These guys!
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….
When Lowell George died in 1979 his friend Jackson Browne wrote a song to George’s daughter describing her father’s devil may care attitude when it came to life. George’s heart gave out from years of alcohol and drug abuse while on the road supporting his first solo record ‘Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here” which was a strange collection of tunes
What made his death so sad is that it had only been 10 years since he had formed Little Feat with Bill Payne, Roy Estrada and Ritchie Heyward…and only 8 years since they released their first LP. George and Estrada came from The Mothers of Invention. There are several stories about how George was asked to leave the Mothers. In one, Frank Zappa reportedly heard George sing the song Willin and fired him telling him he was too talented to just be a member of a group and needed to form his own band. The other story is that Frank (noted for his hatred of drugs) didn’t like the drug references in the song. Either way, it forced George to take the step and with the help of pianist Billy Payne formed the band Little Feat and commenced to playing some of the bluesiest, funkiest country-fried rock & roll this side of The Band. (Could we dare call them a West Coast version of The Band?).
They released their first LP in 1971…called Little Feat…and featuring tunes from both George and Payne. The one you are probably familiar with is the trucking song Willin…although their version (an almost spoken word country version of the tune) gets (in my opinion, a better and more straight-forward performance) by Linda Ronstadt a couple of years later.
One thing that stood about about Lowell George was his slide guitar work…check out Hamburger Midnight…and that big voice (which got bigger and more emotive on the later records). Is this the best Little Feat album?…No…but it certainly introduces you to a rare talent that would deliver a solid body of work throughout the decade.
Here is the complete record for you enjoyment….If you’ve never heard a Little Feat record… welcome to the fraternity of fans…
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