The World Is a Ghetto
Encyclopedia
The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth album by the band War
, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records
.
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
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).
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".
The cover illustration was drawn by Howard Miller, with Lee Oskar
credited with album concept.
(Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson
, Lonnie Jordan
, Charles Miller
, Lee Oskar
, Howard E. Scott
).
War (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
.
Reception
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. In 2003, the album was ranked number 449 on Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
The album was also made available in a 4-channel surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
(quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
) mix in the 8-track tape format (United Artists UA-DA178-H).
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".
The cover illustration was drawn by Howard Miller, with Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which he formed with Eric Burdon, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer...
credited with album concept.
Track listing
All tracks composed by WarWar (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
(Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson
B.B. Dickerson
Morris "B.B." Dickerson was the bass player for the 1970s Latin–funk group War, and before that The Creators....
, Lonnie Jordan
Lonnie Jordan
Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan was a founding member of War, an American funk band in the 1970s and 1980s. Jordan had a number of roles over the years, acting as vocalist and playing guitar, piano, synthesizer, and percussion...
, Charles Miller
Charles Miller (musician)
Charles Miller was an American musician best known as the saxophonist and flutist for multicultural Californian funk band War.-Biography:...
, Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which he formed with Eric Burdon, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer...
, Howard E. Scott
Howard E. Scott
Howard E. Scott is an American funk/rock guitarist and founding member of the successful 1970s funk band War.-Biography:...
).
Side one
- "The Cisco Kid" – 4:35
- "Where Was You At" – 3:25
- "City, Country, City" – 13:18
- "Four Cornered Room" – 8:30
- "The World Is a Ghetto" – 10:10
- "Beetles in the Bog" – 3:51
Personnel
- Howard ScottHoward E. ScottHoward E. Scott is an American funk/rock guitarist and founding member of the successful 1970s funk band War.-Biography:...
– guitar, percussion, vocals - B.B. DickersonB.B. DickersonMorris "B.B." Dickerson was the bass player for the 1970s Latin–funk group War, and before that The Creators....
– bass, percussion, vocals - Lonnie JordanLonnie JordanLeroy "Lonnie" Jordan was a founding member of War, an American funk band in the 1970s and 1980s. Jordan had a number of roles over the years, acting as vocalist and playing guitar, piano, synthesizer, and percussion...
– organ, piano, timbolies, percussion, vocals - Harold Brown – drums, percussion, vocals
- Papa Dee Allen – conga, bongos, percussion, vocals
- Charles MillerCharles Miller (musician)Charles Miller was an American musician best known as the saxophonist and flutist for multicultural Californian funk band War.-Biography:...
– clarinet, alto, tenor and baritone saxes, percussion, vocals - Lee OskarLee OskarLee Oskar is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which he formed with Eric Burdon, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer...
– harmonica, percussion, vocals
Charts
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
||
| 1972 | The World Is a Ghetto The World Is a Ghetto The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth album by the band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records.-Reception: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... |
1 | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance |
||
| 1973 | "The Cisco Kid" | 2 | 5 | — |
| "The World Is a Ghetto" | 7 | 3 | — | |
See also
- List of number-one albums of 1973 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1973 (U.S.)
- Billboard Year-EndBillboard Year-EndBillboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...