The band War formed in 1969, in Long Beach, California. “Low Rider” is from their 1975 album Why Can’t We Be Friends? The song was a hit as soon as it came out. It went to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts. And it’s just had tremendous lasting power ever since. Besides being in Dazed and Confused, where I heard it, it’s been sampled by The Beastie Boys, it was covered by Korn, and it was the theme song for all six seasons of The George Lopez Show.
For this episode, I talked to War’s bandleader Lonnie Jordan, and their producer Jerry Goldstein. The two of them told me how “Low Rider” was made in the studio, through a combination of improvisation and meticulous editing.
For more, visit songexploder.net/war.
Kelela - Rewind
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Courtney Barnett - Depreston
Björk - Stonemilker
Dustin O'Halloran - Transparent (Main Title Theme)
Wilco - Magnetized
Natalia Lafourcade - Hasta la Raíz
Youth Lagoon - The Knower
The Arcs - Put a Flower in Your Pocket
Chet Faker - Gold
Harry Gregson-Williams - The Martian
Deradoorian - A Beautiful Woman
The Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag
Joey Bada$$ - Hazeus View
American Football - The One With The Tambourine
Best Coast - Feeling Ok
HEALTH - Stonefist
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Thundercat - Them Changes
Death Cab for Cutie - El Dorado
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