To anyone with more than a passing interest in music of the 1970s, Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Page, in their different spheres, would be recognised as towering figures of the time.
But what also connects the hallowed guitarist of rock titans Led Zeppelin and the golden-voiced songstress who epitimised the L.A. sound of the era was the fact both had no hestitation in naming Little Feat as their favourite band.
Formed during the summer of 1970 by Hollywood-born slide guitar whizz Lowell George and bassist Roy Estrada, both of whom had been members of Frank Zappa backing troupe The Mothers of Invention, by the middle of the decade they had begun to move away from being the best kept secret in the business to reach a wider audience, but in doing so Little Feat began the process of sealing their own fate.
On George and Estrada enlisting keyboard ace Billy Payne and drummer Richie Hayward in creating a quartet, on the recommendation of Zappa they were signed to Warner Bros for whom they cut an eclectic self-titled debut set released in January 1971.
While boasting several excellent George compositions, it served notice of the dilemma that would come to hamper the band in the years ahead. The Feat, as fabulous as they were, too blues-orientated for country-rock tastes, the offbeat songs of primary songwriter George leaning more toward funk than folk, Warner Bros thereafter unsure of how to promote a group whose watchword was originality.
After their first effort sank without trace, despite containing their initial attempt at ‘Willin‘ (this George-written truckdriver anthem quickly entering the repertoire of every bar band worth its salt), they followed up with the highly impressive ‘Sailin’ Shoes‘ (February 1972), which earned rave reviews but made little in the way of commercial impact – this lack of improvement to their fortunes causing Estrada to quit before the year was out.
Rather than split, remaining members George, Payne and Haywood took the somewhat ambitious decision of doubling their number, extending Little Feat to a six man operation by recruiting guitarist Paul Barerre, bass player Kenny Gradney and percussionist Sam Clayton, the band now having multi-cultural to add to their list of labels.
The next descriptions used in relation to this now extended unit were ‘magnificent‘ and ‘emphatic‘, such terms bandied about in describing the first offering by the realigned ensemble – the George-dominated ‘Dixie Chicken‘ (January 1973) revealing them as even more classy than before.
Once again widespread critical acclaim failed to be matched by encouraging sales and although ‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now‘ (August 1974), finally cracked the U.S. Top 40 (just) the inclusion of a medley featuring two tracks from earlier releases, lasting ten minutes, suggested the band were unsure of how to proceed – George still coming up with engaging, idiosyncratic material, if not in the quantity he had once done.
With band members turning up on a host of albums by other artists (Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Palmer, James Taylor), their future as a viable concern was again thrown into doubt. But buoyed by rapturously received U.K. performances in the spring of 1975, they were sufficently galvanised to keep fighting the good fight, the next release ‘THE LAST RECORD ALBUM‘ (October 1975) proving their most successful to date – yet it also revealed the conflicts now exisiting at the core of Little Feat, such incompatabilites leading toward an inevitable fracture further down the line.
The changing dynamic within the band is immediately apparent in the songwriting credits of an eight track set that reveal George is only responisble for three – which transfers onto vinyl as a distinct shift away from his funk-rock to the jazz-fusion sound preferred by Payne, whose name is attached to five tracks.
While group unity would hold (just) through recording of this their fifth album (the material cut at the Record Plant in L.A. with George again producing) and during the extensive period of touring that followed – which included high-profile gigs on the undercard to The Who at three U.K. football stadiums during the early summer of 1976 – the impending rupture was merely in abeyance.
When it came, such was the tug-of-war George refused to play on the electro-jazz instrmental ‘A Day at the Dog Races‘ that would become the title track of their next album (1977) – his objections going so far as to leave the stage when the band performed the piece in concert.
While for the most part ‘The Last Record Album‘ is a stylish, enjoyable collection, there is a keen sense of two factions battling to establish the ongoing musical identity of Little Feat – Payne, supported by Barrere, assuming a greater degree of influence as George became less inclined to compete, already setting his sights on a solo album and career beyond the band.
Credited to Gradney, Barrere and Payne (the latter pair sharing lead vocals), opening track ‘Romance Dance’ occupies middle ground in the territory under dispute, the tight, busy arranagement of a sharp-edged rock track far closer in origin to the Stones than the jazzy inflections of Spira Gyra.
While lyrically no great shakes, although in fairness not a greal deal worse than a couple penned by Mick Jagger for recent Rolling Stones albums regarding the subject of finding satisfaction of a sexual nature, the piece is carried by an impressive performance featuring robust percussion, expressive keyboards and gritty slide guitar lines.
The framework of ‘All That You Dream‘ takes a big step toward the ground composers Barrere and Payne envisaged for the group, but in this instance their ambitions are realised in the best, non-Lowell George song yet to appear on a Little Feat album.
With George singing lead, delivering a rueful, witty lyric as a result, this is the band in undisputedly splendid form. Nimble work on electric piano and slide guitar emphasise the cool, unhurried ambience and aided by a superb turn from Ronstadt on harmony vocals (she herself recording the song for her 1978 ‘Livin’ in the U.S.A‘ album), the words resonate as a memo for life to be taken in your stride:
‘All, all that you dream/Comes to shine in silver lining/And clouds, clouds change the scene/Rain starts washing all loves cautions/Right into your life, make you realize/Just what is true, what else can I do/Just follow the rule/Keep your eyes on the road that’s ahead of you.’
Testament to the songwriting genius of George, the utterly serene ‘Long Distance Love‘ finds the composer moving away from a likeable tendency for irreverent lyrics to create a piece of painstaking poignancy.
The shortest track on the record it is not only the most affecting of the eight, but stands tall against any heartbreak ballad ever written, George eloquently stating his despair in talking to himself:
”Cause no matter what you do/Even pray to heaven above, ooh/All you’ll ever get from her is/Long distance love.’
Decorated by sympathetic slide guitar (George would produce a solo of similar resonance for Jackson Browne’s equally melancholic ‘Your Bright Baby Blues‘ the following year), the narrator cannot find respite from his sorrow, the world around him offering no solace:
‘I read the papers/And I got the blues/I’m so sad to hear the news/Help wanted, but not enough/You know these times are gettin’ rough.’
Revered BBC DJ John Peel was quickly smitten by this exquiste track and played it constantly on his late night radio programme through the closing months of 1975, while once during an interview singer-songwriter Billy Bragg remembered being ‘Stopped in my tracks‘ on hearing it for the first time.
In contrast side one closes with the extended urban funk workout ‘Day or Night‘. Written (and sung) by Payne and his wife, L.A. session singer Fran Tate, the song is often reminiscent of ‘Life is a Carnival‘ by The Band. The freeform musical expressionism of ovedrlapping drums, electric piano, congas and synthesiser, conjure visions of city life often more vividly than some vague (‘Street is stream so it carries you past your present schemes/Til there is no end/Left right in the alley/No one catches you but the gentle wind‘) lyrical couplets.
Benefitting from the presence of having George in lead vocals, side two opener ‘One Love Stand‘ is another effort from the writing axis of Barrere, Gradney and Payne. An engaging, if largely unremarkable slice of laidback boogie depiciting a character unable to shake off his lovelorn state of mind (‘It’s been a one man show that I been runnin’/On a two way street for love/And I see no end to the dead end/’Til you come back home’), compensation for a lack of weight in the lyrics is found in the endearing shuffle of the melody.
At times coming over as a slightly inferior rewrite of his striking ‘Spanish Moon‘ composition from ‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now’, on ‘Down Below the Borderline‘ George appears to be self-consciously writing a song from the perspective of how he feels Little Feat should sound.
The funky contours and solid groove provide a pulsing platform on which he bases an abstract tale incorporating a border skirmish along with pursuit of an elusive woman, (‘They heard about that girl clear across the ocean/To love her is a thrill/So tell me it’s for real/She’ll break away and leave you crying at some stop sign‘) and while the piece is not without intrigue, it does not resonate in the same manner of his finest work.
Written solely by Payne, ‘Somebody’s Leavin‘ begins as a melancholy ballad (‘Just being here is lonely/So why don’t you just give me a chance to come into your life/Did you hear me when I told you I loved you‘) performed by the writer on piano before the others make their entrance. Eventually it lands on terrain The Doobie Brothers would inhabit once Michael McDonald went on board, Payne, while his vocal phrasing has similarities to that of Andrew Gold, proving yet again he remained a keyboard player extraordinaire.
It falls to George in closing things out, his ‘Mercenary Territory‘ (co-written with Hayward), sequenced to end the album on a rousing note.
The track is sharp, upbeat and concise, each member of the troupe doing their respective duties as George laments not taking heed of errors, despite making the same mistakes time and again:
‘I’ve did my time in that rodeo/It’s been so long and I’ve got nothing to show/Well I’m so plain loco/Fool that I am I’d do it all over again.’
On the final track of a diverse album accentuating their diverging paths, Little Feat sound gloriously cohesive, almost celebratory – George may be asking questions with the words, (‘Is it love keeps you waiting so long/Makes you say I’ll see you around‘) but in terms of stylish syncopation, the band have all the answers.
Released to mixed critical reception – ‘One of the best of the year‘ (NME)/’The band are running out of steam‘ (Rolling Stone) – ‘The Last Record Album‘ squeezed into both the U.S. and U.K. Top Thirty, this improvement in their chart standing offered sufficient incentive for the group to continue. Indeed, on the rear sleeve, (the cover another eye-catching affair from Los Angeles-based illustrator Neon Park), along with the song lyrics are printed those to a Barrere composition entitled ‘Hi Roller‘, only for them to be defaced by black ink and a message of ‘Maybe next time‘ – the track duly included on the subsequent ‘Day at the Dog Races‘ set.
This again was Little Feat being wry, original, some would say confusing – much like ‘The Last Record Album‘ itself.
LITTLE FEAT – THE LAST RECORD ALBUM (Released October 17 1975):
Romance Dance/All That You Dream/Long Distance Love/Day or Night/One Love Stand/Down Below the Borderline/Somebody’s Leavin’/Mercenary Territory;
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