In the mid-1970s, a catchy tune about a custom car cruising the streets of Los Angeles captured the nation’s imagination. The song was Low Rider by the band War, and it remains an enduring classic to this day. But how did this unlikely hit come to be? The story behind Low Rider is a fascinating tale of musical experimentation, car culture, and a band on a mission to spread harmony.
The Origins of War
Before they were War, the band members performed as Nightshift, backing former NFL player Deacon Jones. Producer Jerry Goldstein took a then-disillusioned Eric Burdon, former lead singer of The Animals, to see Nightshift perform. Goldstein recalls:
They were different to anything I’d seen: a fusion of rock, blues, jazz and Latin.
Burdon and Nightshift joined forces, becoming Eric Burdon and War. According to keyboardist Lonnie Jordan, the name had a positive message:
Calling ourselves War was a positive thing: we were waging war against war and the conflicts going on in our back yard. Our weapons were our instruments, which fired rhythms, melodies and most of all harmony.
As Jordan explains, the band’s multi-ethnic makeup was key to their mission of promoting peace and love through music. When Burdon eventually left, War continued as a jam band, improvising onstage and recording everything.
Low Rider Takes Shape
Low Rider emerged from one of these extended jams during the recording of their 1975 album Why Can’t We Be Friends?. Goldstein gave the band a cassette of the session, suggesting they develop the promising parts. Saxophone player Charles Miller, who had just bought a 1952 Chevrolet that “looked mean”, came back with the iconic opening lyrics.
War had been filming the lowrider car clubs of LA, whose members drove souped-up cars outfitted with hydraulics and booming sound systems. These clubs and Miller’s own lowrider provided the inspiration for the song’s lyrics, which referenced details like the high cost of gas due to the oil crisis.
An Instant Hit
The band gave cassettes of Low Rider to the car clubs, who blasted it from their rolling sound systems. Jordan remembers the song’s impact:
As soon as it got played on the radio, the Latin community sent it up the charts, then off it rocketed and nothing was going to stop it.
Low Rider became a crossover smash, resonating far beyond its origins in the streets of East LA. Its laid-back groove, punctuated by a crisp cowbell and hypnotic saxophone/harmonica riff, made it instantly recognizable. Decades later, Low Rider remains a staple of oldies radio and film soundtracks, a testament to its timeless appeal.
A Song and Band for the Ages
The story of Low Rider embodies so much of what made War unique. Here was a multi-racial band that drew freely from black, Latino, jazz, rock, and R&B traditions, united in a mission to uplift humanity through music. They were as much a social experiment as a musical group, and their positive message still resonates today.
As for Low Rider, it has transcended its origins to become a true cultural phenomenon – a song that instantly evokes an era, a lifestyle, and a state of mind. Not bad for a little ditty about a car, birthed from a jam session and some streetwise lyrics. That’s the magic of music, and the enduring legacy of War.
