Little Feat is still willin'
Friday, October 27, 2000
bergen.com
MUSIC PREVIEW
LITTLE FEAT: 8 and 10:30 tonight. $35. B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 W. 42nd St., Manhattan. (212)
997-4144.
By STEVE MORSE
Special from the Boston Globe
With a little help from friends Phil Lesh, Jimmy Buffett, Phish, and String Cheese Incident, the pioneering Little
Feat has a new lease on life, proving that the jam-band community takes care of its own.
"For a band that was headed downhill fast, we've turned things around," says Little Feat pianist Bill Payne. "I didn't
think we'd get out of the tailspin, but we have."
Little Feat has a new four-CD boxed set on Rhino Records, "Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years of Little Feat," and a
snappy new CD, "Chinese Work Songs." The title is meant as a playful swipe at the many styles the group has
covered through more than two decades together, first as a vehicle for the legendary Lowell George (author of
"Dixie Chicken" and "Willin'," among other rock classics), and, throughout, as a thinking man's party band.
The new album contains a cover of Phish's "Sample in a Jar," meant as a tribute to that Vermont-based band.
"We've influenced Phish and String Cheese Incident, but the influences go both ways," says Payne. "So what better
way to demonstrate that by cutting some songs by people we admire?"
Little Feat has also loosened up considerably since Payne and Feat singer-guitarist Paul Barrere were tapped by
former Grateful Dead bassist Lesh to be in his revolving jam band, Phil Lesh & Friends, earlier this year.
"By opening the door to the Grateful Dead audience and their allegiances, we've been able to let people know we're
still around," says Payne. "I loved working with Phil. He's a very smart man, among other talents, and has such a
knowledge of how to put things together."
As for Buffett, he suggested that Little Feat should be on his Internet station, radiomargaritaville.com. They agreed
and now have "The Little Feat Radio Hour" (hosted by David Moss) running three times on weekends.
Little Feat is headed to B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in Manhattan. Among the songs the revitalized group has
been performing on tour are tunes from "Chinese Work Songs," an album that includes original tracks spanning
rock, funk, and Tex-Mex styles, along with covers of The Band's "Rag Mama Rag," Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to
Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry," and the aforementioned Phish tune.
The album was recorded in Barrere's house, with all the band members in the same room no more than 10 feet
from one another. "On previous albums, we'd only have two or three in the room, and the rest would be overdubs,"
says Payne, commenting on the intimacy at the heart of the new CD.
They also came to another conclusion.
"We realized that, as Little Feat, we really have a platform after all these years," says Payne, who has also played
with Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor. "And that platform allows us to play in any manner. It gives us the
freedom to stand tall or fall flat -- and I like that."
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