"Low Rider" | ||||
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![]() US single picture sleeve | ||||
Single by War | ||||
from the album Why Can't We Be Friends? | ||||
B-side | "So" | |||
Released | May 14, 1975 | |||
Recorded | 1974 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:11 | |||
Label | United Artists | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | ||||
War singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
Low Rider on YouTube |
"Low Rider" is a song written by American funk band War and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album Why Can't We Be Friends? , released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart, peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart, and number six in Canada.
According to the AllMusic review of the song, "the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the lowrider—the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars—and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle". The song features a driving bass line by B. B. Dickerson, which is present almost throughout, and an alto saxophone and harmonica riff by Charles Miller, who also provides lead vocals and a saxophone solo towards the end of the song that includes a siren-like noise. Lee Oskar plays harmonica throughout the song doubling the alto sax line. [4] This song is the theme song for the TV series George Lopez , which ran from 2002 to 2007. [5]
The song was covered by nu metal band Korn on their 1996 studio album Life Is Peachy .
In 2014, the 1975 release of "Low Rider" by War on the United Artists label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [6]
Chart (1975–1976) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [7] | 6 |
UK Singles (OCC) [8] | 12 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 7 |
US Hot Soul Singles ( Billboard ) [10] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [11] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [12] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
War is an American funk/rock/soul/Latin band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs . Formed in 1969, War is a musical crossover band that fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, psychedelia, and reggae. According to music writer Colin Larkin, their "potent fusion of funk, R&B, rock and Latin styles produced a progressive soul sound", while Martin C. Strong calls them "one of the fiercest progressive soul combos of the '70s". Their album The World Is a Ghetto was Billboard's best-selling album of 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was subject to many line-up changes over the course of its existence, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.
Why Can't We Be Friends? is the seventh studio album by American band War, released on June 16, 1975 by United Artists Records. Two singles from the album were released: the title track backed with "In Mazatlan", and "Low Rider" backed with "So". Both A-sides were nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1976.
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...The "Conspiracy" song in that tradition is "Original Prankster", which features a sample of War's Latin-rock standard "Low Rider" and an appearance by rapper Redman.