fange
god
Listening to long jazz tracks
Posts: 4,880 
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Post by fange on Oct 7, 2024 10:09:35 GMT
The band from Long Beach, California, that is. What albums and songs are your favourites? The early Burdon period? The era-defining sound of The World is a Ghetto? The FM gold-plated singles like 'Low Rider' and 'Summer'? The energetic 80's resurgence on Outlaw?How about any of the members' other releases before, during or after their time in War? Anything you love?  |
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Oct 7, 2024 10:30:28 GMT
Great band. The Burdon stuff is largely a misfire, but once you get to 72/73 then they're really cooking. Their peak period doesn't last that long though from what I can tell.
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fange
god
Listening to long jazz tracks
Posts: 4,880
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Post by fange on Oct 7, 2024 11:05:27 GMT
They are really worth exploring further, G, especially for someone like yourself who enjoys the dancefoor jazz-funk of the late-70s ('Platinum Jazz'), as well as the R&B electro-funk of the early 80s ('You Got the Power').
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Post by "BING E BONG" on Oct 7, 2024 11:34:20 GMT
Great band. The Burdon stuff is largely a misfire largely, I suppose, but I have loved this ridiculous thing for many years and of course this is something of a classic The band without Burdon....I've tried, but a lot of it leaves me cold, they basically work up grooves, fantastic (polyrhythmic?) rhythm sections but I tire of it easily. I LOVE 'Low Rider' though - that song is absolutely enormous, a joy every time. |
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loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 3,074
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Post by loveless on Oct 7, 2024 12:33:43 GMT
I'm definitely a fan. The World is a Ghetto was a staple in our home when I was a little guy, and songs like 'Low Rider' and 'Why Can't We Be Friends' were absolutely everywhere (part of the same radio ambience as, say, "Convoy" or "Saturday Night"). There's a spontaneous sounding casual looseness to these records and tracks that I love - something like the absolute clunker in the keyboard introduction to 'Why Can't We Be Friends' just imbues the track with a certain carefree "be here now" magic.
It's music that manages to straddle some incredible line between pop and jazz/funk/R&B informality, and crucially manages to avoid a lot of the era's slickness.
There's an incredible ambiguous atonality to that glorious ascending chorus hook in "The Cisco Kid", and...much as I probably never need to hear "Low Rider" again, something about the way the song fades on that languid beginning to the sax solo is eternally satisfying.
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adamcoan
god
Posts: 1,424
Member is Online
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Post by adamcoan on Oct 7, 2024 17:26:00 GMT
They are really worth exploring further, G, especially for someone like yourself who enjoys the dancefoor jazz-funk of the late-70s ('Platinum Jazz'), as well as the R&B electro-funk of the early 80s ('You Got the Power'). And here was me considering investigating the catalogue. |
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Post by davey on Oct 7, 2024 17:38:56 GMT
Nothing that special or unique to say here. I’m a fan. Was lucky enough to see them live during their 70s commercial and artistic peak. Then again in pretty much every reformed version. Always worthwhile, even the oldies-circuit band.
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toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
Posts: 3,345
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Post by toomanyhatz on Oct 7, 2024 17:47:30 GMT
Love them. The first several albums are all worth investigating. With their 'diverse' (albeit all-male) lineup and the amount of styles they comfortably inhabit, they're probably the truest progenitors to the Sly Stone ethic.
Don't love the stuff with Burdon, though "Spill the Wine" 'captures a moment' in a pretty classic way. I still love it, though 'overplayed' doesn't even begin.
I have a comp that came out a few years ago containing their new album at the time along with a newly remastered 'greatest hits'. The new album is actually not terrible (though...I haven't reached for it much), but I turn to the other disc often. There's also reissues of all the original albums from around the same time, and they're solid at least up through the 70s.
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fange
god
Listening to long jazz tracks
Posts: 4,880
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Post by fange on Oct 8, 2024 0:37:20 GMT
They are really worth exploring further, G, especially for someone like yourself who enjoys the dancefloor jazz-funk of the late-70s ('Platinum Jazz'), as well as the R&B electro-funk of the early 80s ('You Got the Power'). And here was me considering investigating the catalogue.  Ah well, you may still find something you like, Jimmy. How about in general? Are there any War songs you like? |
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Post by Charlie O. on Oct 8, 2024 6:05:02 GMT
I like/love the singles, but don't really know the albums. Except that I can offer this opinion about the Burdon era: the odds & sods collection Love Is All Around (recorded 1969-1971, released 1976) is substantially more enjoyable than that line-up's two "real" albums ("Spill The Wine" notwithstanding, of course). Don't mistake this for fulsome praise, though - I haven't heard it (or the others) since the '80s.
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fange
god
Listening to long jazz tracks
Posts: 4,880
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Post by fange on Oct 8, 2024 7:10:03 GMT
Here's a great live reel from the end of that Burdon period, recorded in Denmark,1971...
Spirit - 00:00 / Love Is All Around - 07:58 / Mystery Train - 14:26
Eric Burdon - vocals
Lonnie Jordan - organ/piano/percussion
Charles Miller - flute/sax/percussion
Howard Scott - guitar
Lee Oskar - harmonica
B.B Dickerson - bass
(Papa) Dee Allen - congas/percussion
Harold Brown - drums/percussion
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Sneelock
god
I must not think bad thoughts.
Posts: 9,197
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Post by Sneelock on Oct 8, 2024 18:08:16 GMT
I love 'em! L.A. Sunshine is my theme song! Please have your band leader play it when I appear on your Talk Show.
I love that "...declares WAR" album. it was quite the introduction. I agree they hit one hell of a stride with "...ghetto" and "...friends". those are just plain great albums. I like 'em pretty much til "platinum jazz" which was on Blue Note for some damned reason. I think I liked a soundtrack album they did after but it got "diminishing returns" for me pretty quick. how could it be otherwise? I think their best stuff rules the world. I, for one, will NEVER tire of "low rider", "slipping into darkness" etc..
they could really hit a groove - those guys.
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Post by sloopjohnc on Oct 8, 2024 21:23:18 GMT
Great band. The Burdon stuff is largely a misfire, but once you get to 72/73 then they're really cooking. Their peak period doesn't last that long though from what I can tell. Ditto. |
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Sneelock
god
I must not think bad thoughts.
Posts: 9,197
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Post by Sneelock on Oct 8, 2024 22:07:07 GMT
have a beer and sing along to this one. you'll be glad you did.
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Post by Charlie O. on Oct 8, 2024 22:08:53 GMT
have a beer and sing along to this one. you'll be glad you did. In my experience, few songs sounded weirder coming out of a little AM radio than that one. Love it. |
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