The Flyin' Shoes Belong to those Little Feat

I think the first time I heard Little Feat was when I was four years old. My Father and my uncle went to see them and I was crying because I wanted to go. I had no idea who or what they were, but I just wanted to be part of my cool uncle and my father going to a show. I remember hearing them and they even sounded cool. The artwork by Neon Park attracted me to them. I was always curious on how he thought of his artwork that he created for Little Feat. Little feat in some way is a band that has a cult following. Later in my years I mentioned Little Feat to some guy at a show and he was surprised that I actually knew who they were and who was their lead man.

Let me give you a short history of Little Feat. Little Feat formed in 1969. Lowell George was working with Frank Zappa. They titled there band in homage to the Beatles hence the spelling of Feat. For ten years they were very good at hitting all the popular hot spots. I have about a dozen bootlegs from their Golden era. They were so hip they played for Robert Palmer on his album Pressure Drop. Then the unexpected happend. Lowell George died in 1979 while on tour for his wonderful album Thanks I'll Eat It Here. From that point on Little Feat quit and got back together in 1987. That is when I started getting into them. They had three hits that were on the radio by the time I finished High School. The songs were great, but not like the stuff my father and uncle told me about. The distinct voice of Lowell George was not present on these songs, but in their popular days he sure made them sound so much better then they do now.



While listening to some of the newer stuff on the radio, the DJ would throw in the older stuff. I heard all kinds of great stuff. My love for them came on quickly. I really thought I should have been around when they were popular. I first bought their live album Waiting for Columbus and was loving it. Waiting for Columbus is still considered one of the best live albums from the 1970's. Then I picked up Dixie Chicken. I really liked that one too. Then one day my uncle came over with Sailin' Shoes. He told me this is that album he loved. It was full of deep fried southern boogie with a lot of funk. He said it was no Meters, but it sure had fun trying to copy them. He loved the slide guitar work and the signature sound of Lowell's vocals. This was a true gem.



Every song on Sailin' Shoes is a gem. The songwriting is wonderful and the music blends very well with what Lowell is trying to do. From the start of the album you know it's intent. The song "Easy to Slip" is a masterpiece. It's a wonderful opener for a song and is one of the best opening songs. All in all Little Feat accomplish more on this album then on others. The mix of Funk, Blues, Rock is great. The only drawback is these songs live were longer and full of so much power. The greatness of these songs is so many people could see the genius of Little Feat. These people include, Van Dyke Parks, Bonnie Raitt, John Hiatt, and Robert Palmer. I am not sure what made me like them after all these years, but the story I told you I think is the only answer. One day at my job I gave a friend some Little Feat, I really thought he would not like it, but he really enjoyed it.

Little Feat does take a bit to grow on, but it's worth every effort. The live bootlegs I have from this era of early 70's shows how much their fans loved them. They really show how much a band like this can be really loved. They created a whole genre of music too. It's called Boogie and that they did with so much fun and very little effort. Enjoy this gem and you too will be saying how much you love Little Feat. Enjoy!