Earliest Known Little Feat Recording Enters Circulation

A incredible piece of Little Feat history came into circulation a few days ago and we can’t get enough of it. Taper/archivist/collector Goody came across a tape containing a little under 30 minutes worth of Little Feat rehearsals for the band’s first album that according to him was recorded in August of 1970. Goody transferred and mastered the previously-uncirculated recording and shared it with the world.

[Photo via Little Feat Official Facebook Page]

Lowell George, Roy Estrada, Bill Payne and Richie Hayward recorded the self-titled Little Feat studio debut mostly in August and September 1970 and the LP was released the next year. In the rehearsal audio we get to hear early versions of “Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie” and “Strawberry Flats,” both of which can be found in different form on Little Feat (the album), as well as a take on “Cat Fever” -a song that eventually was released on 1972’s Sailin’ Shoes. There’s also an incomplete version of Payne & George’s “The Fan,” which came out in different form on 1974’s Feats Don’t Fail Me Now.

The addition of the 1970 rehearsal session to the Little Feat Collection on Live Music Archive is now the oldest on the site by a span of three years. We particularly dig the lengthy jam on “Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie” that shows the improvisational power of the quartet, even in their early days. The recording is available for your streaming and downloading pleasure at Archive.org and can also be streamed below: