Little Feat - 40 Feat: The Hot Tomato Anthology

  by Carl Bookstein

published: 11 / 10 / 2011

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Review

'Willin’', Little Feat’s majestic travel tune rekindles days on the road, days of innocence and hope, days of burning the candle at both ends. Singer songwriter Lowell George’s early death in 1979 at age 34 was a hard loss to music. With a distinctive country rock meets swamp boogie vibe, Little Feat were a great American band. Little Feat now releases '40 Feat: The Hot Tomato Anthology' from the band’s own label Hot Tomato Records, set up in 2002 to release official concert bootlegs (as well as a couple new studio recordings). This latest release covers 40 mostly live tunes from 40 years of Little Feat music. 'Crack in Your Door' sets the collection off with a fresh down home and funky groove, cleanly recorded live in Houston, Texas in 1971- clearly a crack first rate band from their onset. On a solo demo of 'Trouble', Lowell George’s vocal is comforting, capturing spare but rich sounds of country and Americana. 'Texas Rose Café' is a mix of pure blues and straight ahead southwest American rock and roll, with blistering lead guitar. Little Feat could likewise teach a clinic on Dixie inflected rock. 'Apolitical Blues' features a compelling lyric written by George, accompanied by gritty ringing instrumentals: “My telephone was ringing/ They told me it was Chairman Mao/I don’t care who it is/I don’t want to talk to him now.” On 'Dixie Chicken', the band displays its signature sound, a hybrid of influences and a country blues rock amalgam, as the group members here are all well in synch. There is also a magical 1973 live version of 'Sailin’ Shoes' featuring guest artist Bonnie Raitt- a mix of distinctive vocals and resonant guitars. On this three disc set, the first CD features 1970's Lowell George era material and the next two discs include the band soldiering on in his absence. On the post-George work, the great singer is truly missed, but the band continued with virtues of its own including always inspired musicianship. The 2001 live version of 'Willin’' conjures the ghost of George who brilliantly wrote the band’s hallmark tune: “I’ve driven every kind of rig that’s ever been made/ Driven the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed.”- a song so good, it can give you chills. Little Feat lives on.

Track Listing:-

1 Crack In Your Door
2 The Fan
3 Trouble
4 Cat Fever
5 Texas Rose Café
6 Lafayette Railroad
7 Hamburger Midnight
8 Apolitical Blues
9 Fat Man In The Bathtub
10 Cold Cold Cold / Dixie Chicken
11 Saillin' Shoes
12 Teenage Nervous Breakdown
13 Long Distance Love
14 Down Below The Borderline
15 Rocket In My Pocket
16 Tripe Face Boogie
17 Rock And Roll Doctor
18 Long Time Till I Get Over You
19 Daily Grind
20 Feelin's All Gone
21 Shake Me Up
22 Strawberry Flats
23 Borderline Blues
24 Ain't Had Enough Fun
25 This Land Is Your Land
26 Hate To Lose Your Lovin'
27 One Clear Moment
28 Willin'
29 Hoy Hoy
30 Skin It Black
31 Cajun Girl
32 Oh Atlanta
33 Time Loves A Hero
34 Spanish Moon
35 Old Folks Boogie
36 Let It Roll
37 Feat's Dont Fail Me Now
38 Bill's River Blues
39 Roll Um Easy
40 Down On The Farm / Candy Man Blues

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/LittleFeat/
https://www.littlefeat.net/welcome.htm

Label Links:-

http://www.proper-records.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/ProperRecords
https://twitter.com/ProperRecords
https://www.youtube.com/user/propertv
http://www.properdistribution.com/
http://instagram.com/properblog