While taking a break in San Fran, back in 1969, Eric Burdon of The Animals fame, joined up with the Californian band, War – Spill the Wine was one of a couple of resulting hits.
eric burdon and war fax
- Eric Burdon was born in the UK and is best known for being the lead vocalist of The Animals with whom he had hits like, The House of the Rising Sun, Boom Boom, Don’t Let me be Misunderstood, We Gotta Get Out of this Place, It’s My Life, and San Franciscan Nights.
- In 1969, while living in San Francisco, Eric joined Californian band War.
- A few months later, in April 1970, the album Eric Burdon Declares War was released. It produced two singles, Spill the Wine and Tobacco Road.
- Later in 1970, a double album, The Black-Man’s Burdon, was released, with the singles, Paint It Black (first recorded by the Rolling Stones) and They Can’t Take Away Our Music.
- While touring to promote the album, Eric collapsed on the stage due to an asthma attack. War continued touring without him and he commenced his solo career.
- War’s genesis was in Long Beach, California back in 1962, in a band named The Creators. They then became Nightshift, before morphing into War.
- War had a number of hit records including, Spill the Wine, The Cisco Kid, Why Can’t We Be Friends?, and Low Rider.
- Both The Animals and War continue to perform today, though with radically different line-ups than back in the 60’s and 70’s.
spill the wine fax
- Spill the Wine was written by members of the US band, War – apparently inspired by an accident in which keyboardist Lonnie Jordan spilled wine on a mixing board.
- It appeared on the album Eric Burdon Declares War and was released as a single in May 1970.
- The original recording features a flute solo with a woman speaking Spanish in the background. This was omitted from the final radio version.
- Spill the Wine was War’s first hit, peaking at #3 in the US. It didn’t make the UK charts.
- Spill the Wine has featured in the movies, Boogie Nights (1997), Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), and Remember the Titans (2000); and the television shows, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Dexter and Shameless.
- The song has been covered by The Isley Brothers and Michael Hutchence; and was used by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band when they opened their 2014 concert in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
- Spill the Wine lyrics.
spill the wine – eric burdon and war – 1970 – video
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