"Spill the Wine" is the debut single by singer Eric Burdon and the band War, released in May 1970. It was backed by the non-album track "Magic Mountain", and was War's first Billboard chart hit.[5]
This section needs expansion with: a more complete description based on standard rock sources. You can help by adding to it. (November 2016)
"Spill the Wine" first appeared on the album Eric Burdon Declares War and runs 4:51. Its writing credits include the members of War: Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, Eric Burdon, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, and Howard E. Scott.[6] The song was inspired by an accident in which keyboardist Lonnie Jordan spilled wine on a mixing board.[7] It features a prevalent flute solo, and the sound of a woman speaking Spanish—a friend of Eric Burdon—is heard in the background.[8] An edited version, released as a promo single for radio stations and subsequently included on most compilations, omits the middle spoken recitation, plus one chorus.[citation needed] The song was re-released as a single in 1996, after a remix by Junior Vasquez.[9]
"Spill the Wine" was War's first hit of two with Eric Burdon as vocalist.[10] It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11]Billboard ranked the single the number 20 song of 1970.[12] It was also a top 3 hit in Canada[13] and number 2 in Australia in mid-November 1970.[14]
In 2001, The B-Side Players included a cover on their album Movement.[31] The same year, Los Mocosos included a version on their album Shades of Brown.[32]
San Francisco band Vinyl covered "Spill the Wine" on their album Frogshack Music Volume II in 2009, in a track featuring Sugar Pie DeSanto and Marcus Scott.[citation needed]
The revival of the 1970s band The L.A. Carpool covered "Spill the Wine" with a Latin salsa flair in 2012, in a track that featured well-known Latin drummer Richie "Gajate" Garcia and other well-known Latin musicians.[citation needed]
On October 31, 2013, jam band Widespread Panic covered the song, opening the second set of their show at UNO arena in New Orleans, and again at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on New Year's Eve of 2013.[citation needed]
On February 23, 2014, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened their concert at the Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley of NSW, Australia, with a nine-minute version of the song, the world premiere of their version.[34]
^Molanphy, Chris (October 15, 2022). "Give Up the Funk Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
^ ab"National Top 60 [Australia]". Go-Set. poparchives.com.au. November 14, 1970. Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2016. [Quote:] 2. Spill the Wine, Eric Burdon and War.
^"Hits of the World"(archived print version). Billboard Magazine: 60. November 28, 1970. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
^Feenstra, Pete (2008). "Interview: Eric Burdon". GetReadyToRock.com. Retrieved 23 October 2011. You know really Eric sang the first Latino rap song ever to be on pop radio.
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