Song of the Day 5/5: War, “Low Rider”
In honor of Cinco de Mayo, a holiday more celebrated in El Norte than in Mejico, I give you War’s tribute to one of the symbols of California’s Mexican-American culture. From the band’s 1975 “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” album, it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lots of covers exist, but only Korn substituted bagpipes for the alto sax riff.
And for you gearheads, a little low rider action.
True story….about 4 (?) years ago, a friend and I rode out to Mountainfest in WV. Basically a low-rent, east coast Sturgis style bike rally. But hey, it’s good for a weekend lark. We stayed at a nearby hotel. After seeing the War set around 8 or so, we came crawling in around 11 pm and hit the hotel bar. Well there was Lonnie Jordan and his drummer drinking at the bar, so we slid in and started buying drinks and just asking questions. Having grown up listening to War (Thank you ‘Up in Smoke’!) it was worth the bar tab. Around mid-night, the male strippers came in. Yes, they had acts for the ladies and this hotel is where all the acts were put up for the weekend. Real cool dudes and had all kinds of stories. An hour later, the midget wrestlers came in and those guys/gals could really drink. It proceeded to rain for the next two days, but that really weird evening made it all worth it.
It sounds like being on an acid trip without having to drop any acid!