Sorry to post and run, but it’s late, and I have a two-bourbon buzz on. I had to get a couple of drinks down my gullet to withstand the jam-tastic wankathon that confronted me at a Little Feat show I got backstage tix to tonight. I want you all to know that the only reason I went is because a number of you — including many whose musical opinions I otherwise respect — swear by these guys.
It wasn’t terrible. I mean, it wasn’t even 20% as bad as the Phish show I got dragged to once. Or 5% as bad as I imagine Dead shows used to be. But it wasn’t really my cup of tea. Fair enough and “big fucking surprise,” I hear you guys moaning as you roll your eyes and lunge for the bong. But, seriously, do me a favor and tell me why you like Little Feat so much. What I heard was an extremely competent roots-rock/jam band, with very, very little of interest to say. Here’s a way to get at what I want to know: why do I love Lynyrd Skynyrd so much, yet find Little Feat so uninteresting?
Before you throw rotten tomatoes at me for trying to get you to say (once again): “because it’s jam-band hippie shit, and you don’t like that stuff, HVB!”, let me just say that there were a few bourbon-fueled moments where I was actually able to nod my head sympathetically to lead guitar player dude’s sextagenerian stratocaster bliss-out, and I was actually mightily impressed with drummer dude’s game. But, really, what the fuck are these guys singing about? Why do I love “Get Up, Stand Up” by Marley so much, yet find Little Feat’s version so lame?
If ever I needed some serious RTH Healing, it’s now. Please explain, so that I may grow and mature as a music listener.
Thank you all, and I look forward to your responses.
HVB
So you’re asking, “Little Feat 2008” vs. “Lynyrd Skynyrd 2008,” which wins out? Or LF 2008 vs. LS 1972?
Next thing you know, the Mod will be delivering a backhannded compliment.
Hey, mwall: I made sure to churn my way through a number of vintage LF videos before posting, and I see no real substantive difference between the two eras. I’m sure the presence of Jack Black lookalike Lowell George makes a big difference to you when the band lurches into “Dixie Chicken, but not to me.
Is Little Feat Jimmy Buffett for cool people?
Hrrundi, I am going to let this discussion develop, but I too have had difficulty getting into Little Feat. I’ve very slowly begun to see some of their merits, especially on their earliest albums, but there are a number of factors that bog me down as they get later in their career. Like I said, I’ll share more once others more knowledgeable about the band have had a chance to chime in.
I will say that the little bit of progress I’ve made in appreciating them has made me feel like I’m a better man.
As for the comparison with Skynyrd, it’s a no brainer why either of us might choose them over Little Feat: Skynyrd kicks it out! I’m sure the lack of perceived commitment to whatever LIttle Feat is up to is troubling for you as it has been for me.
I go to Little Feat’s first four records, in various degrees, for a variety of things: precise singing, songs that are both well-constructed but somehow still loosely played in a good way, excellent tone throughout the instruments, and inventive lyrics that can be both humorous and moving. They’re definitely not a rock-it-out band like Skynyrd (whose “Simple Man” lyrics can often be annoying). Instead they have a sort of unique blues-soul-rock hybrid that swings more than rocks (and it really does swing), maybe comparable to Van Morrison in that way. L.A. band or not, it’s a New Orleans sound in many ways, with some roots elements that the Mod probably dislikes. Their weakness for me is that they can be too sluggish or mellow on occasion.
I’m also really only a fan of the first four studio records, with the second and third being the real highlights, as well as a few other cuts on Hoy-Hoy. “Waiting for Columbus” isn’t quite awesome, but it’s a very strong entry in the Double Record Summer Live category. I don’t think the later work is at all near that level, so your collapsing the two just seems to me to be about poor listening skills, in this instance.
But that’s not an attempt to prove to you that you should like them; now that would a real waste of time. Still, I’ll come back to the Van Morrison comparison: do you like early 70s Van Morrison? That would be a comparison worth making.
Here’s what I’ve been learning about the band:
At their rare best, they can do the sort of songs I usually skip on Mick Taylor-era Stones ablums better than the Stones do. The most obvious example is the excellent “Willin” and another song that’s called something like “It’s So Easy to Fall” (???).
At their usual best effort, they’re some mix of 2nd-rate Band, all those Meters-type bands, and Steely Dan. I would guess you’dd have to really get into the musicianship and “sly humor” aspects of those big Little Feat albums. I’ve never been sophisticated enough to concentrate on the sly humor and smart arrangements of “Dixie Chicken”. I know those kinds of songs are “good” in an “Olympic” kind of way, but I don’t feel them.
BigSteve has mentioned Lowell George as one of his favorite singers. The loose wild quality of his phrasing when he’s on, and I would say he’s on pretty much beginning to end on “Sailin’ Shoes”, is really great. I’m also not that thrilled with the comparison to the Stones. The early albums, actually the first, has somes Stones flavored tunes, but they do have an element of high octane jazzy instrumental prowess that the Stones only hinted at once on the somewhst maligned second half of Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’. I’m judging primarily by the records. I did see ’em once, but it was a million years ago and I actually was there to see Beefheart. I knew of them before that only from an interview that Lowell George and Roy Estrada did on that Hy Lit TV show in the late 60’s. I do remember them as being really good. I know they impressed me enough that I got Sailin’ Shoes, their current release at the time.
I also think that George has a really nice slide guitar thing going on. He has that cool overdriven thick Fender sound that I associate with Ry Cooder. Even when they were still sticking pretty closely to short, tightly structured songs, there were moments where George’s slide would lead the entire band off onto these wild momentary forays and somehow keep a tether to their basic rootsy feel. i’ve never felt that they were a great band because their moment of magic seemed so short. George seemed to begin to lose interest almost as soon as the expanded line up came in on the third album.
The only Little Feat worth defending is Little Feat Mach I. I don’t blame hvb for accepting those tickets, but as anyone can see from the posted clip the less said about the current version of the band fronted by Rosanne Barr the better.
Where the late Lowell George excelled was in his vision of the band. Not all great bands have this, but think of how John Fogerty created a world in the lyrics of his songs and how this was in sync with his vision of his band’s sound. George had a very strange sense of humor, and in his songs he combined that with a deep sadness. The sound of the band combined a funky party vibe with strains of the blues and hardcore country for a more lonesome feel. So it’s partly this mix of the different traditions of American music that I like, and the way he combines goofy and tragic.
On a more individual level, I think George was a great singer. And if you listen to those early tracks Mr. Mod posted a while back he wasn’t born with a great voice. I don’t know where it came from. And I love the way he plays slide. Even allowing for the fact that I play slide and I’m predisposed to like it, George played in some kind of A tuning so he came at it from a different angle than most people, just as he did in his lyrics.
Then there’s a terrific rhythm section. Richie Hayward was a great drummer, with rock power (see Oh Atlanta) and funky swing. I like the early version of the band when they had Roy Estrada (later of the Magic Band) on bass, but they got a dose of funk when they added New Orleans natives Kenny Gradney and Sam Clayton starting with their third album. I think one thing that puts of RTH types is that there’s a definite jazz influence, especially in the later albums from Mach I. But it’s undeniable that the muso leanings Bill Payne and later Paul Barrere brought to the band were part of the mix. When they were balanced by the other elements of the band, especially on their masterpiece Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, they added musical breadth, and even the added slickness worked to counteract the druggy weirdness that might have been all the band had to offer without them.
I really felt Lowell George’s loss to drugs. His solo album Thanks I’ll Eat It Here was very fine, and it gave an indication of where he might be going once the band he envisioned started to turn against him. And I’ve got to admit it pains me when music fans that came up in the punk era fail to see any value in the glories of the early 70s.
Great stuff, BigSteve and Geo. It’s guys like you who help keep my mind open to what this band had to offer.
Hrrundi, since posting this have you gone back and listened to any of those earlier albums?
Like many others, I think Little Feat are only “on” when Lowell George was in charge. T
I can see the Skynyrd comparison, but it’s rather like comparing 70s films. Little Feat is “Five Easy Pieces,” while Skynyrd is more like “Jaws.”
George’s writing is introspective and creates character studies of misfits and drifters. George also had a sly take on the socio-political situation during the early 70s, a lot more subtle, and engaging, than Skynyrd’s aggressively chest-pounding stance (like that song about Neil Young).
If all you’ve ever heard is “Willin'” you really ought to dig deeper. That may be George at his catchiest, but you’re missing a really interesting body of work, I think.
Howdy, I,m new here. I have to respond to the discussion about Little Feat and the “Jam-Band” thing. I have been into “proper” rock all my life, Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynrd, Led Zep etc. and was never quite sold on the like of Phish, Grateful Dead and Little Feat for a long time even thogh my musical partner in crime has been a “Dead-Head” for as long as I can remember, but I was wrong.
The hit-and-miss nature of these bands musical output comes with the territory but lacks the pretentiousness of jazz bands that do the same thing. When hey get it right it has a magic that can’t be found in any other style of music, it’s a mix of what they play, how they play and where there from they creates a down at heel accessability without being lazily simplistic. The best way to truly appreciate tis kind of music is on a hangover day- so I have the following suggestion for anyone who cares to try this experiment- On the morning after a very heavy night on the booze, get up put on “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” by Little Feat and don’t actively listen to it, just let it fill your domicile with the sounds and I think you will see that The Feat are probably one of the most progressive bands that you can find. I’ve been playing fet tunes in my band (The Honk) for about a year now along with tunes by bands such as Manassass, The Band, Creedence Clearwater, Lynyrd Skynyrd, early ZZ Top and they all seem to have a universal quality that I lovingly refer to as a “Honk”. Try it out and let me know how you all get on! Baked Potata!
Welcome aboard, Deek! That’s a fine opening post here in the Hall, complete with some practical advice that requires a little work on people’s part. Just last Saturday, on our weekly Saturday Night Shut-In podcast, I pulled out Little Feat’s “Willin’,” a song so perfect that I’m always willing to give the rest of that band’s less-than-stunning (for me) catalog half a chance.
I have a funny story about how I got into the feat. Many years ago I was having a late night dinking and listening to music session (on my own!) when I felt the need to listen to The Band, I noticed much to my dismay that the album i fancied hearing wasn’t on the shelf. I realised that my mother had taken it to listen to. I called her (drunk and irrate) and complained that it should be on my shelf she said, and I quote-“shut the f*** up and put little feat on instead” being a dutiful son I did as my mother told me and put on “feats dont fail me now” and heard “RocknRoll Doctor” for the first time. And that was that!
Deek, welcome. And please extend a warm and heartfelt high-five to your mom. That is an excellent anecdote.