LYNN — War broke out of Long Beach, Calif., in 1969 when record producer Jerry Goldstein paired the funk-soul-Latin-R&B-jazz band with Animals singer Eric Burdon. An album and its groundbreaking song “Spill the Wine” were instant smashes.
Here it is nearly 50 years later, and founding member Lonnie Jordan has the multi-ethnic band, still preaching its message of brotherhood and harmony, on the road. The seven-piece outfit delivered a rousing, rump-shaking show Saturday night before a disappointingly smallish crowd at Lynn Auditorium.
“Spill the Wine,” with its instantly recognizable organ intro, was performed early in the two-hour, 13-song set. It sounds as fresh today as it did in 1970 when it exploded from our radios amid such schmaltz as “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” and “Everything is Beautiful.” The flute solo, played Saturday by Scott Martin, was terrific, and frontman Jordan even served up a few lines of Harry Nilsson’s “Put the Lime in the Coconut” midsong.
“Me and Baby Brother” kicked things off in splendid, funky fashion, fueled by the playing of Martin on saxophone and Stanley Behrens on harmonica. This duo shined brightly all night, sending both lively tunes and smoothly quiet numbers to a whole other level.
“Slipping Into Darkness,” with Rene Camacho’s funky bass and stop-on-a-dime percussion by Sal Rodrigues and Marcos Reyes, was a rhythmic wonder that segued into Bob Marley’s reggae classic “Get Up, Stand Up.” Jordan said War gave up a spot at Woodstock in 1969 to tour with Marley and the Wailers.
For “The Cisco Kid,” perhaps War’s best-known song, Jordan ventured into the audience and cajoled fans into singing a verse. By song’s end, everyone joined in, even though most audience members knew only the first part of the tune, “the Cisco Kid was a friend of mine.”
Bass, conga drums and sax/harmonica powered super-tight versions of “Galaxy,” a jazzy “All Day Music” and the Latin groove-heavy “Ballero.”
Extended partially improvised versions of radio hits “Summer,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and the majestic “Low Rider” closed out the main set. Audience members joyously and loudly took a little trip with Jordan and his bandmates. War encored with “The World is a Ghetto,” its 1972 hit about the cycle of poverty among minorities in America.
Vinyl Groove, a Boston-based vocal group, warmed up the crowd with an upbeat set of Motown/Philly/disco classics.
