Editing War (band) (section)

===1970s: Height of popularity===
Eric Burdon and War toured extensively across Europe and the United States. The subtitle of a 1970 review in the ''[[NME|New Musical Express]]'' of their first UK gig in London's [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] read: "Burdon and War: Best Live Band We've Ever Seen".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/eric-burdon--war-hyde-park-london|author=Richard Green|work=New Musical Express |date=September 19, 1970|title=Eric Burdon & War: Hyde Park, London}}</ref> Their show at [[Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club|Ronnie Scott's Club]] in London on September 16, 1970, is historically notable for being the last public performance for [[Jimi Hendrix]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Tony |title=Jimi Hendrix: The Final Days |year=1997 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-7119-5238-6 |page=107}}</ref> who joined them onstage for the last 35 minutes of Burdon and War's second set; a day later he was dead. A second Eric Burdon and War album, a [[double album|two-disc set]] titled ''[[The Black-Man's Burdon]]'' was released in 1970. During the subsequent tour, Burdon collapsed on the stage during a concert, caused by an asthma attack, and the band continued the tour without him<ref>{{cite web|url=https://berlinspectator.com/2019/05/03/the-animal-eric-burdon-to-raise-roofs-in-germany-1/|work=The Berlin Spectator|title=The Animal Eric Burdon raise roofs in Germany|date=May 3, 2019}}</ref> before Burdon left the band in the middle of its European tour. They finished the tour without him and returned to record their first album as War.

''[[War (War album)|War]]'' (1971) met with only modest success, but later that year, the band released ''[[All Day Music]]'' which included the singles "All Day Music" and "[[Slippin' into Darkness]]". The latter single sold over one million copies, and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[R.I.A.A.]] in June 1972.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978 |title=The Book of Golden Discs |edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/305 305] |isbn=0-214-20512-6|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/305}}</ref> In 1972, they released ''[[The World Is a Ghetto]]'' which was even more successful. Its second single, "The Cisco Kid", shipped gold,<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |editor=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|pages=1230/1}}</ref> and the album attained the number one spot on [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]],<ref name="Billboard 200">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/war/chart-history/tlp/|title=War Album & Song Chart History (Billboard 200)|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> and was ''Billboard'' magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973.

{{quote box|quoted=1|quote=This band lives up to its name. The powerful, deceptively torpid groove evokes the pace of inner-city pleasures like 'All Day Music' and '[[Summer (War song)|Summer]].' But however jokey and off-the-cuff they sound, they're usually singing about conflict, often racial conflict—the real subject of '[[The Cisco Kid (song)|The Cisco Kid]]' and '[[Why Can't We Be Friends?]],' which many take for [[novelty song]]s.|source=— ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981)<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: W|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=W&bk=70|access-date=March 22, 2019|website=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref>|width=21%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

''[[Deliver the Word]]'' (1973), the next album, contained the hits "[[Gypsy Man (song)|Gypsy Man]]" and a studio version of "[[Me and Baby Brother]]" (previously issued as a live recording), which peaked at No. 8 and #15 on the Billboard chart. The album went on to sell nearly 2 million copies.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}} The album ''[[Why Can't We Be Friends?]]'' was released in 1975. It included "[[Low Rider]]" and the title track, which were among the band's bigger hits.<ref name="Larkin"/>

In 1976, War released a greatest hits record that contained one new song "[[Summer (War song)|Summer]]", which, as a single, went gold and peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' chart. Also released that year were ''[[Love Is All Around (album)|Love Is All Around]]'' by Eric Burdon and War, containing mostly unreleased recordings from 1969 and 1970, and ''[[Platinum Jazz (album)|Platinum Jazz]]'', a one-off album for jazz label [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]]. The latter double album had cover art to match the greatest hits album, and was half new material and half compilation, focusing on (but not restricted to) instrumental music. The group continued to attain success with their next album ''Galaxy'' (1977), and its title single was inspired by ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. War's next project was a soundtrack album for the movie ''[[Youngblood (1978 film)|Youngblood]]'' in 1978.