War's distinctive mix of funk, Latin, and jazz kept the group on the chart for most of the '70s. In 1970 War scored its first hit as ex-Animal Eric Burdon's backup band.
War's roots reach back to 1962, when Harold Brown and Howard Scott cofounded a band called the Creators. Still in high school, the two later met up with Leroy "Lonnie" Johnson and B.B. Dickerson, and in 1965 Charles Miller joined. Through the mid-'60s the Creators worked various L.A. and West Coast clubs, opening for such acts as Ike and Tina Turner. The group came to a temporary halt when Scott was drafted and Dickerson moved to Hawaii. The remaining group members stayed active in music, and at one point found themselves working under the name the Nightshift backing L.A. Rams football star Deacon Jones' ill-fated efforts as a singer. By then percussionist Papa Dee Allen, whose past credits included playing with Dizzy Gillespie, had joined, and the horn section had been expanded.
Around this time the group met Jerry Goldstein, a former member of the Strangeloves ("I Want Candy") and writer and producer for the Angels ("My Boyfriend's Back") and the McCoys ("Hang On Sloopy"). Goldstein, who, as manager, producer, and cowriter, would play a key role in War's success, also knew Eric Burdon [see entry], who was then seriously considering quitting music altogether. After Burdon heard the band, he and his friend, a young Danish harmonica player named Lee Oskar, joined them in a series of rehearsals. The Creators were rechristened War. After just a few dates, Rosen died of a drug overdose, and Dickerson returned. The band recorded two albums with Burdon (three, if you count Love Is All Around, which consists of material recorded in August 1969, several months before sessions for the group's debut album). "Spill the Wine" (Number Three, 1970) was their biggest hit together; a followup, "They Can't Take Away Our Music," went to Number 50 in early 1971. War and Burdon were on tour in Europe in the fall of 1970, performing to rave reviews and sold-out halls. Suddenly, shortly after the death of Burdon's friend Jimi Hendrix, the singer abruptly abandoned the group. Left on their own, the members of the band continued to tour and to fulfill their commitments.
