War
"Low Rider" emerged from a 45-minute jam session. Eight minutes in, producer Jerry Goldstein noticed "a nice groove." The xylophone you hear in the recording was left over from a Stevie Wonder session earlier that afternoon in the same studio. Saxophonist Charles Miller walked in having just bought a 1952 Chevy, with "a little too much tequila" in him, according to bandmate Lonnie Jordan, and spontaneously sang the title phrase that became the song's foundation. Before any radio release, the band distributed cassettes directly to lowrider car clubs, including two rival groups called the Imperials and the Dukes. Jordan recalled the song "brought the Imperials and the Dukes together as one."
In our deep dive into Low Rider, we trace the song from a 45-minute jam session to the cassettes that traveled through car clubs before radio ever touched it, and what it reveals about a band that understood exactly who their music was for.
