The fourth video release from Ross Valory‘s debut solo album All of the Above is a fun cover of War‘s Top 10 1975 smash “Low Rider.” Check out the dazzling exclusive premiere below.
Journey‘s former co-founding bassist says this studio update happened quite organically. “As I had just completed the basic tracks in 2018 for the first cover tune, [Santana‘s] ‘Incident at Neshabur/Senior Blue,’ I said to the boys that there was one more cool cover tune that I had always wanted to do,” Valory said in an official statement. “They all said, ‘Let’s do it.’ So, we did!”
The title of the song is styled as “Lowrider” on All of the Above, which arrived in April. “Tomland” was the first single, followed by “Wild Kingdom” (another UCR exclusive premiere) and “Windmill.”
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Valory’s band includes drummer Gregg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone), keyboardist Eric Levy (Night Ranger), guitarist Vernon “Ice” Black (Herbie Hancock) and percussionist Karl Perazzo (Santana). Vocals were handled by Josh Ramos, who was part of the Storm in the ’90s with Valory and his former Journey bandmates Gregg Rolie and Steve Smith. Harmonica player Led Stroud and saxophonist Marc Russo add their own twist to lines originally created by War’s Lee Oskar and Charles Miller.
“On a complete impulse, I decided to record this song, just for the heck of it. I first arranged the session by inviting Greg Errico, who was the perfect drummer for the song. Les ‘Survivorman’ Stroud, who recorded the harp, just happened to be passing through town,” Valory said. “I brought in guitarist Josh Ramos, who has the perfect voice for this song, to cut the vocal tracks.”
Valory said Black “brought the perfect touch for such a tune. The overdubs were completed by veterans Marc Russo on saxes and Karl Perazzo on percussion. The whole recording experience was fast and easy, as a song like ‘Lowrider’ should be!”
Who Directed Ross Valory’s New Videos?
The video for “Lowrider” was directed by Michael Cotten, who also handled the three earlier clips from All of the Above. The goal was to feature the namesake hot rods while making a broader cultural connection.
“We could say that this visual treatment of the classic song is an homage to the great tradition of Mexican-American car culture,” Cotten said in an official statement. “We wanted to heighten the brilliant baroque sensibility that low-rider cars and bikes display. The ornate decoration of powerful machinery and elegant aesthetic of the painted surfaces are celebrated in all their candy-colored lacquered perfection as they ultimately dissolve into a flowing freeway of light.”
Valory says this new creative partnership with Cotten has added a different dimension to his long-awaited solo debut. His level of trust has grown with each collaboration.
“Michael Cotten has done exceptional work on the videos for every song on the album,” he said. “It may be obvious to all that he is greatly inspired by my music. Michael and I are naturally in sync. Michael hears what I see; he sees what I hear – and likewise! With the exception of a few strategic edits recommended on my part, Michael Cotten ran with the ball on this song from the beginning.”
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