In Mazatlan" veers into Brian Wilson territory. And the conventional tunes effectively recycle the band's mellow, harmonious formula: "Don't Let No One Get You Down" and "So" are gorgeous and soulful; the instrumental "Smile Happy" delivers what it promises, with a super Lee Oskar solo. Possibly the band's greatest moment, and as an artifact of the era it's unsurpassed. (JA)

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=81227195427



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