Harold Ray Brown (born March 17, 1946 in
Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a large city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge....
) was a founding member of
WarWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
, an American funk band in the 1970's and 2000s. Harold had a number of roles over the years, acting as drummer, percussion, vocalist and band leader.
Brown is the oldest of six children, and the only one in his family to pursue music. Beginning with the congas, Brown progressed to violin while in elementary school, and took up drums in junior high.
Harold Ray Brown (born March 17, 1946 in
Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a large city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge....
) was a founding member of
WarWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
, an American funk band in the 1970's and 2000s. Harold had a number of roles over the years, acting as drummer, percussion, vocalist and band leader.
Brown is the oldest of six children, and the only one in his family to pursue music. Beginning with the congas, Brown progressed to violin while in elementary school, and took up drums in junior high. He turned down a full scholarship to
Valparaiso UniversityValparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accredited private university located in the city of Valparaiso in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, and a law school...
in 1964 in order to pursue music.
Brown was rooted in the very beginnings of War. In 1962, he met
Howard E. ScottHoward E. Scott is an American funk/rock guitarist and founding member of the successful 1970s funk band War.-Biography:...
at the Cozy Lounge in
Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a large city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge....
. They were fifteen years old at the time, and were hired to play in a band for a casual gig.
Brown started a band called the "Creators" in 1963 in Long Beach, while going to
Long Beach Polytechnic High SchoolLong Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a High school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States....
, to play for High School sock hops and car shows. Then in 1967, toward the end of the
Vietnam warThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, he and Howard Scott re-started the band with a new name,
Night ShiftA night shift is either a group of workers who work during the night, or the period in which they work. See shift work.Night Shift may also refer to:* Night Shift , a fictional team of supervillains in the Marvel Universe...
. Brown had been working as a machinist on the Night Shift. In February of 1969 while playing a show at the Rag Doll Night Club in North Hollywood, California Eric Burdon and Lee Oskar jammed with the Night Shift. The band changed its name to War.
Brown left the band to attend college in 1983, majoring in computer science, with a minor in music. He then moved to New Orleans in 1986. In 2001, Brown went back to school to pursue his life-long hobby; he is now a historian and professional tour guide in New Orleans, and has recently formed a new band called the “
Lowrider BandThe Lowrider Band consists of four of the five surviving original core group members of the multi-platinum selling band War: Howard E. Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Lee Oskar, and Harold Brown. These members lost the right in federal court to use and tour under the name "War" in the mid-1990s to Far Out...
” with three of the other original members of War:
Howard E. ScottHoward E. Scott is an American funk/rock guitarist and founding member of the successful 1970s funk band War.-Biography:...
,
Morris “BB” DickersonMorris "BB" Dickerson was the bass player for the 1970s Latin–funk group War.He is still active in the current rendition of the band and also loans his voice to many of the band's most famous tracks....
, and
Lee 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....
. Brown also works with inner city youth during the summer, to promote good citizenship through the art of fine drumming.
External links
- http://www.lowriderband.com
- http://www.Myspace.com/Lowriderband
- http://www.Myspace.com/Wardrums