The World Is a Ghetto

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For the songs, see The World Is a Ghetto (War song) and The World Is a Ghetto (Geto Boys song).
The World Is a Ghetto
War
ReleasedNovember 1972
Recorded1972
StudioCrystal Industries in Los Angeles
Genre
Length43:49
War
chronology
All Day Music
(1971) 		The World Is a Ghetto
(1972) 		Deliver the Word
(1973)

The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth

gold record.[citation needed
]

Cover

The cover illustration, a light-hearted drawing showing a Rolls-Royce with a flat tire in a ghetto, was drawn by Howard Miller, with Lee Oskar credited with album concept.[4]

It uses a blue and black colour pallet as a reference to the melancholy nature of the album.

Alternate formats

The album was also made available in a 4-channel

8-track tape format (United Artists UA-DA178-H).[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Christgau's Record GuideB[7]
CreemC+[8]
Pitchfork8.8/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]

In a contemporary review for

blackstrap-rock".[8] He singled out the "jazz pretensions" of "Four Cornered Room" and "City, Country, City", finding the latter's rhythmic foundation solid but the song too long and mawkish.[7]

In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder from

What's Going On (1971).[6] The Crisis journalist Bruce Britt identified The World Is a Ghetto as one of the few Black rock recordings that became a classic within the pan-African community during FM rock radio's segregation of African-American rock acts in the 1970s,[12] a viewpoint echoed by music historian Jefferson Morley.[13] The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973.[14]

Track listing

All tracks composed by

War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B. B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott
).

Side one

  1. "The Cisco Kid" – 4:35
  2. "Where Was You At" – 3:25
  3. "City, Country, City" – 13:18

Side two

  1. "Four Cornered Room" – 8:30
  2. "The World Is a Ghetto" – 10:10
  3. "Beetles in the Bog" – 3:51

CD bonus tracks

In 2012 the album was re-released on CD in a 40th anniversary expanded edition with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks.[15]

  1. "Freight Train Jam" - 5:41
  2. "58 Blues" - 5:26
  3. "War Is Coming - Blues version" - 6:15
  4. "The World Is a Ghetto - Rehearsal take" - 8:06

Personnel

War
  • Howard Scott – guitar, percussion, vocals
  • B.B. Dickerson
    – bass, percussion, vocals
  • Lonnie Jordan – organ, piano, timbales, percussion, vocals
  • Harold Brown – drums, percussion, vocals
  • Papa Dee Allen
    – conga, bongos, percussion, vocals
  • Charles Miller – clarinet, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, percussion, vocals
  • Lee Oskar – harmonica, percussion, vocals

Charts

Year Album Chart positions[16]
US US
R&B
1972 The World Is a Ghetto 1 1

Singles

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".

Year Single Chart positions[17]
US US
R&B
1973 "The Cisco Kid" 2 5
"The World Is a Ghetto" 7 3

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-8126-9368-X
  2. ^ "Year End Charts - Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  3. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  4. ^ "War – The World Is A Ghetto - Original release". discogs.com. 1972. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  5. ^ Anderson, Mark. "Quadraphonic Popular Recordings (W)". Archived from the original on 2008-04-10.
  6. ^ a b Allmusic review
  7. ^
    ISBN 0306804093
    . Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (April 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  9. ^ Garner, Sadie Sartini (16 December 2023). "War: The World Is a Ghetto: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition Album Review". Pitchfork.
  10. ^ Walters, Barry (August 22, 2002). "War: The World Is a Ghetto". Rolling Stone. No. 903. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  11. ^ Fletcher, Gordon (March 1, 1973). "War: The World Is a Ghetto". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  12. ^ Britt, Bruce. "Black Rock Revival". The Crisis. No. Autumn 2008. p. 19.
  13. ISBN 0140147888
    .
  14. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (May 16, 1990). "Records". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "War – The World Is A Ghetto - 40th Anniversary Edition". discogs.com. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  16. ^ "War US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  17. ^ "War US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  18. ^ "American album certifications – War – The World Is a Ghetto". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

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