Count me amongst those that think Little Feat was criminally under-appreciated in their time. Their funky, soulful stew should have found a wider audience, but those who heard the band knew of their greatness. Ben Fong-Torres’ new bio of the band, Willin’ is the most complete accounting of the band and their often tumultuous career.
There’s some good background trivia, such as the band’s formation rising from the Frank Zappa/LA scene and how they got their peculiar name. It's fascinating how musicians and label execs loved the band, but that passion and support never really translated to sales. Fong-Torres does a nice job of breaking down each album and the writing and recording process involved. It was a major disappointment to me to learn that a considerable amount of their live album Waiting For Columbus, arguably the highpoint of the band’s career, was overdubbed and re-created in the studio. However, I put on that CD reissue while reading the book and can happily report that it still kicks a lot of ass.
The book also traces much of the workaholic George’s studio and production work, as well as his nurturing of artists such as Rickie Lee Jones and Linda Ronstadt. As for the fairer sex, let’s just say Lowell loved the ladies — and they loved him right back. Fong-Torres also dissects the incredibly tangled and incestuous personal relationships within the band that provide some insight into their collective dysfunction. There were a lot of power plays between Lowell and Bill Payne, some obvious by-products of George’s substance abuse and the power vacuum left in its wake. It’s a scenario that’s felled many a band and the sheer fact that Little Feat was able to muster through is a testament to their combined talents.
While the band were all superb musicians, Lowell George was the straw that stirred the Little Feat drink, for me at least. I’ve seen the George-less incarnation and, while one hell of a fun party band, the absence of the funky frontman — and yes, leader — was glaring and there was no denying that “something” was missing. Still, the story of Little Feat is a survivor’s story and hats off to them for that very difficult "feat"; it’s fair to say that bands like this just don’t come around very often.
The post-Lowell George Little Feat has undergone a variety of mutations, incorporating several singers including Craig Fuller from Pure Prairie League and a female blues belter. Fong-Torres explains how they hit upon the grassroots model, following in the footsteps of the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett, to carve out their niche. But without George, I found myself skimming through the last part of the book.
A couple of quibbles, some minor, some not so much, with author, Ben Fong-Torres, who has been “Almost Famous” as a Senior Editor at Rolling Stone magazine. Referring to John Lennon’s song “Jealous Guy” as “Jealous Kind” is a rookie mistake that simply shouldn’t be made. That just can’t happen.
More annoying, however, are the seemingly endless citations of Rolling Stone magazine and their reviews of each album, concert and reportage of every major and minor milestone of Feat’s career. The index shows 27 such citations and at 250 pages, that’s one every 10 pages. So while Rolling Stone may have been the major US music magazine of the day, it feels a bit like patronism and left a bad taste in my mouth. To be fair, Torres also cites ZigZag and Crawdaddy on occasion and lip-services Cream, (the anti-Rolling Stone!) but it’s clear who his “go-to” source is.
Lastly, there was one unnecessary dig at Linda Ronstadt, where she theorizes George might have been bipolar as an explanation of some of his idiosyncratic work methods and Fong-Torres refers to her (sarcastically I’m assuming) as “Dr. Ronstadt.” I mean, if you don’t want her thoughts on a given subject, then don’t ask. And if it was meant to be cute or funny…well, it wasn’t.
My guess is this will stand as the definitive book on Little Feat. It’s a good read but if it’s a little frustrating at times, maybe that’s a mirror of the band’s career. You know they’re capable of greatness, but sometimes it comes up just a little short…
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