Though the musicians in War are all from the LA area, War started out with former Animals frontman Eric Burdon as their lead singer, releasing two albums with Burdon in 1970. You've likely heard "Spill the Wine," a fantastic song in which Burdon refers to himself as an "overfed long-haired leaping gnome," which went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. After Burdon left in late 1970, the band continued as a septet and achieved success throughout the '70s with hits like "The Cisco Kid," "Low Rider," and "Why Can't We Be Friends?" All in all, they had 12 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1970 and 1978, seven of which cracked the Top 10.
Their third album after Burdon's departure, 1972's The World is a Ghetto went to #1 on the Billboard album chart and ended up being the best-selling album of 1973 in the U.S., and the follow up, Deliver the Word, kept the momentum going, topping the Billboard R&B album charts and going to #6 on the regular Billboard album charts. It's full of the kind of funk/Latin/jazz/rock jams that the band was known for, and it produced two Top 15 hits: "Gypsy Man" (#8) and "Me and Baby Brother" (#15).
As an added bonus, i just found out that a friend of mine who lives in Long Beach is neighbors with founding member Harold Brown! Either that, or he's making up a very strange and specific lie.
Favorite song from Side 1: "In Your Eyes"
Bearing no relation to the Peter Gabriel hit of the same name, "In Your Eyes" foreshadowed what funk would become in the 1970s, especially that spaced-out intro. It's a freaky, acid-soaked jam.
Favorite song from Side 2: "Me and Baby Brother"
This is just a nice funky catchy song that kind of reminds me of Sly and The Family Stone.
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