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Little Feet were on Warner Bros Records from 1971′s Little Feet through 1990′s Representing the Mambo, but for a full decade of those 20 years, the band was inactive.
Nevertheless, the records rounded up here – which include the eight albums Lowell George recorded with the band (the seminal 1978 live album Waiting for Columbus is present in its 2002 expansion), plus the 1981 compilation Hoy Hoy! and the two comeback albums, 1988′s Let It Roll and Representing the Mambo; an edited version of the rarities disc from 2000′s Hotcakes & Outtakes box is nicely included (the earliest songs have been excised) – represent the group’s core catalog. They’d continue to record into the new millennium – 2012′s Rooster Rag is quite good but these albums have the songs and sensibility that built their legacy, which does include their remarkably successful return in 1988. All the albums are presented as mini-LPs and the set is affordable, making this a very appealing bargain for all kinds of Feat fanatics.
Though they had all the trappings of a Southern-fried blues band, Little Feat were hardly conventional. Led by songwriter/guitarist Lowell George, Little Feat were a wildly eclectic band, bringing together strains of blues, R&B, country, and rock & roll. The bandmembers were exceptionally gifted technically and their polished professionalism sat well with the slick sounds coming out of Southern California during the ’70s. However, Little Feat were hardly slick — they had a surreal sensibility, as evidenced by George’s idiosyncratic songwriting, which helped the band earn a cult following among critics and musicians. Though the band earned some success on album-oriented radio, the group was derailed after George’s death in 1979. Little Feat re-formed in the late ’80s, and while they were playing as well as ever, they lacked the skewed sensibility that made them cult favorites. Nevertheless, their albums and tours were successful, especially among American blues-rock fans.
However, Little Feat weren’t conceived as a straight-ahead blues-rock group. Their founding members, Lowell George (vocals, guitar, slide guitar) and Roy Estrada (bass), were veterans of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. George had a long musical career before joining the Mothers. As a child, he and his brother Hampton performed a harmonica duet on television’s Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour. During high school, he learned how to play flute, which led to him appearing as an oboist and baritone saxophonist on several Frank Sinatra recording sessions. He formed the folk-rock group the Factory with drummer Richie Hayward in 1965. Before disbanding, the Factory made some recordings for Uni Records, but the tapes sat unreleased until the 1990s. Following the group’s demise, George joined the Mothers of Invention, where he met Estrada. Zappa convinced George to form his own band after hearing “Willin’,” but the guitarist was reluctant to begin a band until he participated in a brief Standells reunion.
George and Estrada formed Little Feat in 1969 with Hayward and keyboardist Billy Payne. Neither their eponymous first album in 1971 nor 1972′s Sailin’ Shoes were commercial successes, despite strong reviews. As a result, the group temporarily disbanded, with Estrada leaving music to become a computer programmer. When the group reconvened later in 1972, he was replaced by New Orleans musician Kenny Gradney. In its second incarnation, Little Feat also featured guitarist Paul Barrére and percussionist Sam Clayton, who gave the music a funkier feeling, as demonstrated by 1973′s Dixie Chicken. The band toured heavily behind the record, building a strong following in the South and on the East Coast. Nevertheless, the group remained centered in Los Angeles, since the members did a lot of session work on the side.
Though the band was earning a cult following, several members of the group were growing frustrated by George’s erratic behavior and increasing drug use. Following 1974′s Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, Barrére and Payne became the band’s main songwriters and they were primarily responsible for the jazzy fusions of 1975′s The Last Record Album. Little Feat continued in that direction on Time Loves a Hero (1977), the double-live album Waiting for Columbus (1978), and Down on the Farm (1979). Frustrated with the band’s increasingly improvisational and jazzy nature, George recorded a solo album, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here, which was released in 1979. Following its release, George announced that Little Feat had broken up, and he embarked on a solo tour. Partway through the tour, he died of an apparent heart attack. Down on the Farm was released after his death, as was the rarities collection Hoy-Hoy! (1981).
After spending seven years as sidemen, Payne, Barrére, Hayward, Gradney, and Clayton re-formed Little Feat in 1988, adding vocalist/guitarist Craig Fuller and guitarist Fred Tackett. The heavily anticipated Let It Roll was released in 1988 to mixed reviews, but it went gold. Each of the group’s subsequent reunion albums — Representing the Mambo (1989), Shake Me Up (1991), and Ain’t Had Enough Fun (1995) — sold progressively less, but the band remained a popular concert attraction. On the latter album, the band traded the strongly Lowell George-esque voice of Fuller for female singer Shaun Murphy; this lineup went on to release Under the Radar in 1998 and Chinese Work Songs in 2000. Numerous compilations and live recordings peppered the next few years, followed by 2003′s Kickin’ It at the Barn, the group’s first album for its own indie label, Hot Tomato Records. Rocky Mountain Jam arrived in early 2007. Join the Band, a collection of duets with Feat friends and fans, followed in 2008 on Proper Records.
After a struggle with liver disease, founding Feat member Richie Hayward passed away from pneumonia and lung disease on August 12, 2010. Little Feat continued to tour after his death, enlisting Gabe Ford as their new drummer.

Tracklisting CD1 “1971 – Little Feat”:
01. Snakes On Everything 03:06
02. Strawberry Flates 02:23
03. Truck Stop Girl 02:31
04. Brides Of Jesus 03:22
05. Willin’ 02:24
06. Hamburger Midnight 02:32
07. Fourty Four Blues / How Many More Years 06:28
08. Crack In Your Door 02:18
09. I’ve Been The One 02:23
10. Takin’ My Time 03:48
11. Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie 01:56

Tracklisting CD2 “1972 – Sailin’ Shoes”:
01. Easy To Slip 03:20
02. Cold, Cold, Cold 04:02
03. Trouble 02:18
04. Tripe Face Boogie 03:16
05. Willin’ 02:57
06. A Apolitical Blues 03:27
07. Sailin’ Shoes 02:53
08. Teenage Nervous Breakdown 02:13
09. Got No Shadow 05:07
10. Cat Fever 04:35
11. Texas Rose Cafe 03:42

 Tracklisting CD3 “1973 – Dixie Chicken”:
01. Dixie Chicken 03:56
02. Two Trains 03:07
03. Roll Um Easy 02:34
04. On Your Way Down 05:34
05. Kiss It Off 02:58
06. Fool Yourself 03:18
07. Walkin All Night 03:36
08. Fat Man In The Bathtub 04:33
09. Juliette 03:30
10. Lafayette Railroad 03:36

Tracklisting CD4 “1974 – Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”:
01. Rock And Roll Doctor 02:58
02. Oh Atlanta 03:28
03. Skin It Back 04:11
04. Down The Road 03:45
05. Spanish Moon 03:06
06. Feets Don’t Fail Me Now 02:27
07. The Fan 04:28
08. Medley: Cold Cold Cold / Tripe Face Boogie 09:57

Tracklisting CD5 “1975 – The Last Record Album”:
01. Romance Dance 03:50
02. All That You Dream 03:52
03. Long Distance Love 02:42
04. Day Or Night 06:26
05. One Love Stand 04:25
06. Down Below The Borderline 03:45
07. Somebody’s Leavin’ 05:08
08. Mercenary Territory 04:24

Tracklisting CD6 “1977 – Time Loves A Hero”:
01. Hi Roller 03:36
02. Time Loves A Hero 03:47
03. Rocket In My Pocket 03:24
04. Day At The Dog Races 06:30
05. Old Folks Boogie 03:32
06. Red Streamliner 04:46
07. New Delhi Freight Train 03:44
08. Keepin’ Up With The Joneses 03:50
09. Missin’ You 02:23

Tracklisting CD 7 & CD8 “1978 – Waiting For Columbus (2CD)”:
CD1:
01. Join The Band (From Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC, 8/10/77) 01:54
02. Fat Man In The Bathtub (From Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC, 8/8/77) 04:54
03. All That You Dream (From Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC, 8/8/77) 04:29
04. Oh Atlanta (From Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC, 8/8/77) 04:20
05. Old Folk’s Boogie (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/4/77) 04:26
06. Dixie Chicken (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/3/77, Horn Break From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/4/77) 08:43
07. Tripe Face Boogie (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/3/77, Piano Solo From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/2/77) 07:09
08. Rocket In My Pocket (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/2/77) 03:57
09. Time Loves A Hero (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/4/77) 04:19
10. Day Or Night (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/4/77) 05:30
11. Mercenary Territory (From The Rainbow Theatre, London, 8/2/77) 04:36
12. Spanish Moon (From The Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC, 8/8/77) 05:36