So…‘Good God y’all’ and all those ‘Absolutely nothings’ are my ad-libs.” Later, Starr acknowledged the criticism he received. “I said, ‘I can do this but I have to sing the vocals my way,’” he recalled in liner notes for The Complete Motown Singles Volume 10: 1970. After producer Norman Whitfield was told of the Temptations’ career risk, he focused on cutting the song first with Rare Earth – they refused – and then Starr.Įdwin was determined to stamp “War” with his own personality. According to author Gerri Hirshey in her book Nowhere To Run, more than 4,000 students then wrote to Motown asking for “War” to be released as a single, or re-recorded by another artist. The group had recorded the song just a few months earlier, for their Psychedelic Shack album. (Read more about the singer here.)īy contrast, the Temptations did, and the record company was concerned about how such a provocative lyric would affect their career and play in the media. The artists of Motown were hardly known at that time for social commentary and controversial material, but Starr had no superstar reputation to put at risk when he cut the song in May 1970. SONGWRITERS: Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield.īACKSTORY: On the day that Edwin Starr’s “War” was released in June 1970, two Detroiters in their twenties were jailed for five years for ransacking a Chicago draft board office and burning its records – yet another example of the anger and rebellion which America’s prosecution of the Vietnam war was continuing to stir among the country’s young. charts for the week ending Saturday, November 14, 1970.
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