Muhammad Ali's exile from boxing amounted to three-and-a-half-years of raising a family, court appeals, money making schemes that mostly lost the Champ a great deal of bread and a lot of inactivity. He was in his mid-to-late twenties at the time so his refusal to accept his draft orders meant that he sacrificed a significant portion of his prime as a boxer — not to mention a great deal of money he would've earned along the way. This only adds to Ali's aura in retrospect but it caused him a great deal of stress even if he never regretted what he did.
The United States changed a great deal more than Ali did from 1967 to 1970 — though not always for the better. The liberal Lyndon Johnson (who, lest we forget, was a hawk when it came to the Vietnam War) stepped down from the Presidency and his successor was Richard Nixon. Yet, opposition to the conflict in Southeast Asia only grew. Meanwhile, the Motown label began to go establishment as they prepared to move from their homebase of Detroit to the glitz of Los Angeles, while, at the same time, many of the artists and songwriters in their employ started embracing social issues.
I recently discussed in passing The Temptations' hit single "Ball of Confusion". Rather than being a mere one off, however, the quintet had been dabbling in socially conscious music for a while. Composers Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield had initially written "War" with them in mind but their version was destined to be just a deep cut on their 1970 album Psychedelic Shack. Still, it had all kinds of commercial potential and so the call went out to find someone who could make it into a hit. Edwin Starr hadn't made much of a name for himself by this stage so perhaps it was deemed suitable for him to record politically contentious song since it wasn't like it was going to further damage his reputation or anything.
Right from the off it is clear why Starr's version of "War" is more suitable than The Temptations'. He's forceful while their conviction, well, isn't as convincing. He really means it while they only mostly do. Tom Breihan hears more than a little James Brown in Starr's grunts and groans but I hear it more as one individual influencing another rather than brazen copying. He never sounds like anyone other than himself. Though a steamroller vocal with an unforgettable agit-prop chorus doesn't a classic make, it doesn't fall all that short of it either.
But before I get to my chief criticism, let's bask in some love for Starr. While label-mate Marvin Gaye has often been described as the kind of vocalist who could pull off "singing the phone book", had Starr been given that task, it's easy to picture him responding with a forceful "fuck that shit!". He had to have material that he genuinely believed in. It is any wonder he had difficulty catching on when all Berry Gordy and co. could give him was mostly sub-standard crap? (The major exception being the 1969 US/Canadian Top 10 hit "Twenty Five Miles" which is probably his finest single) While I may come away from repeated listens to "War" with no idea as to the meaning in the verses, my admiration for Starr only continues to grow. He makes his signature song in every way.
The Beatles were the only figures in popular culture who rivaled Muhammad Ali — even if by 1970 they were fading away just as he was returning to the spotlight — with John Lennon being every bit the loudmouth piece as the Louisville Slugger. "War" may have represented much of what Ali stood for but Lennon must have looked upon it with a certain envy. Those sloganeering choruses were a thing the so-called "smart one" had been working on as early as 1967's "All You Need Is Love". Though successful and memorable, they tended to be low on substance (the "popeyes and rabbis..." verse of "Give Peace a Chance" may well be Lennon's single worst lyric). Though the by-now erstwhile Beatle would praise "War", it is beset by a similar faulty craftsmanship: all sizzle, no steak. And like Lennon himself, Strong and Whitfield had the pop background that should've made them know better.
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