Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #5 War

Ya know...I'm starting to feel like the old man who always has a story about everything.  However, if you don't have a connection to the people, music and things worth mentioning, then maybe the connection really isn't that deep after all.  So in high school, my homie used to push either his father's Ford Thunderbird or his mother's Lexus ES300, scoop a bunch of us to ride around the city and listen to a bunch of good music.  In between listening to 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Maxwell, Aaliyah, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and the like, we'd bump the classics from Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Sade, Santana and, of course, War.  Between some of their most popular hits like "Spill the Wine", "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends", I had always known about them but never really got into them.  However, as a teenager who was becoming more musically open and inquisitive, taking these cruises put me on notice even more.  After a while, War not only became a staple in my long rides around the city and up and down the East Coast, but the Long Beach-based band also helped to shape my love for the California funk, R&B and soul sound fused with undeniable Latin influence as well as became one of my favorite groups.  So without further ado, allow me to share my favorite five songs from my No. 5 favorite band of all time...

#5 "ALL DAY MUSIC" (All Day Music, United Artists, 1971).  So versus telling the original story that I had in mind that could be incriminating on a public forum, here is the PG-13 alternative.  When my alter-ego brother had a release party for his second mixtape--which was primarily centered around rapping over loops and breaks taken from funk, R&B and soul music from the 1970s--apparently the mood of the project made people want to get blazed.  Interestingly enough, nothing by War made the cut or was even considered, but if any song could've contributed perfectly to the tenor of this street album, then "All Day Music" would've been the perfect song.  This is the one song that perhaps makes me the most nostalgic when it comes to riding around with my homies and listening to War because it's the most peaceful and relaxing of all.  Whenever this came on, I wanted to hop out of the car, find a grassy knoll, play this song on a boombox and see if I could find Willie Nelson meandering about for the hook up.  (You already know what I mean if I ever reference Willie Nelson.)  Granted, with repeated lines like "making love or just lying around" and "rolling in the grass 'til long after dark", there's nothing overdone lyrically.  Nevertheless, the fellas provide the ideal soundtrack to the perfect lazy day in the park as only those Cali folks can do...

#4 "THE WORLD IS A GHETTO" (The World Is a Ghetto, United Artists, 1972).  This is one of three moments involving War that make me love hip-hop music so much.  At the time when Mike Dean and N.O. Joe produced the Geto Boys' song of the same title and replayed elements from War's classic track, I was a junior in high school and was a bit foggy in familiarity with War's version.  Thus, my Simliac-breathed behind was convinced that I liked what the Geto Boys did more--then again, I was and still am a huge Scarface fan, so everything he touched was gold to me.  However, over the years, I have listened to the music of this song and realized just how musically amazing and meticulous that War's version has always been--although the Geto Boys' song is still one of my favorites in their catalog.  Again, they don't overdo it with the writing because they allow the music to breathe, but they are often masterful at picturesque and profound simplicity, which is evidenced in the third verse: "There's no need to search anywhere/Happiness is here, have your share/If you know you're loved, be secure/Paradise is love to be sure."  Whenever I think about the saying "turn lemons into lemonade", words like those are the epitome of such a cliche saying and provide a brighter perspective on the darkness often associated with ghetto life. 

#3 "BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE" (Outlaw, RCA, 1982).  Here's a little secret about me that might not really be a secret: I'm a sucker for a good slow jam.  In high school when I first purchased Slow Jams: The Timeless Collection, Vol. 5 compiled by the legendary Kevin "Slow Jammin'" James, I actually purchased it more for songs like "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration" by Teddy Pendergrass, "My First Love" by Rene & Angela and "Sunshine" by Enchantment.  Totally wasn't expecting a slow jam from the same dudes who did "Low Rider", but from the very first notes of this seldom-discussed and underappreciated song from War, it was one of those songs that kept growing on me with every listen.  Between Lonnie Jordan's smooth delivery on keys, the group's harmony in the chorus and verses and a signature Lee Oskar harmonica solo, the song would often get stuck in my head and I'd find myself singing or humming it during random parts of the day.  Heck, I found myself doing that last week, but I think that was one part having a desire to hear the song after not hearing it in at least a year and another part having to write this post and mentally playing the song in my head to remind myself of how good it is.  Either way, "Baby It's Cold Outside" has not only become one of the necessary songs to listen to whenever I decide to pop in that particular Slow Jams CD for old time's sake, but it has managed to rank pretty high among my faves from War.

#2 "SLIPPIN' INTO DARKNESS" (All Day Music, United Artists Records, 1971).  Another great moment in hip-hop courtesy of a War sample was when the Trenton-based hip-hop trio Poor Righteous Teachers released "Rock Dis Funky Joint" in 1990 with "Slippin' Into Darkness" as the platform, helping their only notable radio hit to become an instant hip-hop classic.  When you really dig into the musicianship behind the original, I mean...wow.  The song starts off with a bluesy, almost Gospel-like soulfulness, enters one of the most loved pockets in urban music and provides a stirring visual of what co-founder Harold Brown describes as "that wall between sane and insane".  In fact, I found Brown's description of guitarist Howard Scott's overall concept for the song to be quite fascinating, adding another element to the awesomeness of this classic and speaking especially to those of us who often straddle the fence of brilliance and madness:

We all figure we're sane, and once in a while we look past that wall, our head pops over and we look and we say, "Here's Johnny."  I always like that.  You look over there and you see certain things, and some of us have been known to go over there and stay, and there's some that pop their heads right back.  Because that's just right on that borderline of sane, insane and really close to being a genius.

I'll be honest: I totally didn't get any of that when I first heard the lyrics as a young teenager, but Brown's synopsis makes the entire song--musically and lyrically--even more profound.  Much like Earth, Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" last week, it's extremely difficult to have "Slippin' Into Darkness" at only No. 2 on my list this week.  However, this list is not complete and is not my list unless the following song is the top dawg...

#1 "GALAXY" (Galaxy, MCA, 1978).  Folks can say whatever they want about the musicianship (or lack thereof) of Sean Combs, but when you're young and still learning about music, music buffs like Diddy who understand what music gets the job done are absolutely necessary.  In his Shiny Suit Man days, "Puff Daddy" and Jennifer Lopez had one of the best dance breaks in the middle of a video of all time to this absolutely funky song that I swore up and down had to be Rick James.  From top to bottom, it just sounded like something that he would do, especially when that bass line drops and makes you get that "I just smelled some serious sh**" face.  However, I never heard anything past the first minute or so of the instrumental intro, so it was at least four years before I finally found out who actually sang the song.  (Another moment before the SoundHound app.  Like seriously...the people who came up with that app need a Nobel Peace Prize or something, but I digress.)  So when my uncle hooked my mother up with a copy of War's The Hits album and we listened to the CD for the first time on the way to Philly to see my brother one weekend, the same song from the "Been Around the World" video started playing.  Immediately, I was dumbfounded like, "Hold up...War made this?!?!  Stop playing!!!"  No lie...War officially became one of my favorite bands of all time in that very moment.  Honestly, it's a rare moment when I couldn't care less about their lyrics because it's all about the music.  This is when the funk--driven by B.B. Dickerson's bass line--and the Latin influence--powered by Papa Dee Allen on percussion and Lonnie Jordan on piano--hit the pavement and rolled out like Autobots on Optimus Prime's orders.  Just click on that link, slim, because my description just can't do this masterpiece enough justice...it's just friggin' awesome.

So if I'm speaking so highly of War, then who could possibly be better than them?  Well, you already know who's No. 2, so swing on by next week to find out who's No. 4 on the list of my favorite R&B bands of all time.  In the meantime, I need my fellow War fans out there to sound off and let me know your "Rave & Favorite Five"!