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Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in 1969. The band's classic line-up, in place by late 1972, consisted of George, Payne, Hayward, bassist Kenny Gradney, guitarist and vocalist Paul Barrere, and percussionist Sam Clayton. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving members re-formed Little Feat in 1987 and the band continues to perform.
Singer and guitarist Lowell George met keyboardist Bill Payne when George was a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. They formed Little Feat in 1969 along with former Mothers bassist Roy Estrada, and drummer Richie Hayward from George's previous band, The Factory. Hayward had also been a member of the Fraternity of Man whose claim to fame was the inclusion of their "Don't Bogart That Joint" on the million-selling Easy Rider film soundtrack. The name of the band came from a comment made by the Mothers' drummer Jimmy Carl Black about Lowell's "little feet". The spelling of "feat" was an homage to the Beatles.[citation needed]
There are two stories about the genesis of Little Feat. One has it that Lowell George showed Zappa his song "Willin'," and that Zappa fired him from the Mothers of Invention, because he felt that George was too talented to merely be a member of his band and told him that he ought to go away and form his own band. The second version says that Zappa fired him because "Willin'" contains drug references ("weed, whites and wine"). Lowell George often introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the band. On October 18, 1975 at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester, New York while introducing the song, Lowell George commented that he was asked to leave the band for "writing a song about dope".
In any version, Zappa was instrumental in getting Lowell George and his new band a contract with Warner Bros. Records. The eponymous first album delivered to Warner Bros. was recorded mostly in August and September 1970 and was released in January 1971. When it came time to record "Willin'," Lowell George had hurt his hand in an accident with a model airplane, so Ry Cooder sat in and played the song's slide part. Lowell George's accident is referenced on the cover art of the band's 1998 album Under the Radar. "Willin'" was re-recorded with Lowell George playing slide for Little Feat's second album Sailin' Shoes, which was also the first Little Feat album to include cover art by Neon Park, who had painted the cover for the Mothers' Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Park continued to provide surrealist art for all of Little Feat's album covers until his death in 1993.
Sometime during the recording of the first two albums, the band members along with ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black ("the Indian of the group") backed soul singer Nolan Porter on his first album, No Apologies. The first two albums received nearly universal critical acclaim, and "Willin'" became a standard, subsequently popularized by its inclusion on Linda Ronstadt's album Heart Like a Wheel.
Despite good reviews of Sailin' Shoes, lack of commercial success led to the band splitting up, with Estrada leaving to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he has given other reasons for quitting the band, such as to get away from the Los Angeles pollution and the L.A. city life.
In late 1972, Little Feat reformed, with bassist Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada. The band also added a second guitarist in Paul Barrere, who had known George since they attended Hollywood High School in California, and percussionist Sam Clayton (brother of session singer Merry Clayton and the brother-in-law of Curtis Amy, a jazz saxophonist) and as a result the band was expanded from a quartet to a sextet. Both Barrere and Clayton added vocals on many songs, although all the band members provided backing vocals in various tunes.
The new lineup radically altered the band's sound, leaning toward New Orleans funk. The group recorded Dixie Chicken (1973)—one of the band's most popular albums, which incorporated New Orleans musical influences and styles—as well as Feats Don't Fail Me Now (1974), which was a studio-recorded attempt to capture some of the energy of their live shows (the name of the latter album pays homage to the Fats Waller song).
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Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in 1969. The band's classic line-up, in place by late 1972, consisted of George, Payne, Hayward, bassist Kenny Gradney, guitarist and vocalist Paul Barrere, and percussionist Sam Clayton. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving members re-formed Little Feat in 1987 and the band continues to perform.
Singer and guitarist Lowell George met keyboardist Bill Payne when George was a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. They formed Little Feat in 1969 along with former Mothers bassist Roy Estrada, and drummer Richie Hayward from George's previous band, The Factory. Hayward had also been a member of the Fraternity of Man whose claim to fame was the inclusion of their "Don't Bogart That Joint" on the million-selling Easy Rider film soundtrack. The name of the band came from a comment made by the Mothers' drummer Jimmy Carl Black about Lowell's "little feet". The spelling of "feat" was an homage to the Beatles.[citation needed]
There are two stories about the genesis of Little Feat. One has it that Lowell George showed Zappa his song "Willin'," and that Zappa fired him from the Mothers of Invention, because he felt that George was too talented to merely be a member of his band and told him that he ought to go away and form his own band. The second version says that Zappa fired him because "Willin'" contains drug references ("weed, whites and wine"). Lowell George often introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the band. On October 18, 1975 at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester, New York while introducing the song, Lowell George commented that he was asked to leave the band for "writing a song about dope".
In any version, Zappa was instrumental in getting Lowell George and his new band a contract with Warner Bros. Records. The eponymous first album delivered to Warner Bros. was recorded mostly in August and September 1970 and was released in January 1971. When it came time to record "Willin'," Lowell George had hurt his hand in an accident with a model airplane, so Ry Cooder sat in and played the song's slide part. Lowell George's accident is referenced on the cover art of the band's 1998 album Under the Radar. "Willin'" was re-recorded with Lowell George playing slide for Little Feat's second album Sailin' Shoes, which was also the first Little Feat album to include cover art by Neon Park, who had painted the cover for the Mothers' Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Park continued to provide surrealist art for all of Little Feat's album covers until his death in 1993.
Sometime during the recording of the first two albums, the band members along with ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black ("the Indian of the group") backed soul singer Nolan Porter on his first album, No Apologies. The first two albums received nearly universal critical acclaim, and "Willin'" became a standard, subsequently popularized by its inclusion on Linda Ronstadt's album Heart Like a Wheel.
Despite good reviews of Sailin' Shoes, lack of commercial success led to the band splitting up, with Estrada leaving to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he has given other reasons for quitting the band, such as to get away from the Los Angeles pollution and the L.A. city life.
In late 1972, Little Feat reformed, with bassist Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada. The band also added a second guitarist in Paul Barrere, who had known George since they attended Hollywood High School in California, and percussionist Sam Clayton (brother of session singer Merry Clayton and the brother-in-law of Curtis Amy, a jazz saxophonist) and as a result the band was expanded from a quartet to a sextet. Both Barrere and Clayton added vocals on many songs, although all the band members provided backing vocals in various tunes.
The new lineup radically altered the band's sound, leaning toward New Orleans funk. The group recorded Dixie Chicken (1973)—one of the band's most popular albums, which incorporated New Orleans musical influences and styles—as well as Feats Don't Fail Me Now (1974), which was a studio-recorded attempt to capture some of the energy of their live shows (the name of the latter album pays homage to the Fats Waller song).