Take a little '70s trip with War

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Lonnie Jordan, third from left, and his fellow War bandmates will headline Saturday's concert at Sea Life Park. Mitchell Haddad War At The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Kick-Off Concert With Ho'onu'a, Go Jimmy Go, Ooklah the Moc, B.E.T. 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday Sea Life Park $23 advance, $30 day of show 259-7933, 259-2577 On Kaua'i: Kuhio Lounge, Aloha Beach Resort 9 p.m. today $25 (808) 823-1622

Try three decades worth of touring, and arguably one of the most solid catalogs of multihued, multicultural musical jams since the word "crossover" was invented.

Born in the ghettos of Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, the band received its first big break when former Animals lead howler Eric Burdon picked it to be his new backing band in 1969. With Burdon, the band gained instant notoriety and a defiant new moniker: War.

Lonnie Jordan, War's keyboardist/vocalist and a founding member, settled down briefly in his Los Angeles home for chat before taking a little trip here for this weekend's Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Kick-Off Concert.

Why has War, since its beginnings, always sought to combine a mix of grooves — Latin, soul, jazz, rock, blues, reggae — in its music?

It was a natural occurrence. (Percussionist) Papa Dee Allen came from a jazz background. ...(Harpist) Lee Oskar ... brought in a European feel and style. Myself, I was always gospel, jazz and Latin. ... B.B. Dickerson, the bass player, was always into rock 'n' roll. ...

You put that all together when you're young, you don't even know what you're doing, and you're not familiar with the studio, (and) what do you get? A bunch of wild, out-of-control people. ... It was unruly, out-of-control music. (Laughs.)

What did Eric Burdon bring to the band?

Eric (would) just let us go musically. We would just start jamming in the studio, turn the tape on, and then he'd finally let himself go as well. He would say, "You know somethin'? Let's just improviiiise." So we started playing clubs and venues doing just that. ... I mean, the majority of the people in there were on acid anyway! So all we did was just intensify their (trip). (Laughs.) We didn't play anything they knew. We would do dramatic moments. We would do quiet moments. Then we'd go into blues, rock, acid jazz. Eric would go into different stories. And that's basically how "Spill The Wine" came out.

When Eric left, we would still jam and turn on the tape. That's how all of the music happened — "Cisco Kid," "The World Is A Ghetto," "Slippin' Into Darkness," everything! It all came out of a jam.

And that's when War hit its creative and popular peak with a string of Billboard Top 10 albums and singles between 1973 and 1976. How crazy were the mid-'70s for a band as hot as War?

Aw, man, it was very crazy. All I can tell you is, thank God, I'm still here. Thank God, I survived all that. ... It got to a point where ... I started probably thinking that I was a little bit like God. (Laughs.) ... It wasn't just the music and the way the people were accepting us. It was also the drugs. That intensified all that. ... We were a part of the whole indulgement (sic) scene.(Laughs.) ...

But you've got to understand ... with Eric being good friends with Jimi Hendrix, and all the parties happening at (Eric's) Bel Air house. Jim Morrison lived right behind him, down the hill, within walking distance. ... (Mick) Jagger, Sly (Stone), everybody was there. It was a constant party every night! Eric wanted to introduce everyone to his new group, which was us.

With that level of celebrity in the house, you must've been trippin'.

Well, I was always trippin'. But I'll tell you how I was trippin'. First of all, I was still fresh out of Compton. ... When I came up to the house and saw Grace Slick in the pool naked, I didn't even know who she was. The only people that I knew there were Mick Jagger and David Bowie ... because I knew about the British Invasion.

But all these other people, like Jim Morrison, Grace Slick and the American rockers? I had no clue who they were. If Little Milton or James Brown or Wilson Pickett were there, I would've known who they were. I only knew The Beatles and The Animals and David Bowie because of Ed Sullivan.

War's songs are still staples of classic rock radio, film soundtracks, television shows and commercials. The band's grooves are frequently sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists. So what's proven to be War's most lucrative recording?

I would say, "Low Rider," "Cisco Kid" and "Spill The Wine." But it changes every year. Right now, it's "Why Can't We Be Friends." ... TLC's ("I'm Good At Being Bad") used "Slippin' Into Darkness." Janet Jackson's "You" used "Cisco Kid." Every year ... we have about two or three songs played on a movie or a series. So I'm very, very fortunate. And we're blessed that we still perform. We have not recorded anything (new for a while) and yet we can still fill a house.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.