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WAR

FAIRBANKS — War. Huh. What is it good for?

For fans of the engagingly eclectic rock/blues/calypso/country/funk/everything-in-between band WAR, the answer to that question is not “absolutely nothin’,” as Edwin Starr’s classic Motown hit claims.

More than four decades after it was founded, WAR the band is a living, breathing, dynamic connection to music of the past.

“WAR is a movement,” lead singer and sole original member of the band Lonnie Jordan said of the group, calling himself “a reflection of the people.”

“We are not about shiny clothes and McShows that are served up the same way every time. We’re dynamic,” Jordan said of the band’s stage presence. “The people give me the vibe, and that is how we play.”

Despite having been associated with a variety of different band members under a number of band names since entering the professional music scene in the 1960s, Jordan said his approach, and that of the band, has not changed over time. It is still a varied mix of sounds and influences, and it is still of mixed ethnicity, a characteristic that, while perhaps not so noteworthy for today’s music scene, was something of an anomaly in the 1960s.

“We were one of the first ethnically mixed groups. We were rebels at the time,” Jordan recalled.

The group started in a number of small California communities while a few high school boys were just starting out in music. They played talent shows at their schools — in Harbor City, Compton and other nearby districts — and eventually, by degrees of association, the original group was formed. Their name: The Creators.

Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Charles Miller, Harold Brown, Lee Oskar and Papa Dee Allen were brought into the mix, and the band that Jordan called “a family” was formed in 1962.

“It was definitely a family thing. And that is how it stayed,” he said.

Playing nightclubs and similar shows, the group prided itself on playing everything, including Gospel, classic, country western, R&B, pop, blues and funk.

“We also did a lot of ska, but it wasn’t called ska back then, it was called calypso,” Jordan said. “It was when Harry Belafonte was making it famous with his boat song.”

Now 60, Jordan said he has the same mindset and ideals as he did in those days, but he is “a lot smarter than at 20.” He enjoys recalling some of the twists and turns his music career has taken, describing how The Creators evolved into The Night Shift, and beyond. In late 1967, Jordan said he and the band were playing one of the long, improvisational jams they have become known for. What they didn’t know was one audience member, Eric Burdon, formerly of the British rock band The Animals, was admiring the sound.

“He was looking for a new, more versatile band, preferably one that could play the blues,” Jordan said. “He saw us and said, ‘Wow, that is my band.’”

The group then became Eric Burdon and WAR, and set out on a career that paired them with a number of other famous rockers and jammers. That led to one of WAR’s most surprising claims to fame.

Playing in a jazz club called Ronnie Scotts in London, the group jammed with Jimi Hendrix during his last performance. Hendrix died in a nearby hotel later that night, in September 1970.

“It was so ironic because we played a song called ‘Mother Earth’ that night for an hour, jamming that old blues style way, and then he went back to Mother Earth,” Jordan said.

With a career that spans four decades, WAR’s list of hits from the early ‘70s is substantial — “Slippin’ Into Darkness,” “They Can’t Take Away Our Music,” “The Cisco Kid,” “L.A. Sunshine,” to name a few. Jordan said other hits, such as “Spill the Wine,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends” may be more popular with the younger crowds.

Thanks to a slew of movie soundtrack deals, another hit is more likely to sound familiar to ears of all ages: “Low Rider,” a tune that gets WAR on a movie sound track on average twice a year, Jordan said. The song garnered another round of strong radio play and popularity after being heard in the action flick, “Gone in 60 Seconds,” in 2000.

Jordan said the sound of WAR is as dynamic as it was in the 1960s and 1970s, and many of the messages sent remain relevant in 2008. The tune “Me and Baby Brother” was written in protest of war in Vietnam, and Jordan said “with the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, that message still stands today.” Likewise, the message behind “The World is a Ghetto” — that too many people are “stuck in their four-cornered room” and too afraid of people different from themselves — holds true.

Jordan and the rest of the current WAR crew — Fernando Harkless, Marcos J. Reyes, Stuar Ziff, Sal Rodriquez, Francisco “Pancho” Tomaselli, and Mitch Kashmar — will take the stage for two performances, at 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Tanana Valley State Fair.

What: WAR, in concert

When: 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Tanana Valley State Fair

Admission: $20, tickets available at Fair office or www.tananavalleyfair.org

Contact staff writer Erica Goff at 459-7523.