Song of the Day 5/23: War, “The World Is a Ghetto”
War framed the title phrase as a lament. Trump and his crew view it as an objective.
I have no idea why this band, despite several nominations, is not in the Hall of Fame. As a single this title track of the band’s fifth album went to No. 7 on the Hot 100, one of their dozen Top 40 hits; seven reached the top 10, though none made it to the top spot. The LP, released in late 1972, was the peak of the band’s career. It not only reached No. 1, Billboard named it the top-selling album of 1973 and it’s on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 albums list. The single was truncated from this 10-minute album version to 3:59.
The song got a jazz cover by saxophonist Sonny Stitt on his commercially aimed “Mr. Bojangles” album, released in 1973. He plays alto, his primary instrument, on this track; prolific studio percussionist Phil Kraus is the vibes man.
