Search - Little Feat :: Little Feat

Order something with snakes on everything

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Little Feat's classic debut album for Warner Brothers has been lovingly remastered by Shawn Britton (who has done two other recent terrific MoFi releases Linda Ronstandt's "Don't Cry Now" and The Allman Brothers Band's "Idlewind South"). This classic mix of humor, blues-rock (which features Ry Cooder as a guest guitarist on two tracks)sounds terrific. The original album art has been duplicated. There's also an appreciation by Russ Titleman (who met Lowell George in a class to learn how to play sitar during the Summer of Love)as well as the lyrics to all the songs on the album.



If you got into the band with later albums you should be aware that Little Feat's first album (an overlooked masterpiece, while it has the seeds of their later great albums, is probably the least like albums such as their classic live set "Waiting for Columbus" compared to later work. It has a much rougher blues edge to the overall sound but it's still a delight.



This is only available as a limited, numbered edition (don't know how many are being produced however). I'd highly recommend Little Feat's debut. Keep up the great work Shawn!



Also recommended:

Waiting for Columbus

Sailin' Shoes

Feats Don't Fail Me Now"

A forgotten gem (4.5 stars)

John Alapick | Wilkes-Barre, PA United States | 10/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Little Feat released their self-titled debut in 1971. With its heavy emphasis on the blues along with splashes of country and spiritual music, the album boasts a different sound than the funky, New Orleans-based sound that they are now identified with. Lowell George's slide guitar and harmonica was more prevalent here and Bill Payne's piano work played a larger role than on their later albums. In a sense, the band was similar to long standing bands like Rush, Judas Priest, and Steely Dan in the fact that their first album sounded quite different from their future releases. However, unlike those bands, Little Feat's debut has become a forgotten gem. Even the band rarely acknowledges this album in their live shows as they only perform "Forty Four Blues" from this release and that's not very often.



But don't let that discourage you from checking this out as every track here is very good. Tracks like the melancholy "Truck Stop Girl", the beautiful "Brides of Jesus", and the story songs "Crazy Captain Gumboat Willie" and "Strawberry Flats" are all top notch while the country sounding "I've Been The One", the ballad "Takin' My Time", and the bluesy "Crack In Your Door" are also very good. The version of their classic "Willin'", is very good and very different than the more popular version on Sailin' Shoes as George sings the vocal faster while the arrangement is straight country. Other strong tracks include the rollicking tracks "Hamburger Midnight" and "Snakes on Everything" and the old-time blues of "Forty-Four Blues/How Many More Years." All told, this is easily one of their best albums and I would rank this is as their third best studio album, behind Sailin' Shoes and Dixie Chicken respectively. Highly recommended.

"