Little Feat
| Little Feat | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Rock 'n' roll , blues rock , west coast |
| founding | 1969 |
| Website | www.littlefeat.net |
| Founding members | |
| Lowell George (until 1979) | |
| Roy Estrada (until 1972) | |
Vocals, drums
|
Richard Hayward (until 2009) |
Vocals, keyboard
|
Bill Payne |
| Current occupation | |
bass |
Kenny Gradney (since 1972) |
percussion |
Sam Clayton (since 1972) |
Vocals, keyboard |
Bill Payne |
| Fred Tackett (since 1988) | |
Drums |
Gabe Ford (since 2009) |
| former members | |
Vocals, guitar, dobro
|
Paul Barrère (1972-2019) |
Vocals, guitar |
Craig Fuller (1988-1993) |
Singing, percussion
|
Shaun Murphy (1993-2009) |
Little Feat is an American rock band . It was founded in 1969 in Los Angeles by Lowell George and dissolved after his death in 1979. In 1988 the surviving musicians came together again. Little Feat plays earthy rock music with distinct country and blues echoes, a "symbiosis of anarchist primitive folklore and finesse of rock technology". In the second half of the 1970s, the band expanded their repertoire with funk and salsa rhythms in the direction of jazz rock .
Band history
After Frank Zappa rejected his song Willin ' , Lowell George left the Mothers of Invention with Roy Estrada to start their own band. They were able to convince Bill Payne and Richard Hayward to participate.
Russ Titelman produced the 1971 debut Little Feat , which featured Ry Cooder as a guest star. Neither the single Hamburger Midnight nor the album sold well, despite very good reviews. The second album Sailin 'Shoes from 1972 also flopped, although it was highly praised by the critics. Both albums featured a combination of different musical styles from the southern United States .
Roy Estrada got out in 1972, he was replaced by Kenny Gradney, Sam Clayton and Paul Barrère. The albums Dixie Chicken (1973) and Feats Don't Fail Me Now (1974) brought more sales for the band. The band played country rock on Dixie Chicken . On a European tour with the Doobie Brothers in 1975, the band played different styles. The genres ranged from country to blues to boogie. The band's breakthrough came with The Last Record Album (1975), which was thematically rather gloomy and for the first time also offered synthesizer sounds . In 1976 Little Feat toured Europe again, u. a. also in the opening act for the Rolling Stones .
Jazz-rock echoes could be heard on the 1977 LP Time Loves a Hero . After first listening to the sounds , the reviewer had the feeling that he had “accidentally caught a Chick Corea LP”. That same year, the drug-addicted George had a rehab undergo. The double album Waiting for Columbus from 1978 presented the qualities of Little Feat as a live band. It went platinum for the first time with sales of over a million copies . During the production of the following album Down on the Farm (1979) George left the band, which then broke up. Sick of hepatitis and weighing 270 pounds (135 kilograms), George died of a heart attack on June 29, 1979.
In 1981 the double LP Hoy-Hoy! released that featured outtakes and live recordings.
In 1988 Little Feat reunited with Barrère, Clayton, Hayward, Payne, Gradney, Craig Fuller and Fred Tackett and released the LP Let It Roll with Fuller as singer . Representing the Mambo followed in 1990 . The singer Shaun Murphy replaced Craig Fuller as a permanent member of the group in 1993. The studio albums Under the Radar (1998), Chinese Work Songs (2000), Kickin 'It at the Barn (2003) and Join the Band (2008) followed.
In February 2009 Shaun Murphy left the band. Drummer Richie Hayward was diagnosed with liver cancer in August 2009 and died in 2010. Haywards drum technician Gabe Ford has been playing the drums ever since. Guitarist Paul Barrère died in October 2019 .
Discography
Albums
- 1970: Little Feat
- 1972: Sailin 'Shoes
- 1973: Dixie Chicken (US:
gold, UK: 
silver) - 1974: Feats Don't Fail Me Now (US:gold, UK: silver)
- 1975: The Last Record Album (UK:silver)
- 1977: Time Loves a Hero (US:gold, UK: silver)
- 1979: Down on the Farm
- 1981: Hoy-Hoy!
- 1988: Let It Roll (US:gold)
- 1990: Representing the Mambo
- 1991: Shake Me Up
- 1995: Ain't Had Enough Fun
- 1998: Under the Radar
- 2000: Chinese Work Songs
- 2003: Kickin 'It at the Barn
- 2008: Join the Band
- 2012: Rooster Rag
live
- 1978: Waiting for Columbus (US:
platinum) - 1996: Live From Neon Park
- 2000: Extended Versions: The Encore Collection
- 2002: Live at the Rams Head
- 2003: Down Upon the Suwannee River
- 2004: High Wire Act Live In St. Louis 2003
- 2005: Barnstormin 'Live Volume One
- 2005: Barnstormin 'Live Volume Two
- 2007: Rocky Mountain Jam (Live)
- 2010: Rams Head Revisited
- 2012: American Cutie
- 2013: Hellzapoppin
- 2014: On Your Way Down
Video albums
- Rockpalast Live (2000) - "Rockpalast" July 1977 and a bonus track Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Holland, June 7th 1976
- High Wire Act Live In St. Louis 2003 (2004 live)
- Little Feat & Friends in Jamaica - Burgers & Paradise (2006 live) - Little Feat & Friends in Jamaica 2005
- Little Feat: Skin It Black - The Rockpalast Collection (2009)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Barry Graves , Siegfried Schmidt-Joos : The new rock lexicon . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1990, Volume 1, p. 467.
- ↑ Jörg Gülden : Little Feat: Feats Don't Fail Me Now. In: Sounds. Plates 66-77 , Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1979, p. 1094.
- ↑ Dr. Gonzo : Little Feat: Time Loves a Hero . In: Sounds. Plates 66-77 , Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1979, p. 1428.
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: US UK