At this point in its illustrious, nearly 60-year career, rock legends Little Feat could be excused if they wanted to take its proverbial foot off the gas. However, that wouldn’t be in Little Feat’s DNA. From the very first note of Strike Up The Band, you will hear Little Feat–who have been rocking and rolling since 1969– mean business.
Little Feat built a cult following in the late 60s and 70s for their pioneering gumbo of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues, country, hard-rock, funk, and jazz. Celebrated as a key influence by icons from Bonnie Raitt to The Rolling Stones (and more recently current stars like 1975’s Matt Healy), yet, commercial success remained at arms length. Songs like “Dixie Chicken,” “Spanish Moon,” “Fat Man in the Bathtub,” and “Rock and Roll Doctor” are legends in the rock and roll songbook. Through the ups and downs, love and loss, the lineup shifts, and endless touring they have remained together and the closest of friends.
During their wilderness years, when the band was on periods of hiatus, individual members collaborated with a laundry list of legends including Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs, J. J. Cale, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Buffett, Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Bryan Adams, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Toto, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Stevie Nicks, Robert Palmer, Bob Weir, Mick Fleetwood, Phil Lesh – you name a musician from the classic rock era, they have likely played with them!
Their elastic lineup has included the late great Lowell George, founding drummer, Richie Hayward, and guitarist Paul Barrere, and to this day features founding member Bill Payne on keys, alongside the classic lineup of Fred Tackett on guitars/vocals, Kenny Gradney on bass, and Sam Clayton on percussion/vocals. They recently enlisted younger members Scott Sharrard on lead/vocal and Tony Leone on drums/vox which reinvigorated their creative spirits and live show.
Their lyrics are inventive, transportive, abstract, and emotive in their pursuit of celebrating the good times and holding you close in the bad. Guitars scream and slide, pianos rock and boogie, and drums shuffle you down the road in a way that only Little Feat can. This is the album Little Feat fans have been waiting for and is an undeniable statement from a band who in many ways are just getting started in their 56th year.
With buzz off the back of their GRAMMY nomination for their recent album Sam’s Place, their own festival, a newly announced national tour, and much more in the works, Little Feat are not weathered statues in the hall of rock fame. They remain the collective and creative force they have always been. The beauty of Little Feat perhaps lies in the band’s ability to continuously evolve yet keep the spirit of what we all know and love about them, constant and alive. At this stage in a band’s career, few, if any would be willing to evolve at the level Little Feat does. That in itself, is quite the feat.
Today, Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the video for the standout track “Shipwrecks,” which features Scott Sharrard front and center on vocals. In his review of the new album, Glide‘s Doug Collette described the song like this: “As high a profile as he’s assumed, Sharrard doesn’t shy from the spotlight. On his own original ‘Shipwrecks,’ for instance, his bluesy vocal sounds as deeply passionate as his careening up and down the fretboard of his guitar. Clearly, he’s learned his lessons well, from the ABB namesake in addition to his current bandmates via their own redoubtable legacy.” Indeed, the song is a proper romp through soulful Americana sounds that channels the Little Feat of yore. The music video captures the chemistry of the band playing this song live.
WATCH:
