Any band that survives over 40 years in the music business is bound to deal with its share of adversity. Little Feat is no exception. The sudden death of founding member Lowell George in 1979 was devastating, shelving the band for nearly a decade. Subsequent departures of lead vocalists Craig Fuller and Shaun Murphy, and most recently, drummer and co-founder Richie Hayward, on leave from the group after being diagnosed with liver cancer, would be very difficult to overcome. Yet, here’s Little Feat, readying a new live collection, Ram’s Head Revisited, releasing Silver Strings – a solo album by guitarist Fred Tackett, and prepping for a 5-week tour including stops at the Gathering of the Vibes and a return to Europe. Not to be forgotten is the Paul and Fred tour sandwiched between Feat outings. We spoke with Tackett and guitarist/singer Paul Barrere moments before the duo took the stage at a Richie Hayward Benefit concert in Los Angeles- to help Richie Hayward, visit this site.
So how’s Richie feeling?
Paul- We saw him just recently. We played up in his hometown of Comox, British Columbia. He looked surprisingly well. Thinner, but he didn’t look emaciated in any way. He gets fatigued fairly easily. He had a recent CAT scan of his liver, and they are waiting on the results of that to see if they will put him on the transplant list. His residency has been established, so I believe he is eligible for the NHS [National Health Service], which is wonderful. When he saw us, he was in great spirits. I talked to him a couple of days ago and he said he misses us already. He’s such a fighter. Richie’s amazing. If a cat has nine lives, Richie’s got 18.
Fred- He’s had a couple a major motorcycle episodes, with his medical bills on the back of the Last Record Album (1975) album cover.
Paul- Oops. (Laughs) It wasn’t so much the medical bills, but having his address and phone number.
Fred- That didn’t go over too well.
And fans can follow his progress online at www.carepages.com?
Fred- Yes. I read the care pages today and it said he was feeling some pain, feeling a little ill. He’s holding on, hoping for a transplant.
Paul, it was during the Dixie Chicken record when you officially joined up with Richie, Lowell, and Billy Payne (keyboards). It was also when Little Feat added Sam Clayton (percussion) and Kenny Gradney (bass). This marked a noticeable shift in the band’s sound. Was that a calculated change in style or did it emerge organically?
Paul- I think it was very organic. You have to remember that Lowell had been in New Orleans working with the Meters doing Robert Palmer’s record ( Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley ), and meeting Allen Toussaint. He came back with that semi, quasi second-line aspect that Dixie Chicken has to it. It got greasier. You know, Sam and Kenny are funky boys.
Fred- Sophistifunk.
Fred, Dixie Chicken also marked your first ‘appearance.’ While you weren’t a band member at the time, one of your songs, “Fool Yourself” is on the album. How did that come about?
Fred- Lowell and Jimmy Webb, a songwriter I used to work for, and I used to hang out a lot at Jimmy’s house. It was at this same time that Lowell was writing for the Dixie Chicken record. He’d be singing just the chorus, “If you’ll be my Dixie chicken, I’ll be your Tennessee lamb.” So we’re trading tunes, and I played that song for Lowell. He said, “Oh man, I have to get the cats to record that.” It was at that recording session that I met Paul.
Another song you wrote that Little Feat recorded was “Be One Now.” You have a new version of that as one of eight songs on Silver Strings. Tell me about the new album.
Fred- I used to play in a band with a really good friend of mine, and wonderful upright bass player, Domenic Genova. Then I got busy with Little Feat, and 12 years went by. Billy and Paul did a long tour with Phil Lesh, and I had all this time available. So, I called Domenic and said, “Hey, man, why don’t you come over and let’s play some stuff.” He gets out of the car and says, “It’s been 12 years.” I didn’t even think about it, I’d been so busy. Time flies when you are having a good time. We started playing together again, and did that as a project with my son Miles, who produced it. We had a lot of fun. That was three or four years ago. We continued to get together and play, and I’ve since written some new songs. Then, I got together with Roger Cole, a friend that Paul has also worked with a lot, and he’s putting it out as a digital release on August 3rd. I will have copies that I will sell at our shows.
That brings up an interesting point; that a physical CD is secondary. The primary, and in some cases, sole medium for releasing music is digital. Little Feat really came of age when the record industry exploded, and your original label was Warner Brothers, whose music division was an arm of an entertainment empire. Can you talk about the advantages/disadvantages of the ‘big machine’ versus the independence you have now?
Fred- I think it is better now. I have a lot more artistic freedom and control. The ‘big machine’ never worked for Little Feat. They could never quite figure out what to do with us. This whole digital thing has come around, and it’s almost like the old days when the single was the deal. You didn’t worry so much about an album. The difference then was that you had A&R guys that didn’t have a clue. You would have to jump through amazing hoops just to get a single out. Now, you can make a record anywhere. Literally anywhere, and put it out. It can go crazy, viral on the internet and everybody can be digging it. Never mind Warner Brothers.
Paul- The advantage back in those days was the distribution. And there were record stores. Major stores. Mom and Pop stores. As soon as it went digital, I’m surprised they didn’t see the writing on the wall. We were traveling a couple weeks ago in Washington in this van. The guy driving was playing a Black Keys CD on the stereo. One of our techs asked to take a look the disc. He popped it into his computer and, whoosh. I said, “Now, you know that’s not right.” He said, “We don’t call it stealing. We call it liberating.” I thought, “Whoa, that’s what that is.” Now, the only place to sell actual records is at your shows. Unless you are the Eagles and you sell them at Wal-Mart, which is ridiculous.
A week or so ago, Prince said the internet was over.
Paul- I wonder if Al Gore got the message.
I won’t speak for Prince, but I assume he was referring to the internet as a function of the music business. Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing for musicians?
Fred- I think it is great for musicians. There are so many ways you can share, so many ways you can collaborate. You can jam with a musician in, say, South Africa. Send files back and forth. It’s amazing. You don’t have to go to New York or L.A. to be heard.
Paul- It’s kind of strange when you think about how you are going to be paid for your work. In essence it was the same crapshoot when you were dealing with the record company because they were charging you for, you know, that paper clip. (Laughs)
Fred- And returns.
Paul- Oh, the mighty returns. And the person moving the paper clip had to get paid, too. So, it kind of balances out. The best thing about the internet is that it spreads the word much faster and gets it to a much wider audience.
In recent weeks, Little Feat has been offering free downloads from the upcoming Ram’s Head Revisited release. What was it about these three shows that you felt encouraged issuing a live album?
Paul- It really came about because a friend of ours, Gary Bowden, asked if he could come down and multi-track the band. It was, like, one Firewire cable that went in and spilt to 48 tracks or something. We said, sure, come on down. The other Ram’s Head record we have was all acoustic. This one is all electric.
Fred- Also, this is the first live recording without Shaun and the first with Gabe (Ford) playing (drums). Two major changes.
Paul- Some of the roughs that I’ve listened to are amazing. They sound really, really good.
Fred- I remember the performances were really cool.
Paul- We’ve got some gems in there. “Truck Stop Girl.” Walkin’ All Night.” Not the usual suspects.
So much has been written about Little Feat with Lowell George and without Lowell George. At the time of Lowell’s death, the band was on hiatus and there was a sense the band was finished. It’s strange to think of the Allman Brothers Band without Dickey Betts. Had Lowell not died, could you imagine a Little Feat without him?
Paul- Little Feat was his toy. Had he lived, it would’ve been up to him whether or not Little Feat continued. The funny thing about his passing was that the five remaining members at that time thought, “We’re done.” It wasn’t going to happen, until an impromptu jam session years later, where the music was the hook. It felt really good. We always had this standard. If it wasn’t going to be up to that standard, there was no sense in continuing. There are people on both sides of the fence; it’s not Little Feat without Lowell versus Little Feat is Little Feat, it’s always been a ‘band.’ All I know is that the music is great. The music is fun. The music wouldn’t be getting played at all, and Lowell’s memory would be pretty dim at this point, if we hadn’t gotten back together.
Fred- I was on the Thanks, I’ll Eat it Here tour with Lowell at the time. There was a lot of anger, but the night before he died he talked about wanting to get something back together.
The next five months looks very busy for the both Little Feat and the Paul and Fred duo. Is there a Little Feat studio album in the works?
Paul- I think it’s going to happen. Our manager has been talking with some labels.
Rumor is that it will be a blues record.
Paul- It wouldn’t be just a blues record, but in the genre. We’d have R&B, jazz, that kind of stuff. Typical Little Feat, really.
