Editing War (band) (section)

===1960s: Beginnings===
In 1962, [[Howard E. Scott]] and [[Harold Ray Brown|Harold Brown]] formed a group called the Creators in [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], California. Within a few years, they had added [[Charles Miller (musician)|Charles Miller]], Morris "B. B." Dickerson, and [[Lonnie Jordan]] to the lineup. [[Lee Oskar]] and [[#Original|Papa Dee Allen]] later joined as well. They all shared a love of diverse styles of music, which they had absorbed living in the racially mixed Los Angeles ghettos. The Creators recorded several singles on [[Dore Records]] while working with Tjay Contrelli, a saxophonist from the band [[Love (band)|Love]]. In 1968, the Creators became Nightshift (named because Brown worked nights at a steel yard) and started performing with Melvyn “Deacon” Jones from Richmond Indiana, a rhythm and blues artist. Deacon Jones, as he was referred to, is often confused with Deacon Jones, the American football player who was from the same era. The band then changed their name from Nightshift to War.

Nightshift was conceived by record producer [[Jerry Goldstein (producer)|Jerry Goldstein]] ("[[My Boyfriend's Back (song)|My Boyfriend's Back]]", "[[Hang on Sloopy]]", "[[I Want Candy]]") and singer [[Eric Burdon]] (ex-lead singer of the British band [[the Animals]]). In 1969, Goldstein saw musicians who would eventually become War playing at the Rag Doll in [[North Hollywood, Los Angeles|North Hollywood]], backing Deacon Jones, the blues artist, and he was attracted to the band's sound. Jordan claimed that the band's goal was to spread a message of brotherhood and harmony, using instruments and voices to speak out against racism, [[hunger]], [[gang]]s, crimes, and turf wars, and promote hope and the spirit of brotherhood.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}} Eric Burdon and War began playing live shows to audiences throughout [[Southern California]] before entering into the studio to record their debut album ''[[Eric Burdon Declares "War"]]''. The album's best known track, "[[Spill the Wine]]", was a hit and launched the band's career.