The World Is a Ghetto | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Studio | Crystal Industries in Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:49 | |||
Label | United Artists Records | |||
Producer | Jerry Goldstein with Lonnie Jordan and Howard E. Scott | |||
War chronology | ||||
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The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth album by American band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records. The album attained the number one spot on Billboard, and was Billboard magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973. [2] In addition to being Billboard's #1 album of 1973, the album was ranked number 444 on Rolling Stone magazine's original list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [3] The title track became a gold record.[ citation needed ]
The cover illustration, a light-hearted drawing showing a Rolls-Royce with a flat tire in a ghetto, was drawn by Howard Miller, with Lee Oskar credited with album concept. [4]
It uses a blue and black colour pallet as a reference to the melancholy nature of the album.
The album was also made available in a 4-channel surround sound (quadraphonic) mix in the 8-track tape format (United Artists UA-DA178-H). [5]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [6] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [7] |
Creem | C+ [8] |
Pitchfork | 8.8/10 [9] |
Rolling Stone | [10] |
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone , Gordon Fletcher said The World Is a Ghetto found War progressing further in the arena of soul and jazz music, and "closer to total mastery of their music as they attempt to use it to communicate the essence of ghetto life". [11] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in Creem , believing he "should love this big Afro-roots band" in theory, but was critical of the fairly slow quality of the music and the lyrics, calling it "blackstrap-rock". [8] He singled out the "jazz pretensions" of "Four Cornered Room" and "City, Country, City", finding the latter's rhythmic foundation solid but the song too long and mawkish. [7]
In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder from AllMusic said the album's music encompassed "not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia" and a "classy, forward-looking production" comparable to Curtis Mayfield's 1970 album Curtis and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971). [6] The Crisis journalist Bruce Britt identified The World Is a Ghetto as one of the few Black rock recordings that became a classic within the pan-African community during FM rock radio's segregation of African-American rock acts in the 1970s, [12] a viewpoint echoed by music historian Jefferson Morley. [13] The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973. [14]
All tracks composed by War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B. B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott).
In 2012 the album was re-released on CD in a 40th anniversary expanded edition with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks. [15]
Year | Album | Chart positions [16] | |
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US | US R&B | ||
1972 | The World Is a Ghetto | 1 | 1 |
Singles from the album include "The World Is a Ghetto" backed with "Four Cornered Room", and "The Cisco Kid" backed with "Beetles in the Bog".
Year | Single | Chart positions [17] | |
---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B | ||
1973 | "The Cisco Kid" | 2 | 5 |
"The World Is a Ghetto" | 7 | 3 | |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [18] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
War is an American funk/rock/soul/Latin band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs . Formed in 1969, War is a musical crossover band that fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, psychedelia, and reggae. According to music writer Colin Larkin, their "potent fusion of funk, R&B, rock and Latin styles produced a progressive soul sound", while Martin C. Strong calls them "one of the fiercest progressive soul combos of the '70s". Their album The World Is a Ghetto was Billboard's best-selling album of 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was subject to many line-up changes over the course of its existence, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.
Why Can't We Be Friends? is the seventh studio album by American band War, released on June 16, 1975 by United Artists Records. Two singles from the album were released: the title track backed with "In Mazatlan", and "Low Rider" backed with "So". Both A-sides were nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1976.
Natty Dread is the seventh album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in 1974. Previously Marley had recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as the Wailers, and this was his first record without them.
Music of My Mind is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with Motown that allowed him full artistic control over his music. For the album, Wonder recruited electronic music pioneers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff as associate producers, employing their custom TONTO synthesizer on several tracks. The album hit No. # 21 in the Billboard LP charts, and critics found it representative of Wonder's artistic growth, and it is generally considered by modern critics to be the first album of Wonder's classic period.
Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released on August 1, 1973, by Atlantic Records. She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months. The album was dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Second Helping is the second studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on April 15, 1974. It features the band's biggest hit single, "Sweet Home Alabama", an answer song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man", which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974.
Caravanserai is the fourth studio album by American rock band Santana, released on October 11, 1972. The album marked a period of transition for Santana as it was the band's last to feature several key early members, while shifting in a more instrumental, progressive jazz fusion direction. It sold in fewer quantities than the band's previous chart-topping albums, stalling at No. 8 on the Billboard LPs chart, but has been critically acclaimed.
A Quiet Storm is the 1975 third solo album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson. The album received generally positive reviews, and spawned the hit single "Baby That's Backatcha", which spent one week at the top of the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
All Day Music is the fourth album by American band War, released November 1971 on United Artists Records.
Smokey is the debut studio album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson. It was released on June 19, 1973, by Tamla Records and was Robinson's first solo record after his departure from The Miracles. The album featured the single "Sweet Harmony", which was his tribute to his former singing partners in the Miracles: Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore and Ronnie White. Smokey was arranged by Dave Blumberg, Gene Page and Willie Hutch. It also featured the song "Baby Come Close", his first solo hit single, and the single "Just My Soul Responding", a protest song dealing with ghetto life in America, and the plight of the American Indian. Smokey peaked at number 70 on the Billboard albums chart, on which it spent 19 weeks.
The Black-Man's Burdon is a double album by American band Eric Burdon and War, released in December 1970 on MGM Records. It was the last album by the group before Burdon left and the remaining band continued as War.
Still Bill is the second studio album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers, released in 1972 by Sussex Records. The album was recorded and produced by Withers with musicians from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The rhythmic music produced for the record features soul, funk, and blues sounds, backing lyrics that explore themes of human nature, emotion, and sex from a middle-class male perspective. It also features some of Withers' most popular songs, including the hit singles "Lean on Me" and "Use Me". A commercial and critical success at the time of its release, Still Bill has since been regarded by music journalists as a highlight of the singer's recording career and a classic of 1970s R&B.
"The Cisco Kid" is a song performed by War, and written by Thomas Allen, Harold Brown, Morris "BB" Dickerson, Charles Miller, Howard Scott, Lee Oskar and Lonnie Jordan, all members of War at the time. It is the first song on their 1972 album The World Is a Ghetto, and is the group's highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two.
Deliver the Word is the sixth album by War, released in 1973 on United Artists Records.
Head to the Sky is the fourth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in May 1973 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart. Head to the Sky has also been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
War Live is the first live album by American band War, recorded during a four-night engagement at Chicago's High Chapparral club and released as a double LP on United Artists Records in 1973. The album was reissued on Rhino Records as a double disc CD on 1992 September 15 and again on 2008 March 31.
Platinum Jazz is a double album, the ninth studio album by War, released on Blue Note Records in July 1977.
The Music Band is an album by the American band War, released on MCA Records in 1979. It peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard 200.
The Music Band 2 is an album by the American band War, released on MCA Records in 1979. It peaked at No. 111 on the Billboard 200.
Galaxy is the tenth studio album by American band War. It was their first album released on MCA Records. The album was certified gold.