Review: Little Feat ‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now-(Deluxe Edition)’
By Hal Horowitz
While Little Feat can’t get any love from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the iconic American roots rock and rollers’ fans have been well served recently.
The band, with only keyboardist Bill Payne as its sole remaining founding member, has been touring on a level that almost matches their road schedule when founder Lowell George was at the helm. Longtime members bassist Kenny Gradney and percussionist Sam Clayton, who both joined on 1973s Dixie Chicken, are on board and the current shows are every bit as vibrant, perhaps more so, than when Feat were in their prime.
Additionally, last month saw Sam’s Place, a new recording with the current crop of Feat laying into blues standards (all sung by Clayton). But most crucially, the act’s earlier offerings Dixie Chicken, Sailin’ Shoes along with the live Waiting for Columbus have benefitted from the deluxe treatment, which includes formerly unreleased concert footage, rare music excavated from the vaults and, most importantly, long-overdue remastered audio.
Next up is 1974s Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. It follows the same blueprint as the two previous studio reissues (the live one was stretched to an eight disc box); the remastered album on the first platter, studio extras/outtakes/alternates on the second, and a formerly unavailable 55 minute live gig from France, captured Feb. 1975, for the third.
Feat’s fourth release was likely their last chance to stay with the Warner Brothers label. Despite positive reviews, none of their earlier sets sold well. The outfit found their musical legs, so to speak, on Dixie Chicken, which arguably remains their most consistent work.
But with Feats Don’t Fail…, the sextet was cooking musically and creatively. Frontman/guitarist George gets writing credits on six of the eight selections. Songs such as the sultry, near cinematic story of the sketchy club named “Spanish Moon,” (with its whiskey and bad cocaine), the steamy “Rock and Roll Doctor,” and the jaunty title track broke them on 70s progressive/FM radio as well as providing a master class on George’s legendary slide work.
In Bill Payne’s “Oh Atlanta” they had an instant, sing-along classic. Second guitarist Paul Barrere penned his debut Feat composition with the suggestive “Skin It Back” and the closing 10 minute medley of “Cold Cold Cold” and “Triple Face Boogie,” two tunes rescued from Sailin’ Shoes, delivered an undiluted helping of the swampy, Louisiana-infused, syncopated funk that percolated under every track.
Liner notes explain how unlikely it was to locate the master tapes from these sessions. The recording took place in a studio located on a barge which later sunk. It was assumed the master tapes went down with it. But they were found somewhere (the details aren’t specified) and the enhanced clarity of the music on this edition is substantial.
The dozen extras on disc two (seven previously officially unavailable) also display that crispness. We hear rough, early versions of material that would appear on later albums such as “All That You Dream,” “Front Page News” and “Long Distance Love,” indicating how freely the creative juices were flowing. Covers of Hank Williams’ “Lonesome Whistle Blow” and Allen Toussaint’s “Brickyard Blues” exhibit some of the country and soul influences Feat incorporated in their Americana gumbo.
The live performance is more problematic. While the playing and singing are rollicking, the tinny audio is a notch better than an audience cassette of the time. There isn’t much available from this era, so it’s worth dealing with less than stellar sound, especially to experience a show-stopping 20 minute take on “Cold Cold Cold/Dixie Chicken/Tripe Face Boogie” where Feat are absolutely on fire.
After the brilliant Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, Lowell George began to distance himself from the group he started, leaving the two remaining studio albums he contributed to before his untimely 1979 passing (at age 34) as weaker entries into their catalog. But, although the road has been bumpy, Little Feat has persevered. With this stunning reissue we can revel in them at the apex of their substantial powers.
Little Feat website
“Oh Atlanta”
Good review of a great album. By the way, Sam Clayton’s sister is the wonderful Merry Clayton, who sang on the Stones’ Gimme Shelter.