Eric Burdon & War: Eric Burdon (vocals, percussion); Howard Scott (vocals, guitar); Charles Miller (vocals, flute, alto, tenor, baritone & saxophones, percussion); Lee Oskar (vocals, harmonica); Lonnie Jordan (vocals, piano, organ); B.B. Dickerson (vocals, bass); Harold Brown (vocals, drums, percussion); Papa Dee Allen (vocals, conga, bongos, percussion). Additional personnel: Sharone Scott, The Beautiful New Born Children Of Southern California. Includes liner notes by Barry Alfonso.

Latter-day fans of War's more commercially successful later singles, including the classic "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?" may be unaware that the band was originally formed as a new project for British-born R&B/pop singer Eric Burdon after the dissolution of the Animals. Burdon hired a black L.A. funk band, added Danish harmonica player Lee Oskar, and released two groundbreaking, if occasionally somewhat self-indulgent albums at the end of the '60s: ERIC BURDON DECLARES WAR and THE BLACK MAN'S BURDON. Despite an unexpected Top 10 hit with the first album's intoxicating "Spill the Wine," the collaboration didn't last, and as Burdon left for a spotty solo career, War coalesced into one of the tightest funk ensembles of the '70s. This 13-track compilation distills those two Eric Burdon and War albums into a satisfying single album set.

© Frank Steven Groen