"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, peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart, and number six in Canada (number 69 in the Canadian year-end chart[4]).
| "Low Rider" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
US single picture sleeve
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| SinglebyWar | ||||
| from the album Why Can't We Be Friends? | ||||
| B-side | "So" | |||
| Released | May 14, 1975 (1975-05-14) | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 3:11 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| War singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| Low RideronYouTube | ||||
According to the AllMusic review of the song, "the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the lowrider—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 linebyB. B. Dickerson, which is present almost throughout, and an alto saxophone and harmonica riff by Charles Miller, who also provides lead vocals and a saxophone solo towards the end of the song that includes a siren-like noise. Lee Oskar plays harmonica throughout the song doubling the alto sax line.[5] This song is the theme song for the TV series George Lopez, which ran from 2002 to 2007.[6]
The song was covered by nu metal band Korn on their 1996 studio album Life Is Peachy.
In 2014, the 1975 release of "Low Rider" by War on the United Artists label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]
| Chart (1975–1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] | 6 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[9] | 12 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[10] | 7 |
| USHot Soul Singles (Billboard)[11] | 1 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[12] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[13] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
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‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
...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.
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