“Juliette”

This was the first track I got. I bought “Dixie Chicken” based on a review and played it twice through and was flummoxed until this track, the second to last on the album, emerged.

“Juliette” is sweet and subtle, in a world inundated with these qualities, which are absent from the hit parade.

Think short winter days, alone in the living room on the couch.

“Juliette” sounds like that.

“Fool Yourself”

Most people know this from the Bonnie Raitt cover on her second Paul Rothchild album, “Home Plate”… Still, I’m sure even Bonnie would admit Little Feat’s take is superior.

The magic is in Lowell’s vocal, the way it goes up and down, twists around, like regular human speech.

Still, there are those lyrics…

You might say you ain’t got a hold on yourself
You might say you always try your best
You might say you only need a rest
You might say you can only fool yourself

Ain’t that the way it always is…you’re your own worst enemy.

But it gets even better…

Don’t believe the words you read
They’re written on the street
And every time you know you play their game
They’ll knock you down and take your pride away

That’s their goal, to not only knock you down, but take you out of contention.

Don’t be intimidated by anyone. You’ve got a right to your opinion.

But you’ve got no right to make someone listen.

See how bad you need to cry
But no matter how you try
It’s the same old story once again
You always hide from the one who calls you friend
I call you friend

We have trouble relying on those who are nice to us. We all need friends, they’re the key to life. You might think it’s about money and fame, but they pale in comparison to interpersonal relationships.

Listening to “Fool Yourself” you feel Lowell George is your best friend.

“Angry Blues”

A seemingly minor track on James Taylor’s “Gorilla,” after you’ve become inured to “Mexico” and “Lighthouse” and the rest of the magic tracks on that album suddenly this emerges. It seems just a little ditty. But it’s the subtle extras that make it work. And those extras are contributed by one Lowell George. Listen for his slide and background vocals… They’re barely there, but they make the song complete.

“I Feel The Same”

It’s the chicken pickin’ in the break that totally slays me. It begins around 3:38 and if you do no other listening from this playlist, be sure to check out Lowell’s work here. The whole track sounds like a Little Feat number, as well it should, since Bill Payne plays the piano… And sometime check out Chris Smither’s original, but Bonnie makes this song her own, it’s my favorite of this whole playlist.

“Face Of Appalachia”

Lowell cowrote this song with John Sebastian, which originally appeared on John’s “Tarzana Kid” LP.

Credits are not complete on the album, but I’ve got to believe it’s Lowell on the track. Even if it’s not, listen just to hear Valerie Carter wail at 3:24.

Imagine a day when music was not made for the hit parade, to make you rich and famous, but to enrich your and your listener’s lives.

“Face Of Appalachia” is pure magic.

“Sailing Shoes”/”Hey Julia”/”Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley”

Already forgotten, Robert Palmer was a giant long before he broke through on MTV. Not only does he cover Little Feat’s “Sailing Shoes,” Lowell’s all over the album. But the way these three songs interweave and connect will truly blow your mind, when Palmer finally segues into “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” you’ll thrust your arms in the air stunned at the triumph.

“Long Distance Love”

For some unknown reason Little Feat’s fifth album, the commercially disappointing “The Last Record Album,” is missing from Spotify. Therefore, you’ll be unable to hear this magical track.

Then again, through the magic of YouTube, it’s right here!

 Little Feat- Long Distance Love

You think you’re sticking it to the man by not signing up with Spotify, but it’s available on YouTube anyway!

As well as this live take you’ll find fascinating if you’re a fan:

 Little Feat ~ Long Distance Love – Live

As for the lyrics and heartbreaking sound…

If you’ve ever been on the losing end of a long distance relationship, this is your anthem.

“Roll Um Easy”

The famous take is on Linda Ronstadt’s “Prisoner In Disguise,” the follow-up to her smash “Heart Like A Wheel.”

But if it’s a cover you’re interested in, check out J.D. Souther’s:

 Roll Um Easy – J.D. Souther ~ Little Feat (Lowell George)

It’s got the magic of the original, it’s even more haunting in its own way.

And speaking of J.D…listen to Lowell wail on “Midnight Prowl” from “Black Rose.” Lowell’s playing, along with J.D.’s plaintive vocal, makes the track. You didn’t call Lowell to dominate, but to enrich.

But be sure to check out the original from “Dixie Chicken.”

“Two Trains”

After getting “Juliette,” I flipped “Dixie Chicken” over again, and discovered this, the second track on the first side.

Play this once, and you’ll spin it twenty times, intrigued by the lyrics, the playing, the sound. Ain’t that Lowell, nailing it by shooting just a bit left of center. You know what he’s talking about, but he dances around it, evidencing the underlying tension in the situation.

“On Your Way Down”

Not an original, it was composed by Allen Toussaint. But Little Feat did the definitive version. It’s smoky, late night tired, but full of wisdom.

And it’s got the most famous line about the music business ever.

You might be quoting that cruel and shallow money trench line by Hunter Thompson, but no one knows the real deal like someone who’s lived it:

Well it’s high time that you found
The same dudes you abused on your way up
You might meet up on your way down

It’s true.

And we all descend.

Unless you’re planning on committing suicide at your peak, pay attention.

“Spanish Moon”

This is one of those rare instances where the live version eclipses the studio take. It’s the bass, it’s the keyboard, it’s the horns, IT’S THE GROOVE! And lying dead center is Lowell himself. This is one of the greatest advertisements for live music ever.

There was hookers and hustlers
They filled up the room!

You’ve been there, a place dark and electric, where you can feel the danger but have no desire to leave.

There’s whiskey and bad cocaine
Poison gets you just the same
And if that don’t kill you soon
The women will down at the Spanish Moon

It’s an absolute killer. And if you’re lucky, one night at a Phish show, they’ll whip it out.

Check out this version: Phish | 10.31.10 | Mercenary Territory

“All That You Dream”

And while we’re on the live album, “Waiting For Columbus,” we’ve got this smoking number which is almost as good in its studio take on “The Last Record Album” and was covered by Linda Ronstadt but is definitively recorded here….

Meanwhile, this is not a Lowell George original, it was written by Bill Payne and Paul Barrere, whose grave misfortune it was to be in a band with a certified superstar, so their star qualities were overshadowed.

Still… If you’re a big fan, the lyrics are indelibly imprinted upon your brain…

I’VE BEEN DOWN, BUT NOT LIKE THIS BEFORE!

In the seventies it was o.k. to not be a winner. Hate to inform you, but most of us are not.

“Mercenary Territory”

Another “The Last Record Album” song defined in its live take.

Between the horns and the vocal, you want to run right down to the gig!

And there’s that famous line…

And I did my time in your rodeo…

Now that’s how to describe life! A series of experiences where you’re roped up and brought down yet get up and do it all over again…

And for those of you focusing on fame more than music…

I’ve been out here so long dreamin’ up songs

Writing music is a full time job. It’s about distilling your experiences. Which is why if you haven’t lived you’ve got nothing to say. Which is why all the two-dimensional young ‘uns have oldsters write their lyrics!

“Rock And Roll Doctor”

Only because if it wasn’t for this, the band probably would have broken up. Finally, they had radio success. When fans had given up, the band finally broke through, albeit still on a limited level.

“Gringo”

This has got nothing to do with Lowell, it’s pure Bill Payne, and its genius, check it out.

“Fat Man In The Bathtub”

That’s Lowell.

Listen to this tale about someone who doesn’t want nobody who won’t dive for dimes. Because even fat people need sex. And when they’re as charming and talented as Lowell George they get it. This son of a furrier grew up in Hollywood and found a way to make it.

And then he expired.

But while he was here, he dazzled all those paying attention, and is still remembered by those who were exposed.

We were enamored of the fat man in the bathtub with the blues.

Coda:

It was on his promotional tour for his initial solo album that Lowell O.D’ed. So early in the album’s cycle that it seems like a posthumous work. It’s not his best effort, but it contains a positively exquisite cover of Allen Toussaint’s “What Do You Want The Girl To Do.” That was Lowell’s magic. Sure, he could write, but it was his ability to see a production in his head, to see the necessary parts and then put them together in the studio that was his true skill. It was all in service to the final production. It wasn’t about fame or lifestyle, but the music.

 A Little More Lowell (And Little Feat) – Spotify

I started with “Dixie Chicken.” It was the reviews and the song on the Warner Brothers sampler. And it took me a hell of a long time to get into it, to understand its understated magic. If you can put Patti Smith in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and not Lowell George, I don’t want to visit. For that matter, Rush and Heart and all the people they’re inducting now… Even they’ll admit Lowell George influenced more people than they did, left an even bigger mark.

Then again, that’s art. It’s open to debate, unlike sports. Well, sports not dependent upon judging.

The initial album, cut after Lowell left the Mothers, fell flat. As did “Sailin’ Shoes.” It wasn’t until “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” that Little Feat had a radio hit. Then Lowell fell out of the band, despite still being in it, cut a solo record and died. But talk to Bonnie Raitt or James Taylor or Valerie Carter, they’ll all testify. You see Lowell George was the chef, with the special sauce, and he never added more than necessary. Everybody thinks it’s about more more more, showing off, but Lowell infected you with his subtlety, like his playing on James Taylor’s “Angry Blues.”

And to say there’s a Little Feat masterpiece would be to lie. And you’re probably best off starting with the live album. Then again, the band, although never bad, could be wildly uneven live. I remember a night at the Santa Monica Civic after the release of “Times Love A Hero” that had too much jamming and didn’t quite gel, then again, three years before I’d seen them at the Troubadour…

It wasn’t even sold out. Even though the fourth album had already come out, the one with “Oh, Atlanta” and “Rock And Roll Doctor.” And I’m sitting mere feet away, the Troub had tables and chairs back then, when we still respected the music, when we weren’t packed in like lemmings, and the band laid into a groove so syrupy and thick that you’d be closed instantly. But only fans were there. This was no victory lap, no celebration, just a band firing on all cylinders…back when you had to know how to play to perform.

And that was mere weeks before I decamped to Utah to ski the bumps, where “Sailin’ Shoes”‘s opening cut, “Easy To Slip,” was my anthem.

It’s so easy to slip
It’s so easy to fall

In the bumps. When the sun is shining, your skis are twisting and you’re slamming through the zipper line.

It’s so easy to slip
It’s so easy to fall
And let your memory drift
And do nothin’ at all

Ain’t that the truth. For all the winners testifying, there’s a world of people hanging back, reflecting, wounded by life. The older you get, the harder it is to soldier on. That’s what we depend on music for…to fill us up and get us going.

Well I don’t want to drift forever
In the shadow of you leaving me
So I light another cigarette
And try to remember to forget

Whew! How eloquent! Ever been left? Knocks your socks off. You rarely see it coming. And then you find yourself off balance, it can take years to right yourself. Some never do.

But the music sounds NOTHING like these lyrics!

It’s like Lowell’s been down in the dumps for days, but band practice is scheduled so he’s decided to WAIL! To exorcise all the demons.

This is not radio music.

This is not club music.

This is personal music. Cut just for you. Play it when you’re driving down the highway, when you need inspiration. It’ll lift you right off the couch and insert you into life. It’s got more optimism than a handful of antidepressants.

Listening to “Easy To Slip,” you’ll be stunned Lowell George is dead, because the track sounds so positively ALIVE!

“A Apolitical Blues”

You know this one. From Van Halen’s “OU812.” You see the players listen. They don’t focus on fame so much as music. Without roots, without a foundation, you’re nothing. The hoi polloi may not have known this track, but Sammy Hagar did. Back when stars were fans.

“Sailin’ Shoes”

Lady in a turban
In a cocaine tree
Does a dance so rhythmically

This is quintessential Lowell. From the slide guitar to the subtlety to the oblique story to the feeling you just want to get inside the music, inside the lyrics…you wanna be involved. And that’s what Little Feat was, a cult, which never grew so large that everybody didn’t think they were an insider. Listen to Lowell squeeze out the notes, the background singers, the whole number is zippered up, there’s nothing unnecessary… The more you listen, the more you marvel.

“Tripe Face Boogie”

Exactly what it sounds like. As if Foghat had grown up in Los Angeles and played the same music.

And it’s not only Lowell, Bill Payne works out furiously and Richie Hayward drives the whole enterprise forward with Roy Estrada, on his last album appearance with the band.

You bring your guitar
I’ll bring the wine
Blow out our speakers
Just one more time

It sounds like a party. And there’s even guacamole! (Which I knew nothing about when I first heard this album in Vermont, we were essentially clueless when it came to Mexican food.)

And be sure to listen to “Cold, Cold, Cold” and “Teenage Nervous Breakdown,” but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention “Willin’.”

Linda Ronstadt made it famous, and it took Little Feat two tries to get it right, “Willin,” was also on the band’s debut, but forty years later it’s the one Lowell George standard, probably the best and most famous truck-driving song ever written. A combo of loner stoner driver and band on the road.

And just like I was clueless as to guacamole, I was stunned to come to California and see a sign for Tehachapi. And now I know not only that mountain burg, but Tucumcari and Tonopah.

That’s the west. Spread out. With enough room to be yourself and do your own thing.

There was never a band that sounded like Little Feat. Despite Lowell’s huge influence his own sound could not be copied. And despite the great group that still employs the moniker Little Feat, it’s not what it was when Lowell was a member.

If you’ve got time.

And almost nobody does anymore.

You will be rewarded by listening to Little Feat.

And I’m not saying to start with “Sailin’ Shoes,” but you’ll eventually find yourself here. And will be amazed. That once upon a time being a band was going on your own journey, finding your identity, becoming what you weren’t sure of, hoping an audience found you on the way.

So different from today. When the man demands a single and puts you together with someone you don’t know to write it.

Lowell George is a rabbit hole a certain cadre of us fell into.

And it changed our lives.

Rinofy-Sailin’ Shoes

Previous Rhinofy playlists

 

I’m having trouble with my Slingbox. It won’t connect.

But it’s worse than that. It says it’s not connecting to the Internet in my own house! Good luck having it make a connection in Colorado so my girlfriend can watch cable TV finales.

So I get home and start to troubleshoot…and end up nowhere.

I disconnect the power. I restart the router. But I cannot reset the Slingbox, despite what the online instructions say. Talk about frustrating… Before we had all this electronic crap there were answers. You called someone, took your device somewhere, somebody knew how to fix it, or told you so… But today we’re on our own. I feel like I’m a full time IT person. Sure, I’m connected, I can call someone, but I’m the kind of guy who wants to know how something works and why it does not. Because if it breaks down once, it’s gonna again.

So, frustrated with my Slingbox, I decide to fire up some music to soothe my nerves. And the Sonos app on my iPhone won’t connect. And won’t connect. And won’t connect.

So I go to my iPad. Which says an update is required. Which I execute. But my iPhone still won’t connect. And I’m wondering why.

Turns out the issue is bigger than that. My iPhone isn’t even connected with my wireless network. LTE is so fast at my home I didn’t even realize it. And I’m not sure why the iPhone dropped the connection. And maybe this has got something to do with the Slingbox… But when I select my home network and enter the password I finally get to try…

The most incredible new feature.

Yes, you can now stream your music wirelessly from your iPhone.

It’s like magic.

I know, I know, I can do the same from Spotify. But it’s not the same. I mean I’m not connecting to the pipe, it’s coming straight from the phone itself! Wirelessly!

So I’m in the bedroom, listening to “Stephen Stills 2” on that zone. But I click to hear the Silencers’ “Answer Me” in the living room. And it’s not quite loud enough for me to hear over Stills so I switch the bedroom zone to the living room zone and…

Jimme O’Neill comes pouring out of the speakers and all of a sudden all of my frustration slips away!

Silencers – Answer Me – A Blues for Buddha – 1988

Yes, check it out. You won’t hear it anywhere else. It’s not on Spotify.

But it is on my living room stereo right now…

Won’t you answer me
Said the coal miner
It’s dark down here
Gas creeps through the walls

It’s dark inside my mind. Do you get that feeling? That there’s a plethora of stimuli surrounding you but there’s a force field between you and the rest of the universe? That you’re locked inside your head and you can’t break out? That no one understands you and you’re dying to make a connection but it’s impossible?

I feel that way all the time. My whole life is about trying to eradicate this feeling, I’m trying to make a connection. That’s what’s got me sending these missives morning noon and night. The desire to find someone else who feels like me, who thinks like me, who isn’t an automaton inured to the world I find so confusing.

And I get blowback from people telling me I’m not entitled to an opinion and I should crawl back into my hole despite the fact that they keep reading and writing to me. But still I soldier on. Because of you. No one specific. Just the people who write back and testify, who tell me they’re on the same path, have the same questions, feel the same way.

Once upon a time the band was called Fingerprintz. And despite being on Virgin Records, they never broke through. Then they reconstituted as the Silencers and released a masterpiece known as “A Letter From St. Paul” with the radio track “Painted Moon” and it looked like another band from the U.K. was gonna break through. But they were on RCA Records and Bob Buziak was too busy promoting Michael Penn and the second album, “A Blues For Buddha” made a giant thud which almost no one heard.

But it’s absolutely one of my favorite albums.

It starts off quietly, like there’s a troupe of merrymaking musicians coming over the rise, through the Scottish fog, and then Jimme hums and the bass starts to thump and the drums start to pound and the strings start to wail and…you’re enthralled.

Won’t you answer me
Said the exile
Is there a message for me?
Now I feel so far away

I made it this far. I didn’t O.D., I wasn’t hit by a bus, I know so much more than I once did, but the world changed to the point of unrecognizability and I’m completely flummoxed. I’m never gonna be rich, without money few listen, and I wonder if the joke is on me. I spent decades of my life listening to records but don’t feel akin to those enthralled by the punks, to those who think everything mainstream sucks. But then I hear a record…

Won’t answer you me
Said the soul singer
There’s a murmur in here
Sound thunders through the wall

That’s who I am. A soul singer. This is coming directly from my heart to yours. Do you feel it? Do you have more questions than answers? Do you feel you just weren’t made for this world?

I’M HERE! I’M WITH YOU! CRANK THIS MUSIC! IT WON’T CHANGE YOUR LIFE BUT IT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE WORTH LIVING!

IT’S STREAMING FROM MY PHONE! CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT?

I love technology.

1. Filter

People don’t know what to listen to. You can’t trust the radio, you can only trust your friends, and who’s to say your friends have the same taste as you?

He who tells us what to listen to will have all the power in the future.

It will not be an algorithm.

If you think Pandora has great recommendations, you’ve got no taste. If that’s the future of radio, I want no part.

2. Money Trumps Art

Everyone’s trying to get rich, or bitching that they’re poor. People no longer discuss music, but their financial stability. Furthermore, money is the ultimate arbiter. If someone sells a lot of tickets or a lot of tracks you can’t say a negative thing about them. This coarsens our society. Critical thinking is crucial to a healthy arts scene. Something can be successful and suck. Conversely, it can be obscure and great. If your first question is how do I make money, you shouldn’t be in music.

3. Everybody Thinks They’re A Star

We’re only interested in the exceptional. It’s kind of like the Olympics, if you don’t medal, we don’t know your name. In the old days, with a limited universe, mediocre, with exposure and promotion, could make it. Today, you’ve got to be positively A-team. Or, the beneficiary of A-team marketing and promotion. But if your music doesn’t sell itself, your career will be very brief.

4. You Can’t Get A Good Ticket At A Fair Price

Therefore people don’t even try to buy. For all the bitching from people who overpay or sit in the cheap seats there are legions who’ve opted out of live music. This is the industry’s problem. With no one leading the charge against it. It’s easy to fall out of the habit of going to the show.

5. Greed

This is just how the rich like it. The hoi polloi fighting amongst themselves, oblivious to the true enemy. The acts and executives, the agents and the promoters, they’re fighting over a tiny pot.

6. Con Artists

You know, the websites that give you advice and hope, and charge you for the privilege. Not everybody can work in the music business, not everybody can be a star. If you’re paying someone to host your stuff, to get you gigs, you’re either not good or delusional or both.

7. Classic Rock

It was too good. Just because the kids like something that does not make it good. Come on, all you trumpeting the Jonas Brothers, name one of their songs… Until modern acts truly reach the brass ring, the whole sphere will suffer. As for those saying today’s music is just as good as yesteryear’s…you don’t have ears.

8. Old Media

From radio to newspapers to movies it’s old world thinking, a circle jerk trying to perpetuate something that’s dead. The sooner old media dies, the clearer the landscape will be. Radio is not coming back. Newspapers will not survive in print, and most won’t survive at all. And while we’re at it, CDs are history and physical books are goners. The fact that something still exists does not mean it isn’t over. If you’re discussing piracy, the death of the CD, singles and streaming, you’re wasting your breath. The modern music world is not like Congress, there’s no consensus amongst an elite. Instead modernity is an endless rushing river controlled by nobody. If you’re doubling down on old media, you’re probably investing in the PC business and feature phones.

9. Working The Numbers

Whether it be authors scamming Amazon reviews or record companies garnering fake YouTube plays you can no longer trust statistics and reviews. Everybody’s a scumbag. Trying to game the system. And it’ll only go away when e-mail spam is eradicated. Which probably won’t be in my lifetime.

10. Lack Of Knowledge

No one knows history. Before you sit down to write your song, listen to the Beatles catalog, learn about a bridge, learn about harmony. You can’t break every rule and be successful. If you’re familiar with the basic building blocks, you’ve got a chance of making it.

NOT A PROBLEM

1. Peer To Peer File-Sharing

It’s declining. Everything’s free on YouTube anyway. To worry about piracy is to be shortsighted. If you don’t want people to trade your music you’re living in the last century. Your enemy is not piracy, but obscurity. Just because the RIAA controls the media discussion, that doesn’t mean you should pay attention. Focus on your career. Focus on being great. There’s plenty of money to be made if you are. Not as much as being a banker, but that’s got more to do with the meshuggeneh country we live in and its flawed economic policies than piracy.

2. Sound Quality

The baby boomers listened to 45s on some of the worst systems imaginable. If it’s a hit song, it sounds good on anything. Yes, a hi-fi boom would lift all boats, but it won’t happen by badgering people their sound sucks, but creating stuff so marvelous you want to hear it at a high level, which is not today’s compressed, loudness wars crap.

3. Electronic Music

You didn’t understand rap, does your opinion on EDM count?

4. Texting & Shooting Photos At Gigs

People live to communicate, it’s human nature. Maybe they’ll communicate about you! The best way to combat social media at a show is to be absolutely riveting. But even that won’t work…people live to connect. And at these prices do you blame them?

5. Information

Google yourself. You’ll find the bread crumbs of your life. You never know when someone will decide to check you out. If you’ve got no online presence, you will have no success. The first thing someone does when they’re interested is read your Wikipedia page. And they can tell if you wrote it yourself, they laugh behind your back. If someone can’t research your history and find out almost everything about you, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t think campaign, think land mine. People will find you when they’re good and ready.