ne of the first successful syndicated television series was the 1950s Western The Cisco Kid. In the 1970s, a song that show inspired gave a band from California its biggest hit ever. A group of high-school friends formed War in 1969. In an exclusive interview Lonnie Jordan, the group's keyboardist, noted, "The original founding members grew up together in the same neighborhood, Compton, California, and also attended the same school. We were fourteen, fifteen and sixteen at the time so [we] needed to get work permits to play in the Blues Clubs... Me and Howard [Scott] and B.B. [Dickerson] used to sit at Howard's house every day in the early 1960s.

"The Cisco Kid" was Long Beach, Calif. band War's fifth Top 40 hit, and third Top 10 single, reaching No. 2 and remaining on the pop chart for 12 weeks. It was the second single from War's No. 1 1972 LP The World Is A Ghetto, which peaked at No. 1 and remained on the chart for 68 weeks. It was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. on Dec. 13, 1972.

We played blues constantly, then we'd play all those dance songs that were happening in those days. We mixed and mingled everything, even mariachi music. We were trying to imitate what we heard, but it came out being something else."

The group started out as the backing band behind singer Eric Burdon, the former lead singer of The Animals. According to Lonnie Jordan having Burdon nearby was a major growing experience. Jordan explained, "Eric helped a lot. He taught the group how to play a rock 'n' roll audience. Eric, along with Jimi Hendrix, were good friends and big influences. With Eric the group released the #3 hit "Spill the Wine" in 1970. After Eric left in 1971, the group continued with hits like the #7 "The World Is A Ghetto." The group's biggest hit, however, was a tribute to a fictional hero from 1950s television. Lonnie spoke about the inspiration for "The Cisco Kid," saying, "Up until that point the cowboy heroes were people like John Wayne. When the black and white TV series came around the band discovered their first non-white hero, a Mexican cowboy."

"I was walking up to Howard's door," drummer Harold Brown recalled in the liner notes to the album The World Is A Ghetto, "and there he was sitting on his amp, playing guitar. He had the line, 'The Cisco Kid, he was a friend of mine....' Then I added an idea for a rhythm, a lick." From those beginnings came the song that entered the pop charts on March 3, 1973, at #79. In nine short weeks, the song had ridden all the way up to #2, going gold in the process. "The Cisco Kid" also reached #5 on the R&B charts.

The group's next hit, "Gypsy Man," became its third Top 10 hit in a row, climbing to #8. Other Top 10 hits like the #6 "Why Can't We Be Friends" and the #7 "Low Rider" kept War riding high on the charts throughout the decade. But one of the group's greatest honors was to meet Duncan Renaldo, the actor who had portrayed the Cisco Kid on television. Howard Scott stated, "It was an honor to meet that guy. He was this old, elegant Spanish gentleman with white hair, lighthearted and very likable. He thought our song was funny."

- Christopher G. Feldman, The Billboard Book of No. 2 Singles, Billboard, 2000.