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Spill the Wine
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Spill the Wine
| cover = Spill_the_Wine_-_Eric_Burdon_&_War.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Eric Burdon & War
| album = Eric Burdon Declares "War"
| B-side = Magic Mountain
| released = May 1970
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 4:51
| label = MGM
| writer = Charles Miller, Howard E. Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Harold Ray Brown, Thomas "Papa Dee" Allen, Lee Oskar, Eric Burdon
| producer = Jerry Goldstein
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Tobacco Road
| next_year = 1970
}}
"'Spill the Wine'" is a 1970 song performed by singer Eric Burdon and the band War. It was released as a single in May 1970, backed by the non-album track "Magic Mountain", and was War's first chart hit.'Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990' -
Song description and history
"'Spill the Wine'" first appeared on the album 'Eric Burdon Declares War' and runs 4:51. Its writing credits include the members of War: Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, Eric Burdon, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, and Howard E. Scott. The song was inspired by an accident in which keyboardist Lonnie Jordan spilled wine on a mixing board. It features a prevalent flute solo, and the sound of a woman speaking Spanisha friend of Eric Burdonis heard in the background. An edited version, released as a promo single for radio stations and subsequently included on most compilations, omits the middle spoken recitation, plus one chorus. The song was re-released as a single in 1996, after remixing by Junior Vasquez.
Chart history
"Spill the Wine" was War's first and only hit with Eric Burdon. All of the other hits on 'The Very Best of War' featured other singers. It peaked at number 3 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100. 'Billboard' ranked the single the number 20 song of 1970. It was also a top 3 hit in Canada and Australia in mid-November 1970.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Use in media
Films
"Spill the Wine" has been used in the sound tracks of the following motion pictures:* 'Boogie Nights' (1997)
* 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo' (1999)
* 'Remember the Titans' (2000)
Television
The song was used in the sound tracks of the following television episodes:* 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', episode "That's No Lady, That's My Cousin";
* 'Dexter', episode "A Horse of a Different Color" (while characters Joey Quinn and Angel Batista are smoking marijuana).
* 'Shameless', episode "Requiem for a Slut"
Covers
1970s through 1990s
"Spill the Wine" has been covered by:
* Melvin Sparks, on his 'Sparks' album (1970)
* The Isley Brothers, on their 'Givin' It Back' album (1971)
* 2nu on their 'Ponderous' album (1989)
* Lighter Shade of Brown on their 'Brown & Proud' album (1990)
* Freaked Out Flower Children on their 1991 album 'Love In'; reached number 31 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.
* Michael Hutchence on the 'Barb Wire' soundtrack (1996).
Since 2000
In 2001, The B-Side Players included a cover on their album 'Movement'. The same year, Los Mocosos included a version on their album 'Shades of Brown'.In 2004, flautist Alexander Zonjic performed a cover of "Spill the Wine" for his album 'Seldom Blues'.
San Francisco band Vinyl covered "Spill the Wine" on their album 'Frogshack Music Volume II' in 2009, in a track featuring Sugar Pie DeSanto and Marcus Scott.
The revival of the 1970s band The L.A. Carpool covered "Spill the Wine" with a Latin salsa flair in 2012, in a track that featured well-known Latin drummer Richie "Gajate" Garcia and other well-known Latin musicians.
On October 31, 2013, jam band Widespread Panic covered the song, opening the second set of their show at UNO arena in New Orleans, and again at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on New Year's Eve of 2013.
On February 23, 2014, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened their concert at the Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley of NSW, Australia, with a nine-minute version of the song, the world premiere of their version.
In 2019, the song was released by Michael Hutchence as the lead single from the compilation album 'Mystify: A Musical Journey with Michael Hutchence'.
Miscellaneous
In a 2008 interview, Lonnie Jordan referred to Eric Burdon as the first Latin rapper in pop music.
See also
* List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
Buy Spill the Wine now from Amazon
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