rock

Little Feat

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The band Lowell George started in 1969, still rolling on slippery slide guitar and New Orleans-inflected boogie — 'Dixie Chicken' as the enduring calling card.

Little Feat formed in Los Angeles in 1969 when singer, guitarist and songwriter Lowell George, previously of the Mothers of Invention, teamed with fellow ex-Mothers bassist Roy Estrada, keyboardist Bill Payne and drummer Richie Hayward. The band's name came from a Mothers bandmate's remark about George's small feet, with the spelling a nod to the Beatles.

The band developed a distinctive hybrid of rock, blues, funk and New Orleans-inflected rhythm and blues, marked by George's slide guitar and a loose, syncopated groove that set them apart from most American rock bands of the period.

George injured his hand in a model-airplane accident before the band recorded its 1971 debut, so Ry Cooder played the slide part on 'Willin''. George re-recorded the song himself for 1972's Sailin' Shoes, the first Little Feat album to carry cover art by Neon Park, who illustrated their sleeves until his death in 1993. Linda Ronstadt's version later helped make 'Willin'' a standard.

Despite good reviews, lack of commercial success led the band to split, with Estrada leaving to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. By late 1972 the group reformed around George, Payne, Hayward, bassist Kenny Gradney, guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton, the line-up behind 'Dixie Chicken', their best-known song, which gave its name to the 1973 album.

George died in 1979, and the group disbanded before reforming in the late 1980s with a changing lineup, continuing to tour and record for decades afterwards. They are widely admired by other musicians, and their catalogue has long been a touchstone for bands working in the roots-rock and jam traditions.

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