Published on Feb 22, 1998
By 1972, the funk-rock group War was just hitting their stride.
Coming off their hit with Eric Burdon “Spill The Wine” and his
departure from the group, they were beginning to really shape their
own sound and groove, as evidenced in their album
All Day Music.
Their 1972 release
The World Is A Ghetto was their most successful to this
point – yet over 25 years later, some aspects of it have not held
up as well as the message the band tried to get across. The music
is still good – it’s just overindulgent at times.
Leading off the disc is their first major hit sans Burdon, “The
Cisco Kid.” A quirky little number which pays homage to the old
television series as well as has fun with it, Howard Scott and crew
whip out a groove within the first few seconds of the song and
refuses to let you go for the four-and-a-half minutes the track
runs. A number two hit at the time, the song still enjoys a bit of
a cult status, even being used in commercials not too long ago
(though I can’t remember if it was a beer or a jeans
commercial).
The title track is the centerpiece of the album; a slower, more
drawn out number that serves as a reminder to anyone listening that
we have more in common than we have that separates us. By blending
different musical styles, it tries to draw everyone a little closer
in order to get the message across.
The overindulgence on
The World Is A Ghetto comes on the long songs – even the
title track falls into this trap, clocking in at just over 10
minutes. Of the six songs on this album, three of them clock in at
over eight minutes in length. And while War was known for its
drawn-out jams, there is a time when the musicians should stop
playing and let the musical message they created sink in. “City,
Country, City” is the gravest offender at just over 13 minutes –
while it serves as a showcase for each of the musicians, it was a
journey that was far too long for my tastes.
But here’s the rub – the songs that were shorter are the ones I
wish had been longer! “Where Was You At,” admittedly with a riff
that could have been recycled from “Get Down,” is far too short for
me to really be able to get into the groove, and I wish this one
had been stretched out a bit longer. And as weird as “Beetles In
The Bog” was, it wasn’t a bad number, and it would have been
interesting to hear how it could have developed even further.
The one thing that’s above questioning here is the talent of the
individual musicians. B.B. Dickerson knows when to be mellow on the
bass, and when to get funky – and he’s comfortable in both styles.
Lee Oskar proves his skills on the harmonica – though these days
I’m spoiled by the work of John Popper. I could go on – but one
listen to the disc says more than me rattling off each member’s
name would.
Was
The World Is A Ghetto a slump? No. A stumbling block? No
again. If anything, it was a little too ambitious too early. Had
this one come out around the time, say, as
Why Can’t We Be Friends? it might have fit a little better.
And while one can’t blame the band for wanting to state their
message loud and clear, one has to wonder if it wasn’t just a bit
premature – after all, this was a band still developing into one of
the unsung supergroups of the ’70s.
The World Is A Ghetto is worth checking out, but should be
approached with caution – it’s not often I can get through a
one-sitting listen of this disc. Still, it has some worthwhile
moments.