ALBUM BY ALBUM

The groundbreaking LA band’s much-sampled path through rock, soul, jazz, funk and beyond

“WE were a multiracial band, which was rare in late-’60s America,” says Eric Burdon. “Two white guys, half a dozen black guys. When we turned up for those early gigs around California, no-one was sure if we were a rock band, an R&B band or a Latin-jazz band. To be honest, nor were we!”

Eric Burdon had been impressed by a band called The Niteshifts he saw playing in a North Hollywood bar. As Eric Burdon And War they recorded two hit albums. But after they parted company in 1971, War went on to even greater success, selling over 50 million albums and scoring 12 American Top 40 singles, while their old-school funk has been sampled by many of hip-hop’s most beloved artists.

Many War members are no longer with us. Saxophonist Charles Miller was stabbed to death in 1980; percussionist Papa Dee Allen died on stage in 1988; bassist Morris “BB” Dickerson passed in 2021. Now pianist Lonnie Jordan leads the “official” War, who tour Europe this summer, while three other members – guitarist Howard E Scott, Danish harmonica virtuoso Lee Oskar and drummer Harold Brown – tour as the Lowrider Band. “We’ve had disagreements, but I love everybody in the War family,” says Brown. “Really, it doesn’t matter who is out playing our music – as long as people are playing it, that’s all cool. I see so many artists sampling our songs, borrowing our riffs, tribute bands covering our songs, reaching out to us on Facebook, and I love that. They’re all keeping our music alive – and that’s a blessing for any musician.”

JOHN LEWIS

War in London, Jan 29, 1971: (front, l–r) Lee Oskar, BB Dickerson, Charles Miller; (back) Eric Burdon, Howard E Scott, Lonnie Jordan, Harold Brown and ‘Papa’ Dee Allen

Lee Oskar, Howard E Scott, BB Dickerson and Charles Miller in the dressing room before performing at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia on August 1, 1975

ERIC BURDON AND WAR ERIC BURDON DECLARES WAR

MGM, 1970

TPLP/GETTY IMAGES

The sprawling debut, laden with jam sessions

HARLOLD BROWN (drums): We were playing a venue in Hollywood as The Niteshifts and there was a rumour that Eric Burdon was in the house. We saw a Jaguar parked outside and we saw Eric come in – his afro was bigger than mine in those days! – along with the songwriting legend Jerry Goldstein. He came backstage and invited us for a meeting in Westlake, just south of Beverly Hills. He played us all kinds of music he was into – blues, rock, Latin – and we started rehearsing together.

ERIC BURDON: When I got with War, they were against playing blues, as they felt it was the music of the old folks they opposed. I introduced them to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sun Ra and Miles Davis.