Little Feat - Little Feat Audio CD
A fair review of the Little Feat "Little Feat" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all
Little Feat reviews here, or go back to the
Little Feat tabs.
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Band: Little Feat
Title: Little Feat
Rating: 
Release Date: 2007-08-28
Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Snakes on Everything 2: Strawberry Flats 3: Truck Stop Girl 4: Brides of Jesus 5: Willin' 6: Hamburger Midnight 7: Forty-Four Blues: How Many More Years 8: Crack in Your Door 9: I've Been the One 10: Takin' My Time 11: Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie
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Couldn't be better Enjoying the music. The Little Feat CD arrived in amazing time and
was in perfect condition.
Little Feat's Debut Album Is Great, If A Bit Unpolished
However, if you buy it, don't expect the polished sound of the follow-ups SAILIN' SHOES and DIXIE CHICKEN, and certainly not FEATS DON'T FAIL ME NOW. Little Feat's self-titled debut album is great, with an incredibly twisted sense of humor. This is raw, unvarnished, country-blues-rock. In fact, it's so raw as to be underdone at times. However, if you listen enough times, it will eventually grow on you. This is a CD which any Little Feat fan should own.
first step to perfection
the ground work was laid for the classic feat sound- a little country, a little blues and funk with just a taste of zappa weirdness thrown in (lowell was previously in the mother's with bassist roy estrada). the first step on the road to lowell george perfection (dixie chicken, anyone?) this first feat's album was rough and unrefined and just what it took to blow the socks off a little 16 year old boy who grew up on the beatles. these guys were my favorite band through their first 4 or 5 albums and they still sound fine now that i'm old and grizzled at 53. lowell left us much too soon and is sorely missed.
Order something with snakes on everything
This classic mix of humor, blues-rock (which features Ry Cooder as a guest guitarist on two tracks)sounds terrific. 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"). 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)
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. Little Feat released their self-titled debut in 1971. 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.
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You can see a complete list of all Little Feat discography, or go back to the Little Feat tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.