In the late ‘60s, California funk legends War started out as a backing band for singer Eric Burdon after his iconic rock band, The Animals, broke up. Soon, the group emerged from Burdon's shadow as purveyors of fierce grooves. As the inventors of multicultural southern California funk, War mixed a wild array of sounds into their music, including blues, Latin ballads, jazz and psychedelic rock. It was a sound that was tough and unique, but still managed to reach listeners far outside of California, with each album War released from 1971 going gold.