Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It – Little Feat

As I discovered, when seeking to identify a “best of” or the “essential,” the quest becomes increasingly elusive the longer I think about the possibilities. Therefore, I begin with a caveat that if sounding dangerously like a cop-out, this at least offers an explanation for my selection. Choosing an artist is easy. I have lived with Little Feat since the early 1970s. The early years of the relationship were the most intense; a day would barely go past without us seeing each other (i.e. playing one of their albums). Lowell George was the fulcrum of Little Feat which is why I restrict my universe for this exercise to full studio albums until his untimely death in 1979. That narrows the field to six releases, starting with the eponymous debut released in 1971 to “Time Loves A Hero”, which came out in 1977. Perhaps I am nitpicking, but I exclude 1979’s “Down On The Farm” because George had left the band before the album was completed. Despite having already broken up and reformed twice, Little Feat then split for good. Some of the band got back together again in 1986 and have played in various lineups since but nothing comes close to those formative 1970s.

Now comes the hard bit. I can very happily live with all six records for their immense variety of styles and collective musical direction, as Little Feat made an album virtually every year during this rich period. George and keyboard player Bill Payne were in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention before forming Little Feat in 1969. That connection was strengthened with the addition of former Mothers bassist Roy Estrada. Apocryphal or not, the story goes that on hearing George’s song ‘Willin’ Zappa advised him to form his own band; he was too good to be just a part of the Mothers. Little Feat was essentially a rock band, but after little commercial success to show for their first two albums, they packed it in. Giving the second release, “Sailin’ Shoes”, a spin now that does seem hard to believe when you hear the electrifying opening track, ‘Easy To Slip’ or ‘Willin’’, since covered by so many other artists. The band reformed in 1972 with Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada on bass and adding guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton. As their 1973 release “Dixie Chicken” demonstrated, this trio added a much more New Orleans style of funk that, combined with the rock, or perhaps swamp rock, foundation, defined the Little Feat sound. Jazz emerged to such an extent that the band split up again to pursue various collaborations in that direction. They got back together in 1974 to make “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”, again more funk and jazz but enough rock to remain in the top flight of Little Feat records. Next up was the highly anticipated “Last Record Album” in 1975, which just did not capture the imagination in the same way as its predecessors. This fairly relentless output slowed as it was two years until the next album, “Time Loves A Hero”, generally reckoned to be a substantial departure down the jazz-funk route.

Though I like some better than others, I can happily live with all of these records, so can I go now? But to fulfil this exercise, if one has to go, it would be “Time Loves A Hero”, and if I could keep only one, it would be “Dixie Chicken”. Neither selection is easily reached. I could probably live without “The Last Record Album”, but definitely not “Sailin’ Shoes”. But returning to the evolution of the band’s styles, in my opinion, “Dixie Chicken” is where Little Feat best pull together so tightly their many styles and in the right measure, whereas “Time Loves A Hero” is just too much jazz and tends to meander off too frequently.

Can’t Live With It: “Time Loves A Hero” (1977)

‘Hi Roller’ opens the album with verve, underpinned by the guitar riff that runs throughout, but just as you get into that groove and George’s vocals, a funk bomb explodes, reverberating around the band. This is a theme of the album; whether fast or slow, what was once the preserve of tight guitar solos becomes a melee of jazz and funk. The sweaty New Orleans style of previous albums has been replaced by something that would be at home in the jazz section of the record store. I should stress that there is nothing wrong with that; bands evolve and we should be open-minded enough at least to give them a fair hearing. And I do! ‘Rocket In My Pocket’ certainly grew on me, and ‘Missin’ You’ written by Paul Barrere is very much in the mould of ‘Willin’’. The band does justice to Terry Allen’s ‘New Delhi Freight Train’, but six and a half minutes of instrumental ‘Day at the Dog Races’ is very much a dog day wandering all over the place. “Time Loves A Hero” is by no means a howler, but after their outstanding earlier releases, anticipating the next Little Feat album raised expectations very high indeed. By comparison, this one sadly fell short.

Can’t Live Without It: “Dixie Chicken” (1973)

Three albums in, and “Dixie Chicken” is generally considered the one that defines the Little Feat sound. The earlier rock has been spiced up with just the right amount of Southern swamp and New Orleans funk. Led by George, the band slip and slide through the album without anything remotely like a duff track. If any mention of “Dixie” raises an eyebrow or more today, just take yourself back to 1973 and think of Lowell playing exquisite slide guitar duelling with newcomer Barrere against the tightest rhythm section around at the time, “If you’ll be my Dixie chicken, I’ll be your Tennessee lamb/ And we can walk together down in Dixieland, Down in Dixieland”. George was probably at his peak writing-wise, responsible for most of the songs. There is not really a standout track, such is the consistent quality. ‘Fat Man in the Bathtub’ ducks and weaves around taut guitar solos. The quiet ‘Roll Um Easy’ is an entrancing acoustic muse while ‘Fool Yourself’ powered along by Barrere’s rhythm guitar, possibly points to a Little Feat future incarnation, it being written by Fred Tackett, now the band’s mainstay. Little Feat’s earlier grittier sound has not disappeared completely; it just blends into those other influences, ‘On Your Way Down’ and ‘Two Trains’ being good examples, not least with harmonies courtesy of Bonnies Bramlett and Raitt.

Again, this was not an easy task so all I can suggest is to listen to them all and decide for yourself.