June 15 2009
Lost Rock — Little Feat
posted by Nick Sampson at 10:34 am
Little Feat
Lost Rock with Nick Sampson
Little Feat is one of those bands lots of people talk about but you rarely hear these days. Formed by LA based singer-songwriter/slide guitarist Lowell George and keyboard player Bill Payne in 1969 they played/play a heady brew of blues, R&B, country, New Orleans style funk and good kicking rock and roll.
George and Payne met when George was part of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. They consequently teamed up with former Mothers’ bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Richie Hayward. There were various stories about the band’s beginnings. One suggested George showed Zappa his song ‘Willin’ and Zappa was so impressed he fired him on the spot, telling George to form his own band. Another has Zappa firing him for playing a 15 minute guitar solo with his amp turned off.
Whatever the case, George frequently introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the Mothers, while Zappa helped talk Little Feat into a record contract. The band’s first two albums Little Feat and Sailin’ Shoes received massive critical acclaim and ‘Willin’ became a standard. However, commercial success didn’t follow and the band split up…for a while.
In 1972 Little Feat reformed with bassist Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada, Paul Barrerea coming in as second guitarist/vocalist, and percussionist Sam Clayton adding to the groove factor. This new lineup recorded a string successful albums – Dixie Chicken (1973), Feats Don’t Fail Me Now (1974), The Last Record Album (1975) and Time Loves a Hero (1977).
In 1978 they released Waiting for Columbus, which you’ll hear many an old rock hag claim as one of the best live albums ever. Unfortunately, by this time Lowell George’s interest was waning, as was his health. He did some work on what would eventually become Down on the Farm but then recorded a solo album, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here, and announced the band was over. Then, while touring his album in June 1979 George was found dead in his hotel room in Arlington, Virginia, aged only 34. An autopsy found he’d died of a heart attack – his weight and drug usage undoubtedly playing a factor.
The rest of the band finished and released Down on the Farm before breaking up in 1979. But…again there was more. In 1987 the surviving members reformed, adding songwriter/vocalist Craig Fuller and Fred Tackett on guitar, mandolin and trumpet, and they’re still out there touring to this day…
Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the above detail.
Video: “Fat Man in the Bathtub” — filmed for the Old Grey Whistle Test in London at 9am during a hectic tour of the UK. Lowell George was still going from the night before…