 Artist of the Month, November
1997
Little Feat
H.E.A.R. is thrilled to honor "Little Feat" as our Artists
of the Month! Their music is a gift for the ears.
With a few special guests, new songs, old ones and an album title and
cover art honoring one of their recently departed heroes, Little Feat
are set to play Live From Neon Park.
For many rock fans who cherish the band's first live album, 1978's Waiting
For Columbus, as one of rock's all time classics, Live From Neon
Park is the long awaited follow-up double live album. In keeping with
the band's grass-roots following, the album title was, in fact, suggested
by one of their admirers via a fan created Little Feat website.
Recorded on December '95 in three cities, the 2-CD/23-song set will be
released June 18 (Zoo Entertainment) and highlights the musical diversity,
raw energy and live spontaneity of one of rock & roll's most heralded
and durable bands, who are planning a full length tour this summer and
Fall, with dates to be announced soon.
The album title refers to artist Neon Park, who passed away two years
ago and whose artwork has adorned the cover of every Little Feat album
including Sailin' Shoes. Which was one of the two by Neon Park
listed in Rolling Stone Magazine in a piece on the top 100 album
covers in rock. The cover of Live From Neon Park is a combination
of the group's signature "Sailing Shoe" logo and the
tomato from the Waiting for Columbus cover with new Neon Park artwork.
Live From Neon Park was captured at sold out shows at Roseland
in Portland, OR (amid hurricane-force winds), The Fillmore in San Francisco
and Los Angeles' House of Blues and features such special guests as Inara
George (daughter of the late Little Feat founding member Lowell George),
Miles Tackett (son of Feat guitarist Fred Tackett), former Feat singer
Craig Fuller (who left the band in 1993 to devote his energies to song
writing) and the Texicall Horns (Darell Leonard, trumpet; Joe Sublett,
tenor saxophone and David Woodford, tenor and baritone saxophone). Live
From Neon Park is comprised of songs from such albums as 1971's Little
Feat ("Willin"'), 1972's Sailin' Shoes ("Sailin'
Shoes"), 1973's Dixie Chicken (Fat Man In The Bathtub,"
"Two Trains" and a 1 7-minute New Orleans/Dixieland extravaganza
of the title track), 1974's Feats Don't Fail Me Now ("Oh Atlanta"
and "Skin It Back"), their gold certified and Grammy nominated
1988 album Let it Roll (title track plus "Hate To Lose Your
Lovin"' and "Change In Luck") and 1995's Ain't Had Enough
Fun ("Cadillac Hotel" and "Rock & Roll Everynight"),
among others. There's also a bluesy version of "You're Taking Up
Another Man's Place" (made famous by Aretha Franklin, Etta James
and Mable John), sung by Shaun Murphy, who went from back-up singer to
full-time, co-lead singer on Ain't Had Enough Fun.
Musically, Live From Neon Park captures Little Feat its most comfortable:
on stage. Their unique brand of rock & roll, blues, jazz, Cajun, country
and soul is displayed in vibrant fashion with songs selected from all
over their 25-year career. The revered rhythm section of percussionist
Sam Clayton, bassist Kenny Gradney and drummer Richie Hayward lay a foundation
of tricky time signatures over which guitarist/co-lead vocalist Paul Barrerre
and Murphy, with Payne singing lead on "Representing The Mambo"
and "Oh Atlanta, and Clayton's bass leading the way on "Spanish
Moon" and "Can't Be Satisfied." Together, it's vintage
Feat: always off-the-wall, tongue-in-cheek and no-holds-barred.
Soon after Little Feat disbanded in 1979, group co-founder Lowell George
passed away while on a solo tour, but the group stayed in contact and
re-grouped in 1988. They released four albums since then--Let It Roll,
Representing The Mambo, Shake Me Up and Ain't Had Enough
Fun--which have been accompanied by extensive touring--the band likes
to play. "The Beauty of Little Feat is that when we talked about
getting to together in '87," says Barrerre, "we asked ourselves
if we can remain to the form of the band--the tackling of many styles.
The true test is when Craig and I did 'Hate To Lose Your Lovin" next
to 'Dixie Chicken' and you can't tell which song is new and which song
is old. We do the classic songs in a different way than we used to, but
yet the song remains true to it's original form." Payne adds, "Our
main goal is to maintain the integrity and legacy of the group. Those
two elements wereöand are--intact. Plus, our fans give life to our inherent
desire to perform live."
The songs remain true to the original forms because they are, essentially,
played by the original members. Bill Payne and Richie Hayward are both
founding members, while Barrerre, Clayton and Gradney joined the group
in '72. Fred Tackett (who also plays a mean Trumpet) has collaborated
with the Feat since the '70s before joining on full-time in '87.
LITTLE FEAT
Paul Barrere--guitar/vocals
Sam Clayton--percussion/vocals
Kenny Gradney--bass
Richie Hayward--drums
Shaun Murphy--vocals
Bill Payne--Keyboard/vocals
Fred Tackett--guitar
LITTLE FEAT
LIVE FROM NEON PARK
DISC ONE
"Intro"
"Two Trains"
"Spanish Moon"
"Skin It Back"
"Rock & Roll Every Night"
"Down On The Fan"
"Willin"'
"Hate To Lose Your Lovin"
"Can't Be Satisfied"
"They're Red Hot (Hot Tamales)"
"Cadillac Hotel"
"Change In Luck"
"You're Taking Up Another Man's Place"
"Oh Atlanta"
DISC TWO
"Texas Twister"
"Fat Man In The Bathtub"
"Representing The Mambo"
"Long Distance Love"
"Rad Gumbo"
"Dixie Chicken"
"Feats Don't Fall Me Down"
"Sailin' Shoes"
"Let It Roll"
"High Rollin"
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