Back in February of 2019 I talked about Little Feat's classic album Waiting For Columbus. This month, Little Feat are rereleasing that album as part of a anniversary deluxe edition and I can't even wait it. It's a live album that is up there along with Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore, Rolling Stones Get Your Ya' Ya's Out, YES YesShows, The Who Live at Leeds, Deep Purple Made in Japan and Kiss Killers, and that is just a few of my live favorites from the 1970's. I think this one should be up there too, just like In Concert by Deep Purple has an intimate setting, of 400 people at the Paris Studios in London, Little Feat's show at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead New York is just as small if not smaller. Those smaller shows should see the light of day. I'm sure there is Rolling Stones, Allman Brother, The Who and other bands that have that one small show in their archives.
This Little Feat Bootleg has been circulating for years and finally got a Record Store Day release last fall early winter. I put it in the Bootleg category because for the longest time I had this as a cassette. This cassette was given to me by the head of janitorial services when I worked at the local library. He had a ton of stuff and this was one of his holy grail cassettes. It was also something I cherished because It was recorded a year to the day of my first birthday. It's kinda an extra special moment for me at just a day shy of one years old.
Little Feat always had a place in my heart. I only knew about them after Lowell George's untimely death and I had little go on except two popular songs on the radio that were part of the new Little Feat incarnation. One was "
Texas Twister" and the other "
Let It Roll" and these songs had the heart of Little Feat in their prime. I pointed this out in my previous Little Feat post as well. With these songs and
Waiting For Columbus and an outtake album called
Hoy-Hoy. I was well armed. It was the cassette that was raw and unrefined.
This was a ton of Little Feat to take in, but it kept me busy. Little Feat are like no other band. I try to describe them to people and I tell them they are a mix of everything. They backed Robert Palmer on his early solo albums. They are a mix of Country, R&B, Rock, Blues and Jazz. Mix it all up and you have Little Feat. As I mentioned in the Little Feat post of a few years ago I kinda was late to the Feat, but made up for it by eventually getting there albums. The Neon Park artwork was what exactly the match to go along with their mix of those genres. Seeing them live was awesome, but really wish I saw them at the hight of their powers with distinct voice of Lowell George.
The think about them back then was they were full of improvisation that they could stretch out songs for longer then the normal time. Then you have everyone in the band, all very talented and all great at the instruments they played. Extra cool was their back up singers. I saw a video one day where it was Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt. I mean how cool was that.
People who know Little Feat, know about this live in the studio performance. People who want to try something new then this is worth seeking out. Like the Bonnie Raitt bootleg I spoke about this is just as good and cut from the same mold. The great thing about the Raitt is that Lowell makes an appearance and that is pretty cool. All the songs on this quasi bootleg are with hearing. It really gives a raw Little Feat performance in the middle years. The guitar playing by George is sharp. The rest of the band are firing on all cylinders and opening track "
The Fan" is breathtaking. The song was circulating for quite some time and this time it made the cut appearing both on the album "
Feats Don't Fail Me Now." It's a quirky song in 7/8 time. If you are up for the challenge this is worth listening to and quite possibly might convert you into a Featfanatic. Enjoy!
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