# War (band)
**War** is an American funk band formed in [Long Beach, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-beach-california), whose multi-ethnic lineup fused funk, R&B, rock, Latin music, jazz, and blues into a string of 1970s hits including "Spill the Wine," "The World Is a Ghetto," "The Cisco Kid," "Low Rider," and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947). The band first recorded as the backing group for former Animals singer [Eric Burdon](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-burdon) before striking out on its own in 1971, and it continues to tour today led by founding keyboardist and vocalist Lonnie Jordan[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Long Beach, California; formed 1969 according to MusicBrainz and AllMusic, though the band's own press biography gives 1962[2](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/3e6bbdb8-66c8-439c-a3d9-87391ce88740) • [3](https://shorefire.com/roster/war) |
| Classic lineup | Lonnie Jordan (keyboards, vocals), Howard Scott (guitar, vocals), Lee Oskar (harmonica), B.B. Dickerson (bass), Harold Brown (drums), Thomas "Papa Dee" Allen (congas, timbales), Charles Miller (saxophone, flute)[4](https://war.com/bio/) |
| First hit | "Spill the Wine" (1970), recorded with Eric Burdon, a worldwide hit[3](https://shorefire.com/roster/war) |
| Peak album | *The World Is a Ghetto* (1972), the best-selling album of 1973 and Billboard's Album of the Year[5](https://war.com/war-and-50-years-of-the-world-is-a-ghetto/) |
| Certifications | More than 20 multi-platinum, platinum, and gold albums and singles over the band's career[3](https://shorefire.com/roster/war) |
| Today | Jordan is the only original member touring under the War name; the other surviving originals play as the Lowrider Band[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/03/war-rock-funk-band-lonnie-jordan) |
## Origins and the Eric Burdon period
The musicians who became War had been gigging together in Los Angeles for years before Burdon appeared. Harold Brown and Howard E. Scott formed a high-school R&B cover and jam band called the Creators; by 1968, renamed Nightshift, they were backing [Los Angeles Rams](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-rams) tackle [Deacon Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/deacon-jones) at a local club[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044). There they met veteran record producer Jerry Goldstein, whose credits included "My Boyfriend's Back," "Hang On Sloopy," and "I Want Candy"[4](https://war.com/bio/). Goldstein renamed the group War, chosen for shock value, and arranged for them to back Eric Burdon, whose post-Animals New Animals project had burned out[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044).
The name carried a deliberate irony. The band took it in 1969, at the height of American opposition to the [Vietnam War](https://www.edgepedia.org/vietnam-war), with a stated mission of spreading "a message of brotherhood and harmony"; Jordan later put it as "we don't shoot bullets; we shoot rhythms. War was for peace"[4](https://war.com/bio/) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/03/war-rock-funk-band-lonnie-jordan).
Burdon brought Danish harmonica player Lee Oskar with him, completing the seven-piece lineup[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044). The debut album *Eric Burdon Declares "War"* appeared in 1970 on MGM, and its key track, the Latin-tinged "Spill the Wine," became an immediate worldwide hit[8](https://war.com/album/eric-burdon-declares-war/). A second collaboration, the double album *The Black Man's Burdon*, followed in 1970[4](https://war.com/bio/). Burdon left in 1971, in the middle of a European tour; the band finished the tour without him and returned to record on its own[9](https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/review/the-world-is-a-ghetto/236893).
## The 1970s peak
**Post-Burdon success came quickly.** The album *All Day Music*, released in late 1971, produced the group's first gold single, "Slippin' Into Darkness," and sold over a million copies[4](https://war.com/bio/). Producer Jerry Goldstein described the band's studio method as free-form creation: the musicians recorded extended jams first, then wrote lyrics and edited the results down to commercial length[10](https://war.com/war-co-founder-lonnie-jordan-and-producer-jerry-goldstein-discuss-deluxe-50th-anniversary-vinyl-remaster-of-iconic-the-world-is-a-ghetto/).
*The World Is a Ghetto*, released in late 1972, changed the band's standing. It became the best-selling album of 1973 and Billboard's Album of the Year, ahead of [Pink Floyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/pink-floyd)'s *The Dark Side of the Moon* and [Stevie Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-wonder)'s *Innervisions*, and reached No. 1 on both Billboard's pop and R&B charts behind two top-10 singles, the socially conscious title song and "The Cisco Kid"[5](https://war.com/war-and-50-years-of-the-world-is-a-ghetto/) • [3](https://shorefire.com/roster/war). The title track began as an idea by percussionist Papa Dee Allen for a stage play about a character named Ghetto Man[11](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-world-is-a-ghetto-mw0000613704).
Further top-10 albums followed with *Deliver the Word* (1973) and *Why Can't We Be Friends?* (1975), and by the end of the decade War had six more top-10 singles beyond "Spill the Wine," including "Low Rider," which became the band's only R&B chart-topper[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947). Between 1970 and 1977 the band amassed eight gold albums and two platinum hits collections, with twelve songs reaching the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40)[12](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/). The 1977 instrumental collection *Platinum Jazz*, issued on the Blue Note jazz label, became one of that label's best-selling albums[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947).
## Sound and method
War's sound grew out of its members' Los Angeles surroundings in Compton and Long Beach, blending Latin-jazz, funk, pop, and rock, with a rhythmic base from the three-man section of bassist B.B. Dickerson, drummer Harold Brown, and percussionist Papa Dee Allen[12](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/). Four members improvised with distinction: Oskar on harmonica, [Charles Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-miller) on saxophone and flute, Scott on guitar, and Jordan on keyboards[12](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/). AllMusic characterizes the band as among the most eclectic funk groups, melding soul, Latin, jazz, blues, reggae, and rock influences, with many studio songs edited together from longer improvisations[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947).
The band had no dominant frontman. Most tunes were credited to the whole band, all seven members sang, often in unison, and no single voice stood above the others[13](https://www.warr.org/war.html) • [12](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/). Critics have noted a gap between the band's terse, catchy singles and its more elaborate albums; the singles gave only a hint of the character of the full records[12](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/).
## Later history
War's popularity eroded as disco paved the way for more streamlined dance music, and the band faded from view through a string of personnel changes and two deaths: saxophonist Charles Miller was murdered by a robber in 1980, and Papa Dee Allen collapsed on stage during a performance of "Gypsy Man" in 1988 and died of a brain aneurysm[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044) • [13](https://www.warr.org/war.html). The group has since refused to play "Gypsy Man" live[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044).
**The band split in two.** In the mid-1990s the original lineup apart from Jordan broke away to form the Lowrider Band, while Jordan, under Goldstein's guidance, continued to lead a reconstituted War with new musicians[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/03/war-rock-funk-band-lonnie-jordan). The split followed lawsuits and disagreements over royalties, publishing, the band name, and song rights, many involving Goldstein, who holds the trademark on the name[14](https://classicrockbob.com/2013/01/23/why-cant-they-be-friends-the-war-for-war-rages-on/). The touring War has remained essentially a live act; apart from the guest-filled *Evolutionary* (2014), the first new War studio album in 20 years, the band had released no new studio material since 1994's *Peace Sign*[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/evolutionary-mw0002649949). The seven musicians currently in the band are Jordan, who sings and plays keyboards; James Zota Baker, guitarist; Scott Martin, handling saxophone and flute; Mitch Kashmar, harmonica player; Sal Rodriguez, drummer; Rene Camacho, bassist; and Marcos Reyes, percussionist.[16](https://war.com/thanks-for-the-memories-war-the-band-is-coming-to-cheyenne/)
## Legacy
War's music has remained widely present in American culture. The band is one of hip-hop's most-sampled artists, and tracks such as "Low Rider" and "Spill the Wine" have become soundtrack fixtures[17](https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/the-best-version-of/the-best-version-of-war-r1163/). "Low Rider" in particular became an anthem of the Latino custom car community, and the band's songs have appeared in films including *[Dazed and Confused](https://www.edgepedia.org/dazed-and-confused-film)* and *Boogie Nights*[7](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044). Commentators have compared the band's integrated lineup and genre-crossing approach to [Sly and the Family Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sly-and-the-family-stone), while noting that War's unassuming image put it at a disadvantage in the image-focused 1970s market[17](https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/the-best-version-of/the-best-version-of-war-r1163/).
## References
1. [War Biography by Steve Huey, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947)
2. [War artist information, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/3e6bbdb8-66c8-439c-a3d9-87391ce88740)
3. [WAR Press Page and Biography, Shore Fire Media](https://shorefire.com/roster/war)
4. [Bio, War official site](https://war.com/bio/)
5. [War and 50 Years of The World Is a Ghetto, War official site](https://war.com/war-and-50-years-of-the-world-is-a-ghetto/)
6. [War's Lonnie Jordan: 'We don't shoot bullets; we shoot rhythms', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/dec/03/war-rock-funk-band-lonnie-jordan)
7. [Profile, Songs, and History of the Band War, LiveAbout](https://www.liveabout.com/war-the-band-bio-and-discography-2522044)
8. [Eric Burdon Declares "War" album page, War official site](https://war.com/album/eric-burdon-declares-war/)
9. [WAR The World Is a Ghetto review by dreadpirateroberts, Jazz Music Archives](https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/review/the-world-is-a-ghetto/236893)
10. [WAR Co-Founder Lonnie Jordan and Producer Jerry Goldstein Discuss Deluxe 50th Anniversary Vinyl Remaster, War official site](https://war.com/war-co-founder-lonnie-jordan-and-producer-jerry-goldstein-discuss-deluxe-50th-anniversary-vinyl-remaster-of-iconic-the-world-is-a-ghetto/)
11. [War: The World Is a Ghetto Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-world-is-a-ghetto-mw0000613704)
12. [War Is Much Better Than Its Hits, War official site](https://war.com/war-is-much-better-than-its-hits/)
13. [Eric Burdon and War, WARR.org](https://www.warr.org/war.html)
14. [Why Can't They Be Friends? The War for War Rages On, Classic Rock Bob](https://classicrockbob.com/2013/01/23/why-cant-they-be-friends-the-war-for-war-rages-on/)
15. [War: Evolutionary Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/evolutionary-mw0002649949)
16. [Thanks for the Memories: War (the band) is coming to Cheyenne, War official site](https://war.com/thanks-for-the-memories-war-the-band-is-coming-to-cheyenne/)
17. [The Best Version Of ... War, Audiophile Style](https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/the-best-version-of/the-best-version-of-war-r1163/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Rock, indie, and pop groups › Rock bands › Funk rock and rap rock bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license