Besides being one of the founding members of one of the greatest bands of all time, Lonnie Jordan of WAR is also my old boss and one of the my musical mentors. I always had the best time with Lonnie onstage when I was with WAR and hoped to record something with him in the future, even going so far as to co-write some original songs for use ‘down the road.’

It finally happened in 2007, thanks to the unstoppable enthusiasm of my close friend Pancho Tomaselli, who has been playing bass with Lonnie for the past few years and shares the same creative synergy with him as I have. After spending some time with Pancho developing more material, Lonnie was signed to Fantasy Records (Concord Music Group) and we got together to produce his first solo album in almost 30 years, War Stories.

It was a great experience. The studio, ElDorado Recording in Burbank, was the perfect place to make Lonnie’s kind of music: tons of analog outboard gear, a great ambiance for setting the creative mood, and best of all, the cleanest collection of vintage keyboards I’ve ever seen or heard. We set up the piano, Hammond organ, Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos in a circle around Lonnie so that he could access them at will, and put a band together that could follow him on a dime and retain the raw, funky feel he loves. Check out ‘Get That Feeling’:

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The concept was to do a mixture of unique versions of WAR tunes, one or two cover songs that were important to Lonnie, and new originals that provided a glimpse into his life experiences. For the WAR songs, it was important that we didn’t run down a list of ‘the hits’ or do true-to-vintage copies that try to measure up to the original versions. Instead of ‘Low Rider,’ ‘Cisco Kid’ or ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends’, we chose songs that featured Lonnie’s voice or are associated with his contribution to the band, and then we rearranged them in different styles, changing the rhythms, keys and even time signatures as inspiration dictated.

For example, ‘Get Down,’ one of War’s funkiest and most political tracks, was recast as an up-tempo Afrobeat jam. ‘The World is a Ghetto’ was changed from its classic loping 4/4 to a tweaked 6/8 Latin feel, with bass flutes, tons of percussion and an outstanding jazz piano solo by Lonnie. The opening track of the album, ‘Don’t Let No One Get You Down,’ showcases his Rhodes playing and some lush backing vocals sung by Tara Ellis.

The new songs include ‘Rock’n'Roll Days,’ a tribute to the music legends Lonnie’s known in the past, like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. Almost every note of this song is a reference to something else, and educated listeners will find a bit of everything from Led Zeppelin and Steppenwolf to Keith Richards and Steve Cropper.

Speaking of which, I definitely got my ya-ya’s out on guitar. Since the theme of the record was a sort of retro flashback, I had the perfect chance to dig into some guitar styles and sounds that are usually reserved for Lenny Kravitz. I’ll do a separate post with the guitar and production notes for this album, and get into detail about the gear we used.

All in all, it was a blast (from the past, as Lonnie would say), and everything from the tracking and mixing sessions, overseen by veteran engineer Don Murray, to the final analog mastering by Bernie Grundman himself, was a real experience for all of us, giving us a window into the way this type of record used to get done in the golden age of Funk.

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