D_dup3 Posted June 29, 2006 Posted June 29, 2006 [excerpted, & w/addendum, from an editor's office thread] LOWELL GEORGE was the leader of the band Little Feat, a respected but never well-known outfit that merged aspects of Americana in ways at least equal to the better known & acclaimed Byrds & The Band. If you are not familiar with their music, do yourself a favor & check them out, their early work especially. George was a terrific songwriter, offering not just a real human touch but structuring his songs in a decidedly non-formulaic manner that he called "the cracked mosaic" method. He was also one of the most fluid, emotive singers to front a rock band ever. He's most notable, however, for devising one of the most distinctive guitar voices in rock music. Taking a direction totally at odds with most blues/rock slide players like Johnny Winter, Jesse Ed Davis or Duane Allman, he made a virtue of a laid-back but starkly in-yer-face style vaguely like Miles Davis, playing but a few well-selected notes & holding them a long time as the music changed underneath. His heavily compressed/sustained slide lines roll up out of their surroundings & hang over the backing tracks like some monolithic prescence with a timbre that's at once as shimmering as the sunlight on a California beach & as molasses-thick as the air on a hot Louisiana afternoon. If not for him neither Bonnie Raitt not Ry Cooder would sound the way they do today.
Guitar55 Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 I love Lowell George. I was deeply saddened the day he died. Last year I read his biography, "Rock and Roll Doctor".
Shoes Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 When I was a kid I heard the Jimmy Page loved to listen to Little Feat and a friend had a couple LPs that I got into. It figured in my mind that he'd love them..... 180 degrees away but every bit as powerful and artistic (if not more so). It's a very moving style that my personality, character what ever... just plugs into perfectly. Something I knew almost immediately. I recall sharing the tracks when I heard Two Trains.... too funny when I think of it. I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.
Tedster Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 I got to see Little Feat with Lowell George...back in the late 70s in Michigan. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
Bluesape Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 Originally posted by Tedster: I got to see Little Feat with Lowell George...back in the late 70s in Michigan. Lucky dawg! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/reifspano/muttley.gif Never a DUH! moment! Well, almost never. OK, OK! Sometimes never!
Tedster Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 It was at the Royal Oak Music Theater...relatively small place...not a bad seat in the house... I like your "Muttley". "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
stanner Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 count me in as a HugeAss LowellGeorge fan too! saw him numerous times and was always mesmerized(sp?)by his guitar playin...he has/had a very distinctive sound that no one duplicates. ("...got thee apolitical blues...") s AMPSSOUNDBETTERLOUDER
urbanhiker Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 Saw Lowell with Little Feat at Elon College, NC in the late '70s. John Hall opened the show and then joined LF onstage for the song "All That You Dream". Great show.
Guitar Geezer Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 What that man could do with a Craftsman 5/8" Socket http://kzph.com/modules/htmlarea/upload3/uncledave_249.jpg And what an album. Lynn G
picker Posted June 30, 2006 Posted June 30, 2006 Little Feat was pretty great stuff. I enjoyed Lowell's slide playing, but I loved the whole band. Favorite song; "Skin It Back" off of "Feets Don't Fail Me Now". Next fav, "Fat Man In The Bathtub" off of "Waiting For Columbus". Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
D_dup3 Posted July 1, 2006 Author Posted July 1, 2006 Just to keep things rolling (as in through the night), here's a couple stories about seeing the Feat w/Lowell. Cincinnati, OH, mid 1970s/U of C field house: Feat are playing a show with Boz Skaggs. During the Feat section, Lowell brings Boz onstage to sing & play during a couple tunes, including "Willin'", w/its litany of towns "from Tucson to Tucumcari; Tehachepi to Tonopah". Granted that they were not a top-of-the-heap famous band but since Linda Ronstadt had already had a fairly big hit with this & it was their most well known number generally but Boz is apparently flummoxed by this sudden alliteration of T-towns, much to the clear disappointment of LG who rolling his eyes & frowning at the same time (not so easy...look in the mirror & try it ), turns & calls to Billy Payne, "Oh God, take it, Bill!" After the show both LG & Paul Barrere make a point of chatting up the fanbase while simulataneously looking over everyone's shoulders for whomever seems to have some "hoover". Austin, TX, a few years later/Paramount Theater: I was close enough to see that one of the ways that he achieved those super-high slide flurries on tunes like "Trip Face Boogie" was that he had little marks on the pickguard of his Strat between the pickups ( ] , a strange thing happened. One section of the crowd just quieted down as people began talking among themselves & no longer focusing on the stage & this spread out from that area just like a ripple in a pond & word finally filtered up to us: Lowell was dead. For those whov'e never seen it, check this out: www.dmci.com/~lowell/lowell
skipclone 1 Posted July 2, 2006 Posted July 2, 2006 Oh yeah-what a sound, swamp grass on a hot summer night with the frogs a howlin. I assumed the first time I heard of them that the Dixie Chicks named themselves after the LF classic `Dixie Chicken`-could be wrong but I don`t think so. My favorite besides the whole `Feets Don`t Fail Me` collection would be `Red Streamliner`. Same old surprises, brand new cliches- Skipsounds on Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491
mdrs Posted July 2, 2006 Posted July 2, 2006 Waiting for Columbus...total classic. There are a handful of guitarists that were/are totally original, and totally brilliant. Lowell is in that club. For the life of me, I dont' know how I missed seeing him live.....I'm sorry I never did. Little Feat were a tight crew....I may have to break out my Waiting CD and play with Lowell today.... Don Don "There once was a note, Pure and Easy. Playing so free, like a breath rippling by." http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=574296 http://www.myspace.com/imdrs
AlChuck Posted July 2, 2006 Posted July 2, 2006 Besides being a great guitar player, singer, songwriter, bandleader, and all-around character, Lowell was a fantastic producer. Listen to Dixie Chicken and Feats Don't Fail Me Now -- incredible work. He labored heavily over it but it always ended up sounding so right and perfect, every detail sparkling but never losing the great feel of the band at all so it sounds like they were all just playing through the cuts at a show...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.