Low Rider

{{About|the song by the band War|the vehicle|lowrider|the album|No Fun at All}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Low Rider

| cover = Low rider by War US single sleeve.png

| alt = cover art

| caption = US single picture sleeve

| type = single

| artist = War

| album = Why Can't We Be Friends?

| B-side = So

| released = August 1975

| recorded = 1974

| studio =

| genre = {{hlist|Funk{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|title=War {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/war-mn0000191947/biography|access-date=28 June 2020|website=AllMusic}}{{cite book|title= The Alternative Jukebox|first=Larry|last=Bradley|date= November 4, 2014|chapter= The 1970s: War - "Low Rider|page= 74|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-1-84403-789-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_phoAEACAAJ}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thisisdig.com/war-frontman-lonnie-jordan-making-of-low-rider/|title=War Frontman Lonnie Jordan on the Making of Funk Classic 'Low Rider'|first=Joe|last=Tiller|date=December 1, 2024|website=Dig!|access-date=December 9, 2024}}|Latin rock{{cite web|url=https://greensboro.com/less-is-more-on-sades-new-album/article_ad9b3c2b-6fa2-5e43-a7b4-db9f6e53bf54.html|title=Less Is More On Sade's New Album|date=December 2, 2000|newspaper=News & Record|access-date=December 2, 2020|quote=...The "Conspiracy" song in that tradition is "Original Prankster", which features a sample of War's Latin-rock standard "Low Rider" and an appearance by rapper Redman.}}|mariachi{{cite book|first=Chuck|last=Eddy|title=The Accidental Evolution of Rock 'n' Roll: A Misguided Tour Through Popular Music|chapter= Automotive Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0488R7-hYUC|date=22 March 1997|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=0-306-80741-6|page=273}}}}

| length = 3:11

| label = United Artists

| writer = {{hlist|Jerry Goldstein|War (Thomas Sylvester "Papa Dee" Allen; Harold Ray Brown; Moris "B.B." Dickerson; Leroy Jordan; Charles Miller; Lee Oskar; Howard E. Scott)}}

| producer = {{hlist|Jerry Goldstein|Lonnie Jordan|Howard E. Scott}}

| chronology = War

| prev_title = Why Can't We Be Friends?

| prev_year = 1975

| next_title = Me and Baby Brother

| next_year = 1976

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|BsrqKE1iqqo|Low Rider}}}}

}}

"Low Rider" is a song written by American funk band War and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album Why Can't We Be Friends?, released in June 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart, peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart on November 29, 1975, and number six in Canada (number 69 in the Canadian year-end chart{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4057a.pdf| title=RPM Top 200 Singles of 1975 - December 27, 1975}}). The song was also used in the 1978 Cheech and Chong movie “Up In Smoke”, and appeared as track 3 of the associated original sound track album. It was later used in the 1993 Richard Linklater film Dazed and Confused (film).

AllMusic says of the song: "the lyric takes the cool, laidback image of the lowrider—the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars—and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle". A driving bass line by B. B. Dickerson is present almost throughout, along with an alto saxophone and harmonica riff by Charles Miller, who also provides lead vocals and a saxophone solo towards the end that includes a siren-like sound. Lee Oskar doubles the alto sax line on harmonica.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Andrea |date=2019-10-22 |title=Harmonica honcho Lee Oskar, 71, still rocks 'Low Rider' |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/harmonica-honcho-lee-oskar-71-still-rocks-low-rider/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=HeraldNet.com |language=en-US}}

The Beastie Boys sampled "Low Rider" on their song "Slow Ride", from 1986's Licensed to Ill.{{cite web |last1=Pusey |first1=James |title=Classics Revisited: Beastie Boys - 'License To Ill' |url=https://www.themicmagazine.uk/post/classics-revisited-beastie-boys-license-to-ill |website=The Mic Magazine |access-date=September 28, 2024 |date=November 15, 2021}} Three years later, thrash metal band, Exodus covered the song, on their third studio album, Fabulous Disaster.https://www.discogs.com/Exodus-Fabulous-Disaster/release/1165333 and nearly a decade later, the song was covered by nu metal band Korn on their 1996 studio album Life Is Peachy.{{cite magazine|last1=Arnopp|first1=Jason|author-link=Jason Arnopp|last2=Bird|first2=Ashley|last3=Brannigan|first3=Paul|year=2002|title=Korn|magazine=Kerrang!|series=Legends (130-page special edition)|language=en-GB|location=London|publisher=Emap|issue=1|issn=0262-6624}} Beginning in 1996, "Low Rider" featured for several years on British television in adverts for Marmite, as part of their 'Love it or hate it' campaign.{{cite news |title=Marketing Marmite: the story behind the iconic love/hate campaign |url=https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/06/17/marketing-marmite-how-an-advertising-agency-started-a-culture-war |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=September 28, 2024 |format=June 17, 2021 |date=27 August 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Emma |title=Lads' pin-up stars in Marmite film |url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/lads-rsquo-pin-up-stars-marmite-film/33356 |website=Campaign Live |access-date=September 28, 2024 |date=October 1, 1999}} In 1999, Barry White recorded a version on his album Staying Power. "Low Rider" was later used as the theme song for the George Lopez self-titled ABC sitcom, which ran from 2002 to 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.mixonline.com/news/classic-tracks/classic-tracks-los-angeles-edition/367597|title=Classic Tracks: Los Angeles Edition - Mixonline|website=www.mixonline.com|date=October 2014|access-date=3 September 2017}} The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.{{Cite web |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame {{!}} Hall of Fame Artists {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=www.grammy.com}} In 2018, Dutch-Turkish EDM producer Ummet Ozcan made a remix of it. Canadian rapper bbno$ sampled "Low Rider" on his single, "Check" in 2025.