War & Peace (Edwin Starr album)

Last updated
War & Peace
War & Peace, Edwin Starr album.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 7, 1970 [1]
Genre Soul, rhythm and blues, funk, psychedelic soul
Length38:45
Label Motown Records/Gordy
Producer Edwin Star, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Henry Cosby, Norman Whitfield, Ivy Joe Hunter
Edwin Starr chronology
Just We Two
(1969)
War & Peace
(1970)
Involved
(1971)
Singles from War & Peace
  1. "War"
    Released: June 10, 1970

War & Peace is the second studio album by R&B singer Edwin Starr released on August 7, 1970 by Motown Records. [1] The album peaked at No.9 on the on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 52 on the Billboard 200. [2] War & Peace also peaked at No. 21 on the Canadian RPM Top 100 Albums chart. [3]

Contents

Background

War & Peace was arranged by David Van De Pitte, Henry Cosby, Paul Riser, Wade Marcus and Willie Shorter. With Edwin Star, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Henry Cosby, Norman Whitfield and Ivy Joe Hunter serving as the album's producers. [1]

Singles

The album's main single, "War", reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for 15 weeks. [2] War also peaked at No. 3 on the UK Pop singles chart and has been certified silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry. [4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Ron Wynn of Allmusic gave the album a four out of five stars rating. Wynn called War & Peace "without question his finest" album. [5]

As a single, War was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971. [6]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."War" Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong Norman Whitfield3:12
2."Running Back and Forth" Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Edwin StarrEdwin Starr2:50
3."Adios Senorita" Sylvia Moy, Henry Cosby Henry Cosby2:31
4."All Around the World" Titus Turner Johnny Bristol 2:56
5."I Can't Escape Your Memory" Ivy Hunter, Jack Alan GogaIvy Hunter2:58
6."At Last (I Found Love)" Elgie Stover, Anna Gordy Gaye, Marvin Gaye Johnny Bristol2:51
7."I Just Wanted to Cry" Johnny Bristol, Edwin StarrJohnny Bristol2:59
8."Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" Burt Bacharach, Hal David Edwin Starr3:15
9."Time"Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Edwin StarrEdwin Starr2:54
10."California Soul" Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson Edwin Starr3:50
11."I Can't Replace My Old Love" Harvey Fuqua, Arthur Scott, Vernon WilliamsHarvey Fuqua4:10
12."She Should Have Been Home"Johnny Bristol, Doris McNeilJohnny Bristol2:59

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Starr</span> American singer and songwriter

Charles Edwin Hatcher , known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Heard It Through the Grapevine</span> 1966 song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop! In the Name of Love</span> 1965 single by the Supremes

"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Can't Hurry Love</span> 1966 single by the Supremes

"You Can't Hurry Love" is a song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25, 1966 as the second single from their studio album The Supremes A' Go-Go.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Supremes discography</span>

American girl group The Supremes has released 29 studio albums, four live albums, two soundtrack albums, 32 compilation albums, four box sets, 66 singles and three promotional singles. The Supremes are the most successful American group of all time, and the 26th greatest artist of all time on the US Billboard charts; with 12 number-one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and three number-one albums on the Billboard 200. The Supremes were the first artist to accumulate five consecutive number-one singles on the US Hot 100 and the first female group to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with The Supremes A' Go-Go (1966). In 2017, Billboard ranked The Supremes as the number-one girl group of all time, publishing, 'although there have been many girl group smashes in the decades since the Supremes ruled the Billboard charts, no collective has yet to challenge their, for lack of a better word, supremacy.' In 2019, the UK Official Charts Company placed 7 Supremes songs—"You Can't Hurry Love" (16), "Baby Love" (23), "Stop! In the Name of Love" (56), "Where Did Our Love Go?" (59), "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (78), "Come See About Me" (94) and "Stoned Love" (99)—on The Official Top 100 Motown songs of the Millennium chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Temptations discography</span>

This article presents the discography of Motown group The Temptations. They had 37 singles reach the Billboard Top 40 in the US, with four reaching #1. On the R&B singles chart, the group scored a record 71 Top 40 singles, with 14 reaching #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain't No Mountain High Enough</span> 1966 song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

"War" is a counterculture-era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Whitfield first produced the song – a self-evident anti-Vietnam War statement – with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, with the label deciding to withhold the Temptations' version from single release so as not to alienate that group's more conservative fans. Starr's version of "War" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, and is not only the most successful and well-known record of his career, but it is also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded. It was one of 161 songs on the no-play list issued by Clear Channel following the events of September 11, 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uptight (Everything's Alright)</span> 1965 single by Stevie Wonder

"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" was the first hit single that Wonder himself co-wrote.

<i>Diana Ross</i> (1970 album) 1970 studio album by Diana Ross

Diana Ross is the debut solo studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 19, 1970 by Motown Records. The ultimate test to see if the former Supremes frontwoman could make it as a solo act, the album was overseen by the songwriting-producing team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, who had Ross re-record several of the songs the duo had recorded on other Motown acts. Johnny Bristol, producer of her final single with The Supremes, contributed on The Velvelettes cover "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You."

<i>Surrender</i> (Diana Ross album) 1971 studio album

Surrender is the third studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on July 6, 1971 by Motown Records. The album saw her reuniting with writer-producer team Ashford & Simpson who had overseen her self-titled debut album in 1970. As with Diana Ross, some of the tracks that Ross recorded with the duo had previously been recorded by other Motown artists, including Gladys Knight & the Pips, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Rita Wright, and the Four Tops.

The Miracles were the Motown Record Corporation's first group and its first million-selling recording artists. During their nineteen-year run on the American music charts, the Miracles charted over fifty hits and recorded in the genres of doo wop, soul, disco, and R&B. Twenty-six Miracles songs reached the top 10 of the Billboard R&B singles chart, including four R&B number ones. Sixteen charted within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, with seven reaching the top ten and two – 1970's "The Tears of a Clown" and 1975's "Love Machine" – reaching #1. A third song, the million-selling "Shop Around", reached #1 on the Cash Box magazine pop chart. The Miracles also scored 11 U.S. R&B top 10 albums, including 2-#1's.

<i>Right On</i> (The Supremes album) 1970 studio album by The Supremes

Right On is the nineteenth studio album by The Supremes, released in 1970 for the Motown label. It was the group's first album not to feature former lead singer Diana Ross. Her replacement, Jean Terrell, began recording Right On with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong in mid-1969, while Wilson and Birdsong were still touring with Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Was Made to Love Her (song)</span> 1967 single by Stevie Wonder

"I Was Made to Love Her" is a soul music song recorded by American musician Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label in 1967. The song was written by Wonder, his mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Sylvia Moy, and producer Henry Cosby and included on Wonder's 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her.

"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Cherie Amour (song)</span> 1969 single by Stevie Wonder

"My Cherie Amour" is a 1969 song by Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. The song reached number 4 on the Billboard pop chart in August to be Wonder's eighth top ten hit. The song was co-written by Wonder, Sylvia Moy, and Henry Cosby; Cosby also served as producer of the song. At the end of 1969, the song was ranked number 32 for the year.

<i>Signed, Sealed & Delivered</i> 1970 studio album by Stevie Wonder

Signed, Sealed & Delivered is the 12th studio album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released on August 7, 1970, by Tamla Records. The album featured four hits that hit the Billboard Hot 100: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", "Heaven Help Us All", "Never Had a Dream Come True" and Wonder's cover of The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out". The album hit No. 25 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart as well as No. 7 on the R&B Albums chart.

"California Soul" is a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as the B-side of the Messengers' single "Window Shopping" in 1967 under the Motown group of labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Best of My Love (The Emotions song)</span> 1977 single by The Emotions

"Best of My Love" is a song by American band the Emotions from their fourth studio album Rejoice (1977). It was composed by Maurice White and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, and produced by White and Clarence McDonald.

<i>Love Zone</i> 1986 studio album by Billy Ocean

Love Zone is the sixth studio album by British singer Billy Ocean, released on 6 May 1986 by Jive Records. Three singles were released from the album, including Ocean's second US No. 1 single "There'll Be Sad Songs " and the US top ten entry "Love Zone". It also features the UK No. 1 and US No. 2 single "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going", which had originally been released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1985 film The Jewel of the Nile.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edwin Starr: War & Peace. Motown Records. August 7, 1970.
  2. 1 2 "Edwin Starr: Chart History". billboard.com. Billboard.
  3. "RPM Top 100 Albums - October 17, 1970" (PDF). collectionscanada.gc.ca. RPM.
  4. "Edwin Starr: War". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  5. 1 2 Wynn, Ron. "Edwin Starr: War & Peace". allmusic.com. AllMusic.
  6. "Edwin Starr". grammy.com. The Recording Academy . Retrieved October 24, 2024.