BB Dickerson

War’s boss bass BORN 1949

Born in Torrance, California, BB Dickerson became the bass foundation of War, the LA street- funk band whose savvy blend of soul, R&B, Latino and jazz was a permanent fixture in the US charts 1972-76, with much-sampled, radio-friendly hits including The Cisco Kid, The World Is A Ghetto, Slippin’ Into Darkness and Low Rider. Dickerson had briefly been in The Creators, with founders Harold Brown (drums) and Howard Scott (guitar), who became Night Shift after Scott’s military service. They signed with managers Jerry Goldstein and Steve Gold at Eric Burdon’s recommendation. Renamed War, they backed the former Animals singer for two albums, peaking with a 1970 US Number 3 hit Spill The Wine. They were even more successful after Burdon quit in 1971, the aforementioned hits featuring on LPs such as All Day

Music, Deliver The Word and War

Live. But disputes with managers who owned the band’s name saw them split. Dickerson left in 1979 and opened a ‘head’ shop in San Bernardino, but returned when they took the name The Lowrider Band, and played on, intermittently, his foregrounded bottom line still laced with supple syncopation.