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We're in a pretty good place right now. We're an extended family, a family that was just extended even more by every artist that performed on this record. Under the umbrella of that family is Lowell George, who I hope is smiling down on these proceedings. -Bill Payne |
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Photo of Little Feat by Jay Blakesberg
After George passed away in 1979, the band split up, but they couldn't stay apart for long. Several years later, the group was invited to play in a rehearsal studio in the L.A. Valley that had been redecorated with Little Feat memorabilia and dedicated to George's memory. Surprisingly, all of the band members happened to be in town and ready to christen the studio. Barrere describes the memory, summing up the simple pleasure of playing music that characterizes the group, "We had a jam session, and it was a ton of fun."
"When we put the band back together, we wanted to write a whole bunch of new songs for Let It Roll," continues Barrere. "If it sucked and wasn't near the legacy of the band, we wouldn't pursue it. But Little Feat is timeless; we never had a sound that fit into any moment of time. With [the new song] 'Hate to Lose Your Lovin' and 'Dixie Chicken,' there was no time lapse between them, and we thought, 'We're on the right track.' We're showing a lot of reverence; we still perform a lot of Lowell's material. Every night is a testimonial to his greatness and to the man himself."
They recruited some new members, and the lineup has stayed the same for the past 15 years: Payne (keyboards), Barrere (guitar), Richie Hayward (drums), Fred Tackett (guitar), Sam Clayton (percussion), Kenny Gradney (bass) and vocalist Shaun Murphy, the band's only female player. And they play everything in their catalog, as long as they can do it justice.
"For the band, there were always no rules musically," says Barrere. "Everybody's musical tastes were quite different. Billy started out playing organ in the church, I'd come from playing blues and Kenny and Sam were in soul bands. Richie came from Iowa, and who knows what they listen to there."
Barrere says his "warped sense of humor" is what drew Lowell George to him in the first place, and it is hard to listen to him without a few laughs escaping.
"When it comes to bands, I got a pretty good angle on that," says Payne. "Either you are pulling someone up a hill or being dragged down the hill by them, and sometimes you are perfectly in flow with the other person. We're in a pretty good place right now. We're an extended family, a family that was just extended even more by every artist that performed on this record. Under the umbrella of that family is Lowell George, who I hope is smiling down on these proceedings."
From what Barrere and Payne describe, this family is large, tight and fiercely loyal. In fact, on this album George's daughter Inara sings one of his most famous songs, "Trouble."
If Little Feat members are keenly aware of the people who have influenced them, they also consider the influence of their music on other people – and not just other musicians. One of the most powerful tracks on Join The Band is a cover of Woody Guthrie's classic "This Land Is Your Land," a song that Barrere insists people need to hear. "If we don't get Obama elected, it's not my land anymore," he says. The band also performed the song on Late Night With Conan O'Brien on September 22, broadcasting their political message even wider.
"The songs on this record, like 'Time Loves A Hero,' do speak of politics and how we write things," says Payne, the articulate artist. "We're still very actively in the process of evaluating our lives and how we're going to conjure songs that represent what we think and pass it off to people. In this political season, we're asking, 'Are words important?' Barack says, 'Yes, they are important.' The Republicans, and some Democrats, are saying that words aren't that important, but they are exceedingly important."
"Join The Band is a party album. It's fun. But songs like 'Trouble,' I had tears in my eyes at the end. I was there at the studio, which was the first place that Little Feat recorded for Warner Brothers," adds Payne. "Now it's almost 40 years later and I'm recording with Lowell's daughter. That tune is floating around in a time capsule heading toward the stars as you and I speak. It's really lighthearted, but there is some weight to what we do and why we do it."
For Barrere, it's simple.
"Music is supposed to make that good feelin' feelin' good," he says. "If you can get that good feelin' feelin' good, then, baby, don't stop."
 Little Feat by Rocky Tornabene |
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