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.
Arlo Parks - Black Dog
Imagine Dragons - Follow You
girl in red - Serotonin
Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish
Lianne La Havas - Can't Fight
Jon Batiste - We Are
Glass Animals - Heat Waves
Sasha Sloan - Until It Happens To You
PJ Morton - Say So (feat. JoJo)
HAIM - Summer Girl
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son
Common - A Riot In My Mind
Jewel - You Were Meant For Me
Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted
Re-issue: Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street
Deftones - Ohms
Run the Jewels - JU$T
Dua Lipa - Levitating
Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me
Re-issue: Ludwig Göransson - Black Panther
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