Little Feat - Sam's Place (2024)

Little Feat, like any other good gumbo, is a rich, dark stew of influences. They'll stir in folk, rock, blues, country, gospel and a bit of funk. The secret spice in this strange concoction was originally the late Lowell George, a man of both prodigious talents and appetites. He oversaw their transformation from an off-kilter post-Frank Zappa hybrid group into a rollicking, rootsy delight before he was felled by a massive heart attack on June 29, 1979, at just 34 years old. Little Feat had already begun drifting away from him, turning a little more jazzy, but promptly broke up anyway.

Next came an unlikely late-'80s reunion that brought keyboardist Bill Payne, drummer Richie Hayward, guitarist Paul Barrere, percussionist Sam Clayton and bassist Kenny Gradney back together from the classic-era lineup – and then brought Little Feat back to sounds of its rootsier heyday. Little Feat had hinted that both things were entirely possible with 1974's more collaborative Feats Don't Fail Me Now, even if Lowell's wild and wooly musical excursions were sometimes sorely missed.

Little Feat would become more song-oriented as they trained a sharper spotlight on the underlying musical elements that always made this band so intriguing. Tending to their roots with far more care than seemed possible with Little Feat's rangy late frontman, the group eventually found themselves recording their first all-blues, Clayton-sung LP. For some, the genre turn on Sam's Place may have seemed as unlikely as Clayton moving from behind the congas. After all, Little Feat had always been one thing – and that was never any one thing. Yet Clayton's infectious passion for the music is clear, and there's always been a bright blues thread winding through the group's career.

TRACKLIST

1. Little Feat - Milkman
2. Little Feat - You'll Be Mine
3. Little Feat;Bonnie Raitt - Long Distance Call (feat. Bonnie Raitt)
4. Little Feat - Don't Go No Further
5. Little Feat - Can't Be Satisfied
6. Little Feat - Last Night
7. Little Feat - Why People Like That
8. Little Feat - Mellow Down Easy
9. Little Feat - Got My Mojo Working (Live)