Low Rider

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"Low Rider"
Single by War
from the album Why Can't We Be Friends?
Released	1975
Recorded	1974
Genre	Funk[1] Latin rock[2]
Length	3:11
Label	United Artists
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Goldstein War (Thomas Sylvester "Papa Dee" Allen; Harold Ray Brown; Moris "B.B." Dickerson; Leroy Jordan; Charles Miller; Lee Oskar; Howard E. Scott)
Producer(s)	Jerry Goldstein Lonnie Jordan Howard E. Scott
Music video
Low Rider on YouTube

"Low Rider" is a song written by American funk band War and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album Why Can't We Be Friends?, released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart,^[3] peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart,^[4] and number five in Canada.^[5]

According to the AllMusic review of the song, "the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the low rider — the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars — and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle". The song features a driving bass line by B. B. Dickerson, which is present almost throughout, and an alto saxophone riff by Charles Miller. It also ends with a siren-like noise that then becomes a saxophone solo. Saxophonist Charles Miller also takes the lead vocal.^[6]

Video[]

A video was made for it featuring footage of low riders cruising or bouncing. In one shot the cover art for the album lip-synchs with the song.

Motion Picture soundtracks[]

The song has featured in the following 17 movie soundtracks:^[7]

• Up In Smoke
• Colors
• A Gnome Named Gnorm
• Love Potion No. 9
• Blood In, Blood Out
• Dazed and Confused
• Friday
• The Young Poisoner's Handbook
• Beverly Hills Ninja
• Gone in 60 Seconds
• A Knight's Tale
• The Original Latin Kings of Comedy
• 21 Grams
• Robots
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua
• The Odd Life of Timothy Green
• The Internship

Cover versions[]

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The song has been covered by many artists, including the following:^[8]

• Willy DeVille
• Butthole Surfers
• Carlos Santana
• Blues Traveler
• Peter Cetera
• The Fantômas Melvins Big Band
• George Clinton
• Epsilon Minus
• Exodus in 1988 (their Fabulous Disaster album)
• Gary Hoey
• JFA
• Kid Frost and Latin Alliance
• Korn (on their 1996 album Life Is Peachy)
• Look People
• Paul Rodriguez
• Phish
• Popa Chubby featuring Galea in 2001
• Quando Quango
• Son of Dave on June 10, 2016
• Cedar Walton, from his 1976 album Beyond Mobius
• Those Darn Accordions
• Ty Segall
• moe.
• Air Liquide
• Widespread Panic
• Barry White in 1999^[9][10]
• Yukon Kornelius
• Warren Hill on his 2005 album PopJazz^[11][12]
• A Spanish version by Mexican group Banda Pachuco was recorded in 1996

Charts[]

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[3]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[4]	7

References[]

1. ^ Huey, Steve. "War | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
2. ^ "Less Is More On Sade's New Album". News & Record. December 2, 2000. Retrieved December 2, 2020. ...The "Conspiracy" song in that tradition is "Original Prankster", which features a sample of War's Latin-rock standard "Low Rider" and an appearance by rapper Redman.
3. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "War Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
4. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "War Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
5. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - December 13, 1975" (PDF).
6. ^ "Classic Tracks: Los Angeles Edition - Mixonline". www.mixonline.com. October 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
7. ^ "Theatrical movie soundtracks featuring "Low Rider" performed by War". www.imdb.com. June 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
8. ^ "Cover versions of Low Rider written by B.B. Dickerson,Charles Miller,Harold Brown,Howard E. Scott,Jerry Goldstein,Lee Oskar,Lonnie Jordan,Papa Dee Allen - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
9. ^ "Staying Power: Barry White" from Amazon.com
10. ^ ""Low Rider - Barry White"". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
11. ^ "PopJazz overview". Allmusic.com.
12. ^ "Warren Hill Creates New Record Label Called Pop Jazz". SmoothVibes.com.