I’ve always had a problem with tribute albums. I don’t even like
\nwatching bands do covers at live shows. It just seems like nothing
\never comes off quite as well as the original, unless the original
\nsucked in the first place. Then, sometimes the cover can be better.
\nI’d say at best I have mixed feelings on cover tunes and the
\nresults of this tribute to founding member of Little Feat, Lowell
\nGeorge, is a mixed success as well.<\/p>\n
Lowell George has earned a reputation as a guitar idol among
\nmere mortals and was further deified due to his early death at age
\n34 in 1979. While the band had been in disarray and broken up at
\nthe time of his death, Little Feat has since reformed and become
\none of those non-commercial success stories whose die-hard fans
\nkeep them in the money and on perpetual tour. While I appreciate
\nthe sentiments and obvious love of long-time friends, bandmates,
\nand family members in attempting to put together this disc in his
\nmemory, I can’t say it improves on any of the originals and
\nsometimes is downright embarrassing to his prolific musical
\ncareer.<\/p>\n
At his best, Lowell George embodied that blend between R&B,
\nDelta blues, country, and rock and roll. Not bad for a kid who grew
\nup in California close to Hollywood but who remained a simple guy
\nat heart. His use of the slide guitar in his music made a white man
\nplaying this funky mixture suddenly legitimate and appealing to all
\naudiences. His body of work is unbelievably deep and varied and his
\ntalent appreciated by many-a lot of musicians he worked with
\nindependent of Little Feat appear on this disc including Bonnie
\nRaitt, JD Souther and Jackson Browne to name a few. The appearance
\nof a few people just stuns me including Eddie Money. Does he even
\nstill have a career? As a side note, a current member of Little
\nFeat, Shaun Murphy, has worked with Money, but so what! And Randy
\nNewman’s appearance is just plain horrible whether a fan or
\nnot.<\/p>\n
One of the most successful songs on the disc is the opener,
\n“Cold, Cold, Cold”, covered by Bonnie Raitt. Her past work with
\nLowell George was supposedly one of his most treasured. Raitt’s
\nscratchy, bluesy vocal style along with her excellent slide work
\nculminate an aching and well-realized version of this melancholy
\ntale of a man down on his luck and out of time. Also appearing on
\nslide is current Feat member, Paul Barrere, who has always stayed
\ntrue to George’s original vision of the band, but cultivated his
\nown unique playing style.<\/p>\n
The Bottle Rockets with David Lindley on slide turn in a lusty
\nrendition of “Rocket In My Pocket” off 1977’s
\nTime Loves A Hero<\/i>. Lindley’s powerful finger work has just
\nthe right heated, nasty feel, barely containing the intended sexual
\ninnuendo of the lyrics and music. Brian Henneman’s aggressive and
\nlusty vocals lets us know exactly whose rocket wants to go where as
\nhe teases “I got a rocket in my pocket\/yeah rocket\/Got your finger
\nin the socket.”<\/p>\n
Another successful cut is “Roll Um Easy,” covered by George’s
\nclose friend JD Souther. Souther’s sweetly seductive interpretation
\nis haunting and demonstrates with quiet despondency how the hero
\npines for his woman as he implores her to be gentle and “roll um
\neasy.”<\/p>\n
Jackson Browne’s cover of “I’ve Been The One” is a tepid version
\nof this George song. It’s another case of a famous performer
\nappearing on the disc who just performs badly and seems to lack any
\nreal passion or conviction in his effort. The saving grace of this
\ncover is David Lindley’s slide guitar work.<\/p>\n
Equally dreadful is Randy Newman’s take on “Sailin’ Shoes,” one
\nof those mini-hits from Little Feat that often can still be heard
\non classic rock stations. This is a god awful dirgelike number
\nwhich totally loses and buries the original’s very much alive and
\nkicking notion of misery and longing. Acting dead rather than
\nreflecting the song’s sadness is no substitute. In fairness, I’ve
\nnever been a fan of Newman and his voice annoys the hell out of me,
\nso I probably wouldn’t like anything he may have chosen to
\ncover.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Feat’s most popular song, and certainly one of their
\nbest, “Spanish Moon” is decimated in a performance by Phil Perry,
\nMerry Clayton and Ricky Lawson. This song deserves to be included
\nin the tribute, but not at the utter expense and collapse of its
\ngutsy, tough R&B tempo. The vocals in the original fairly
\nroared with indignation and anger, this just lays there lamely.<\/p>\n
Allen Touissant and Leo Nocentelli muster up a fun, untempo
\nversion of “Two Trains” which best highlights the New Orleans feel
\nand sound central to many of George’s original compositions with
\nLittle Feat. Also fun is Taj Mahal’s take on “Feets Don’t Fail Me
\nNow” from the 1974 Little Feat release of the same name. Their
\nenergetic horn section add a nice punch to Mahal’s bubbly vocal
\ndelivery.<\/p>\n
Paul Barrere and the current Little Feat line-up do a decent job
\non “Honest Man”. The song stays true to the spirit of Lowell George
\nwhile adding a more contemporary feel to a song over 27 years old.
\nBill Payne’s performance on the Hammond B-3 organ is great without
\nhaving that bad cheesy sixties lounge sound.<\/p>\n
“Trouble,” the final cut on the disc, features George’s
\ndaughter, Inara, who appears with the extraordinary pianist, Van
\nDyke Parks, and guitarist Ry Cooder. According to the liner notes,
\nInara’s mother used to sing this song to her as a lullabye when she
\nwas a baby. This tune is one of the disc’s best with a beautiful
\nvocal performance by Inara. Her voice works in complete harmony
\nwith Van Dyke Parks’s piano, neither performer overpowering the
\nother but each commanding dual attention. The addition of strings
\nadd a luscious undertone to this selection.<\/p>\n
\nRock And Roll Doctor<\/i> was obviously a lot of blood, sweat and
\ntears for Lowell George’s friends and family. Many of his past
\ncollaborators who kept him working as studio musician on their own
\nwork show up which I’m sure is founded on a deep respect for him
\nand his work. However, some of his biggest fans are not necessarily
\nhis best imitators. Some things are better left untouched and
\nperfect in our memories and cannot be improved upon, no mater how
\nnoble the intentions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5827],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-38895","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38895"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}