In the Groove with Rene Camacho: Bass Player of the Band “War.” Interview by Kim Crain Photos Compliments of Rene Camacho
PART ONE I had the opportunity to sit down with Rene Camacho a versatile, powerhouse on bass! From the recording studio to the stage! Rene, bass player of the super group, War. Originally called Eric Burdon and War. During the late 60’s early 70’s, War was a mix of elements of rock, funk, jazz, calypso, psychedelia and reggae. If you have a few hours to spare you might be able to listen to all their hits, War is best known for, “Lowrider”, ”Why Cant We Be Friends”, ”Cisco Kid”, ”The World is a Ghetto,” and their first hit with Burdon, “Spill the Wine,” which got the band their start. The Press after their first show at Hyde Park in London, said, ‘Burdon and War were the best band we have ever seen’! War had nine Gold, and two platinum, records. Their album, The World is a Ghetto, was Billboard’s best-selling album of the year in 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line up. Rene Camacho youngest and newest member of the band has been playing in War for seven years accompanied by the only original in the band, Lonnie Leroy Jordan, a founding member! Kim: Rene at what age did you decide to play bass, and do you play any other instruments? Rene: I started pretty early. I started playing trombone when I was five years old. That pretty much took me though Elementary, Jr., High, and High School. It was probably my senior year in high school that I started learning bass! I now have been playing the bass for 30 years! I did receive my degree in college on trombone, but I decided to stick with bass and just focus on one instrument. Kim: What made you come to Los Angeles from Tucson Arizona? Rene: Basically, it was the amount of work that was available compared to Tuscan. I thought it might be better coming to Los Angeles to a bigger community. For musicians and arts in general. Tucson had a really good cultural music scene for the size of its city, but Los Angeles 50
War : from Left to Right: Stuart Ziff - Guitar, Scott Martin -Sax / Flute, Marcos Reyes- Percussion, Lonnie Jordan Keys/ Bandleader, Sal Rodriguez- Drums, Rene Camacho - Bass, Stanley Behrens -harmonica
gave me a better opportunity to record, that’s what I really wanted to do! I really wanted to get into the studio musician scene! Which in the 90’s was actually pretty good. Ever since it has been tapering off a little bit, but I have been super grateful to have been a part of so many different recording projects. I always wanted to play different genres of music, so when I first moved here I started out playing with the Latin scene, with Salsa bands, as well as R&B gigs. And the funny thing is that neither side, the R&B side did not know I was a Latin bass player, and the Latin side did not know I was an R&B bass player. So that was kind of crazy. But, eventually I moved on to other styles including Rock, country and of course Jazz too! Kim: Wow! That’s really great! So who else have you worked with since you’ve been in Los Angeles, and how many albums have you been featured on? Rene: I would say album wise maybe 50 to 60 records I have done that people would know about! I am so grateful I was able to be a part of these phenomenal projects. They all range from different genres of music. I have recorded with January/February 2022
HIGHWIRE DAZE
