43
No mean feat
Little Feat never hit it big, but that’s OK
By John Benson
The notion of creating cross-genre music is nothing new.
Modern-day musical hipsters may feel like they’re breaking new ground, but the idea of boiling a lot of different sounds into one pot has been around for decades. Look no further than ’70s act Little Feat, which more than four decades ago created its own unique amalgamative style that pulled from California rock, funk, folk, jazz, country, rockabilly and New Orleans swamp boogie.
However, having such a rich gumbo, if you will, proved momentarily problematic when the act decided to write its 16th studio effort,” Rooster Rag.”
“Originally, we were going to try to make a blues record,” said founding member and singer-keyboardist Bill Payne. “This record starts with a blues song, and it ends with one. Those are the two songs that kind of stuck out of the pack that initially we recorded. Eight months later, we figured out we’re not really turning in a lot of blues material —why don’t we just make a regular Little Feat record? I thought that wasn’t a bad idea because regular means you’ll have an eclectic record.”
What amazed Payne is how “Rooster Rag,” the band’s first studio effort of new material in nine years, sounds like a quintessential Little Feat album despite the fact it doesn’t include original band members Lowell George and Richie Hayward. The former died in 1979, the latter in 2010.
What the latest effort does include that’s new is legendary Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who co-wrote four songs. Payne said as far as he’s concerned, the “Rooster Rag” tracks fit right in with the group’s definitive songs such as “Dixie Chicken,” “Oh, Atlanta” and “Skin it Back.”
“It’s a record that sounds like it was made last week or 43 years ago,” Payne said. “It really has that timeless quality on it. How is that possible? The answer is the voice of Little Feat is still intact because of the rhythm, the piano, the slide guitar and the songwriting.”
While Little Feat has flirted with mainstream attention over the years —“Hate to Lose Your Lovin’,” “Texas Twister” and “Let It Roll” were all top-5 tracks — the band never became a household name. Payne said that’s not what Little Feat was all about. It was about craft over commercial success.
Still, Payne did enjoy his share of the spotlight as a popular session keyboardist during the ’70s and ’80s. During that time, he recorded hits with Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffett and The Doobie Brothers.
Now Payne is focused on keeping Little Feat moving for as long as possible, including a Halloween show at The Kent Stage.
“We’re just kind of digging into the trenches of what it is we do,” Payne said. “When I was young, we were talking about what we’re going to do when we were 38. I thought, ‘I’ll probably be in Las Vegas backing up Ann Margret.’ Now I’m 63 and we’re still doing the thing. It’s like, ‘Who the hell knew?’ I’m in a really good place right now. The band is, too. I think you just have to latch onto those things while you still can. It’s about energy and momentum.”